September 22 2014.


Hillcrest Film Society will be showing Philomena at the Hillcrest Centre, Hillcrest Road, Newhaven at 7.30 pm on Saturday the 18th of October. The film stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.

The film is based on the touching true story of Philomena Lee's search for her son, who was taken away from her when she became a young unmarried mum in Ireland. She meets a world-weary journalist and together they become a powerful force for finding the truth and her son.


A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent. The most remarkable thing about Stephen Frear’s film is both how unsentimental and how funny it actually is. This is no ordinary 'human interest' story, but a study of goodness triumphing over evil in a very real sense. For surely Philomena Lee, is a truly good person and the system she found herself fighting, though hardly by choice, namely the Catholic Church in Ireland, is in this instance anyway, evil. It's a heart-wrenching story but told with a good deal of natural humour and a distinct lack of tears, though you would need to have a heart of stone not to be moved to tears.


The doors of the Hillcrest Centre will open at 6.30 and the Hillcrest Cafe will be open for light refreshments and delicious home-made hot meals before the film starts.

Tickets for the film are just £4.50 and are available from the Hillcrest Centre Reception or visit http://hillcrestfilmsociety.wordpress.com for further details.