Kedi (dir: Ceyda Torun, 2017, cert U)
A beautifully realised cat’s eye view of the sprawling city of Istanbul, as Torun’s delicately meandering film explores the Turkish city’s unique relationship with its cats. We follow seven very individual feline characters, our favourite being the cheeky Duman, as they glide with effortless grace through Istanbul’s deepest nooks and crannies interacting with its citizens. The therapeutic value of a cat has never been more eloquently expressed.
Mon 14 Aug to Wed 16 Aug at the mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH £9 macbirmingham.co.uk
Tue 15 Aug 6.15pm at The Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Starship Troopers (dir: Paul Verhoeven, 1997, cert 18)
No one does garish spectacle quite like Paul Verhoeven. At the end of the last millennium he was Hollywood’s go to guy for frighteningly sumptuous visions of sex and bloody violence in films tinged with quasi fascism. Robocop, Total Recall and Showgirls were nightmarishly hypnotic explosions that repelled and fascinated audiences in equal measure. Starship Troopers is a similar beast. Join the army of the future with a gaggle of beautiful kids as they wage war on huge interplanetary bugs and your credulity. Brutally shallow fun. The only good bug is a dead bug.
Mon 14 Aug 8.30pm at The Mockingbird, The Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham B9 4AA Free veezi.com

The Reality of Partition + Q&A (2017)
In 1947 British India was partitioned and two nations were born in India and Pakistan. Controversial and problematic, ten million people were displaced and turned into refugees purely on religious background, there has been simmering tensions between the two countries ever since. The DESIblitz produced documentary explores the impact of the partition on the citizens of Birmingham and The Black Country that experienced it. Following the screening there will be a Q&A with the filmmakers and some of those appearing in the documentary. The film is being exhibited at Ikon until Sun 20 Aug.
Mon 14 Aug 5pm at Ikon, 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HS Free ikon-gallery.org

Black Britain on Film + Q&A 
Almost a century of black community; culture and characters represented on film, some of it grainy and worn but all of it compelling and powerful. Beginning at the cusp of the twentieth century with some stunning footage shot by legendary documentarians Mitchell and Kenyon this is an eclectic and fascinating trawl through some of the rarest items in the BFI’s archive. Our favourite is the 1964 Midlands News piece ‘Black Special Constable’ featuring an interview with the first black special constable in the UK, Astley Lloyd Blair. The screening will be followed by a Q&A.
Wed 16 Aug 11am at the mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH £9 macbirmingham.co.uk

Darjeeling Limited + cocktail tasting (dir: Wes Anderson, 2007, cert 18)
No one does whimsy like the great Wes Anderson and the Darjeeling Limited is our favourite example from his superior cinematic canon. Three estranged brothers reunite in India and so begins a chaotic and freewheeling comic misadventure that swings from Three Stooges silliness (of the inspired variety) to heartbreaking melodrama. Inventive, imaginative and sublimely scored. Throughout the film audience members can enjoy a taste along courtesy of Birmingham Whisky Club and Paul John Indian Single Malt. How does two whisky cocktails and tasters of the spirits that have gone into them sound? Yes we’re excited too.
Thu 17 Aug 8pm at The Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £25.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Last of The Mohicans (dir: Michael Mann, 1992, cert 12)
Epic cinema from one of its greatest auteurs. Michael Mann stepped away from the thrillers that were his forte and created an exhilarating adventure in Last of The Mohicans. Based on James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel; Mann’s visceral drama stars a method wielding Daniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye, engaged in a violent battle of wills with the frightening Huron warrior Magua, played with malicious flair by Wes Studi. The Cinematic Time Machine screening will be preceded by an introduction from B Film academic Will McKeown.
Sun 20 Aug 12pm at The Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Monsieur Lazhar (dir: Philippe Falardeau, 2011, cert 12A)
A Bergmanesque opening scene in which a teacher commits suicide at school and traumatises her students sets the melancholic tone for Falardeau’s powerfully complex human drama. The Oscar nominated film possesses an emotionally oblique subtlety as the confusing angst of existence is explored and, just as in real life, remains unresolved. Algerian comedian Moh-Saïd Fellag is superb as the titular Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant carrying his own tragedy, who inveigles his way into the school. Sublime cinema.
Sun 20 Aug 6.30pm at Cafe Ort, 500-504 Moseley Rd, Birmingham B12 9AH £5 www.meetup.com