In 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly take a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.
Read MoreGenre: History
On the eve of WWII, one man did the impossible. ONE LIFE tells the incredible true story of Nicholas “Nicky” Winton, a young London broker who helps rescue hundreds of predominantly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in a race against time before Nazi occupation closes the borders on the verge of World War II. Fifty years later, Nicky (Sir Anthony Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of those he wasn’t able to bring to safety.
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Arriving in New York City in 1889, Italian immigrant Francesca Cabrini is greeted by disease, crime and impoverished children. She soon sets off on a daring mission to convince the mayor to secure housing and health care for society’s most vulnerable. With broken English and poor health, Cabrini uses her entrepreneurial mind to build an empire of hope unlike anything the world has ever seen.
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The Bedford Playhouse is pleased to present one of the most honored films in cinema history, William Wyler’s 1959 Ben-Hur. Ben-Hur is one of those productions that can not only be shared by the entire family, but passed down from generation to generation as a cinema-going event. For those who have never seen this epic on a huge screen, this will be an amazing experience.
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4pm showing. In 1972, the Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, chartered to transport a rugby team to Santiago, Chile, experiences an unexpected incident and crashes into a glacier in the heart of the Andes. Of the 45 passengers on board, only 16 manage to survive. Trapped in one of the most inaccessible and hostile environments on the planet, they are forced to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Their survival will depend on the decisions they make in the midst of this desperate situation. Admission is free but space is extremely limited. Please send a message to rsvp@bedfordplayhouse.org to reserve seats.
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Announcing the winner of our Best Picture Survey – chosen by our community! In this Academy Award winner for Best Picture, two very different men on the same team vie to win Olympic gold to demonstrate to the world the worth of their deeply held–and strongly opposing–convictions. Yet a friendship builds between the two in this true story that is as strong as their desire to win in Chariots of Fire. Paris Olympics, 1924. Scotsman Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson–Gandhi) competes to prove the superiority of this Christian faith, while his teammate, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross–Exorcist: The Beginning), a Jewish Englishman, is driven to win to show the world that Jews are not inferior people. But as different as they two competitors are, the bond that develops between them reveals to both how complex their true motives are . . . and how much they really have in common.
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The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
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In observance of Black History Month, the Pound Ridge Human Rights Advisory Committee (HRAC) is proud to partner with The Bedford Playhouse to host a screening of the Academy Award winning film, 12 Years a Slave. Based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, a free African-American man who was sold into slavery, the film opened in 2013 to widespread critical acclaim, garnering multiple Oscars, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award for Best Picture. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the film’s release, the HRAC is thrilled to welcome the wonderful actress, producer, and local resident Ashley Dyke for a special panel discussion and Q&A.
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Sweeping and visually resplendent, The Mission is a powerful action epic about a man of the sword (Robert De Niro) and a man of the cloth (Jeremy Irons) who unite to shield a South American Indian tribe from brutal subjugation by 18th-century colonial empires. It reunites key talents behind The Killing Fields: co-producer David Puttnam, director Roland Joffé and cinematographer Chris Menges. Winner of the 1986 Cannes Film Festival Best Picture Award, the film earned seven Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and won a Best Cinematography Oscar. Robert Bolt’s thoughtful screenplay and Ennio Morricone’s rich score won Golden Globe Awards. The Mission is screen storytelling that weaves a haunting spell.
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The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by Daniel James Brown. The film, directed by George Clooney, is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world.
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