Maldon Film Club welcomed in the new year with the screening of the Golden Globe-nominated Portrait of a Lady on Fire, followed by the Oscar award-winner and highly-acclaimed JoJo Rabbit.

The club meets at Maldon Town Hall, doors open at around 7.30pm and films begin at 8pm prompt.

The programme for 2021/22, which covers a wide variety of themes with films from different regions of the world, continues until 25 May 2022 and our films will be shown fortnightly on Wednesdays until the end of the season.

The next two films to be shown are Honeyland, which received two Oscar nominations, and Official Secrets, which is based on the true story of a British whistleblower.

Our first film for February, Honeyland, to be screened on Wednesday, 2 February, is the tale of the last female bee-hunter in Europe who must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland. Her task is made more difficult when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.

Later on Wednesday, 16 February, the film to be shown will be Official Secrets starring Keira Knightley, Matt Smith and Matthew Goode.

A morality tale for the 21st century, Official Secrets tells the true story of British Intelligence whistle-blower Katharine Gun who, during the immediate run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, leaked a top secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council.

The memo proposed blackmailing smaller, undecided member states into voting for war. At great personal and professional risk, journalist Martin Bright published the leaked document in the Observer newspaper in London, and the story made headlines around the world.

Members of the security council were outraged and any chance of a UN resolution in favour of war collapsed. But within days, Bush declared he no longer needed UN backing and invaded anyway. As Iraq descended into chaos, Katharine was arrested and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act. Martin faced potential charges too.

Details of the films to be screened from March until the end of the season are listed below:

• 2 March: Paradise - four Oscar awards
• 16 March: Sorry We Missed You - one BAFTA nomination
• 30 March: Sweet Country
• 13 April: Knives Out - one Oscar nomination
• 27 April: Taste of Honey - winner of one Golden Globe award
• 11 May: Pain and Glory - two Oscar nominations
• 27 April: Taste of Honey - winner of one Golden Globe award
• 11 May: Pain and Glory - two Oscar nominations
• 25 May: To be confirmed

The membership fee from January to May is just £20 and entitles members to free admission to all films.

In addition, there are a limited number of places for junior members aged 16 to 18 in full-time education and training at the reduced cost of £15.

Membership is open to all and new members are always very welcome.

So why not join now and then enjoy the remaining nine films for free!

For further details and an application form please check out the website here, visit the Maldon Visitor Information Centre (11am to 4pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays) from 8 February onwards or contact me, John Salisbury, on 07905971608.