Get set for a fantastic evening for cinema lovers (and film buffs) in Chipping Norton. Following last year’s hugely popular event, The Theatre is bringing together some of the best, funniest, most eye-catching short films around into an evening celebrating all things film.

The programme will include shorts that were contenders in this year’s BAFTAs, a true mix of genres, including The Voorman Problem (pictured), starring The Hobbit’s Martin Freeman and Tom Hollander from the much loved Rev. This evening will also include projection room tours, special cinematic events and special guest appearances!

All tickets £12. To book, call the box office on 01608 642350 or visit chippingnortontheatre.com Step back to enjoy controversial masterpiece Teorema (Theorem), the 1968 Italian mystery film written and starring Terence Stamp, which is playing at the Ultimate Picture Palace. This film was the first time director Pier Paolo Pasolini worked primarily with professional actors, who also included Laura Betti, Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti, and Anne Wiazemsky. In this film, an upper-class Milanese family is introduced to, and then abandoned by, a divine force. Two prevalent motifs are the desert and the timelessness of divinity.

On its release, the religious right and the Vatican criticised the sexual content in the film. Others considered it “ambiguous” and “visionary”. The film won an award at the Venice Film Festival from the International Catholic Film Office, only to have it withdrawn later when the Vatican protested.

Scholars view the film differently due to the openness or ambiguity of the film. The author of A Certain Realism: Making Use of Pasolini’s Film Theory and Practice, Maurizio Viano, says that to understand the film, there must be “adequate translation”.Most scholars writing about the film do not discuss Pasolini’s cinematographic techniques but Pasolini’s philosophical arguments. Viano argues that Pasolini intended to be recognised as “a film theorist”. But judge for yourself...

See today's Oxford Times for details...