Occasional Cinema HIDDEN FIGURES

Date: Thursday, 26th October 2017
Time: 7:00 pm

HIDDEN FIGURES  Theodore Melfi  USA  2016  127  PG  biography, drama, history

The space programme in a special light

This is the true story of three African-American women who worked for NASA on the Mercury program in the early 1960s. Solid performances by all, some laugh-out-loud scenes, and some very emotional moments. It’s also an important look back at the civil rights issues of the time period. The climax is a bit Apollo 13ish, and I’m fairly certain some scenes were embellished, but who cares. You should walk away from this film smiling, maybe even a bit choked up.

And in spite of it being an overall positive experience, I could feel the oppression at certain points – Dorothy at the library just trying to find the right book, but it is in a part of the library to which she cannot gain admittance due to her race. Mary being reminded that she must sit in the back of the court room, again because of her race. Katherine runs across campus just to find a bathroom that she is allowed to use and never once complaining about it until she is publicly berated about her use of time. Kevin Costner’s character appears to be a generally good person who doesn’t care about race, and yet still never even thought about the difficulty of being forced into a certain bathroom half a mile away.

Occasional Cinema is a film society run by volunteers. Films are shown at the Mill Bistro, Seiont, Caernarfon on the second Wednesday of the month and at Blue Sky Cafe, Bangor on the fourth Thursday and unless stated otherwise start sometime after 7.30pm. We do not generally show films during the summer.

Membership is available on the door for a cost of £5; the first film is free; after this entrance for the film is £3.00.

Food is available from 6.30pm and a sophisticated clientele enjoy the wholesome food, reasonable price (£11.00 for two courses) and excellent atmosphere.  Please make reservations for any meals AT LEAST 24HRS IN ADVANCE –  Blue Sky 01248 355444. You can’t book a seat for the film only, which is on a first come first served basis. If you want to guarantee a seat you must book a meal. 

MENU Cobb Salad with home baked chicken, Organic Perl Las cheese, crispy fried bacon, mixed leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and a lemony mustard dressing.  Veggie version with roast red peppers, marinated mushrooms and Anglesey feta cheeseBoth served with local bread.  Dessert…. Baked cheesecake