SamsaraU

Directed by Lois Patiño | Spain | 2023 | 1h 54m | Lao & Swahili w/ English subtitles | Starring Amid Keomany, Toumor Xiong, Simone Milavanh, Mariam Vuaa Mtego, Juwairiya Idrisa Uwesu

Amidst the Buddhist temples of Laos, a young man reads a sacred text to a dying woman. This text serves as a guide for finding one’s way through the afterlife. When the woman passes away, her spirit moves toward reincarnation in its next body. Experimental filmmaker Lois Patiño takes us on an immersive and sensory journey across continents via the cosmos in this meditative and transcendent examination of life after death.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival.

Warning: this film contains flickering or flashing lights that may affect those with photosensitive epilepsy.

Reviews

‘Transcendent and transformative…its feels like new cinematic ground is being broken before our eyes, and the impact is exponentially increased if experienced with people in the dark of the cinema’
★★★★★
David Jenkins, Little White Lies

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Samsara between February 16, 2024 and February 22, 2024.

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What else is on?

Today (Sunday 1st March)

14:15

Last Year at Marienbad U
1h 33m | French w/ English subtitles
In an opulent hotel suspended outside time, a man insists he once loved a woman who denies knowing him. Alain Resnais’s hypnotic masterpiece blurs memory and reality, becoming one of cinema’s most haunting and influential modernist works.

Book here

16:30

The Chronology of Water 18
2h 8m
In the 1980s, a talented swimmer’s dreams are upended, sending her on a journey through love, loss, and self-discovery. Kristen Stewart makes her directorial debut with an intimate, compelling portrait of resilience, creativity, and finding one’s voice through art.

Book here

19:30

Hamlet 15
1h 53m
Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) returns home after his father’s death, and is haunted by the ghosts of revenge. Amid political corruption, family loyalty and moral responsibility collide in this gripping, contemporary re-telling of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

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Tomorrow (Monday 2nd March)

18:15

Last Year at Marienbad U
1h 33m | French w/ English subtitles
In an opulent hotel suspended outside time, a man insists he once loved a woman who denies knowing him. Alain Resnais’s hypnotic masterpiece blurs memory and reality, becoming one of cinema’s most haunting and influential modernist works.

Book here

20:30

It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley 15
1h 46m
Rising musician Jeff Buckley had only released one album when he died suddenly in 1997. Now, never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from those closest to him offer a portrait of the captivating singer.

Book here


Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!