Meco Film Festival 2008

2007 Turkey (in Turkish with English subtitles) 105 min
DirectorAboullah Oguz
Three people meet under unlikely circumstances and change each other's lives in this Turkish drama from director Abdullah Oguz. When an unmarried teenage girl is believed by her family to have given up her virginity, she is ordered to be killed out of shame. But before her relative is able to complete the task, the two encounter a wealthy college professor in the midst of a mid-life existential crisis.

With each of their futures held in the balance, the trio embark on a journey ofdiscovery together. “Mutluluk” centers around the conflicts that still has traditional resonance in Turkey, and which have become even more popular in the West since 9/11: Tradition vs. modernity, urban vs. rural, and of course, East vs. West. Ironically, the names associated with the film are a testament to “life imitating art,” as they embody the conflicting nature of East vs. West in Turkey.

Oxford Shakespeare Company return to Wadham College Garden with their Open Air production of Twelfth Night. Directed by Bill Bankes Jones. Music by Nicholas Lloyd-Webber

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is a masterpiece of desire from the unforgettable opening line to the deliciously comic conclusion. 

Ticket Prices:
FRIDAY and SATURDAY £20 (£17 conc)
MONDAY to THURSDAY £18.50 (£14.50 conc)
MATINEES £15 (£10 conc.)
Under 12’s: £8
Under 5’s FREE – Call 01865 305305 for free under 5 ticket


All seating is unreserved, tiered and has back rest.

No Refunds are given for cancelled performances due to bad weather. Exchange for another performance only. A performance will never cancel before the due start time. Exchanges only to be made at the Box Office at Wadham College Gardens, and not via Tickets Oxford. 

The Life & Times of Queen Elizabeth I revealed through the Sonnets of William Shakespeare, featuring Elizabeth’s Tilbury Speech, and including songs & dances by Byrd, Dowland, Gibbons & Philips

CHARIVARI AGRÉABLE
Isobel Collyer — reader & soprano
Layil Barr — recorder & viol
Kah-Ming Ng — virginals

Meco Film Festival 2008

(2003) Palestine (in Arabic, with English subtitles)
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Rana (Clara Khoury) is a 17-year-old Palestinian student, happily, if jealously, in love with her theater director boyfriend,
Khalil (Khalifa Natour). Although she lives in the uneasy peace of Jerusalem, she also has the run of her family's apartment, where she listens to pop music, dresses with a low-key aplomb, and misses her mother who died when she was a child. Even the return of her father (Zuher Fahoum) from Cairo, where he works, doesn't disturb her life too much. Until, that is, he offers her the unpalatable choice of returning with him to Cairo to continue her studies under his watchful eye, or an arranged marriage to someone picked from a list of suitors whose families are willing to ally with his. Only when dawn lights on her father's very last day can Rana force herself to act. If she has to marry to stay in Jerusalem, she decides she will marry her lover, Khalil. The only problems she faces are finding Khalil, who isn't answering his cell phone, tracking down a registrar who will marry them in spite of her father's prohibition, negotiating the everyday hazards of life on the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and gathering all the key players in one place for the wedding.

Meco Film Festival 2008

(2004)  Mali (in French with English subtitles) 120min
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Set in a small African village, four young girls face a ritual purification that involves genital mutilation. They flee to the house of Collé Ardo Gallo Sy, a strong-willed woman who once managed to shield her teenage daughter from circumcision. Collé invokes the time-honored custom of “mooladé” (sanctuary) to protect the fugitives, creating a conflict in the community and forcing every villager to take sides. Tensions quickly mount between village traditionalists (male and female) and Collé. Moolaadé is provocative in the best sense, giving all sides their due before resolving things in a courageous display of solidarity.

Oxford Shakespeare Company return to Wadham College Garden with their Open Air production of Twelfth Night. Directed by Bill Bankes Jones. Music by Nicholas Lloyd-Webber

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is a masterpiece of desire from the unforgettable opening line to the deliciously comic conclusion. 

Ticket Prices:
FRIDAY and SATURDAY £20 (£17 conc)
MONDAY to THURSDAY £18.50 (£14.50 conc)
MATINEES £15 (£10 conc.)
Under 12’s: £8
Under 5’s FREE – Call 01865 305305 for free under 5 ticket


All seating is unreserved, tiered and has back rest.

No Refunds are given for cancelled performances due to bad weather. Exchange for another performance only. A performance will never cancel before the due start time. Exchanges only to be made at the Box Office at Wadham College Gardens, and not via Tickets Oxford. 

Meco Film Festival 2008

(2006) 88 minutes, Iran, Farsi with English subtitles
Director: Jafar Panahi 
Offside is a bittersweet comedy, which will doubtless be labelled the 'Iranian Bend It Like Beckham'. Having (inevitably) had ‘The Circle’ and ‘Crimson Gold’ banned in Iran, Jafar Panahi again displays disdain for his censors with a righteously provocative critique of the Islamic Republic’s oppressive treatment of women. Prepared in advance and shot in a semi-documentary style on the day of the Iranian football team’s 2005 World Cup qualifying tie against Bahrain.

It begins with a young girl on a bus travelling to the match in the company of likewise excited male fans – the crucial difference being that, unlike them, she isn’t legally allowed to attend. There’s no denying this films rough, rousing power or its relevance as an illuminating social document.

Oxford Shakespeare Company return to Wadham College Garden with their Open Air production of Twelfth Night. Directed by Bill Bankes Jones. Music by Nicholas Lloyd-Webber

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is a masterpiece of desire from the unforgettable opening line to the deliciously comic conclusion. 

Ticket Prices:
FRIDAY and SATURDAY £20 (£17 conc)
MONDAY to THURSDAY £18.50 (£14.50 conc)
MATINEES £15 (£10 conc.)
Under 12’s: £8
Under 5’s FREE – Call 01865 305305 for free under 5 ticket


All seating is unreserved, tiered and has back rest.

No Refunds are given for cancelled performances due to bad weather. Exchange for another performance only. A performance will never cancel before the due start time. Exchanges only to be made at the Box Office at Wadham College Gardens, and not via Tickets Oxford. 

Meridian (jenni Parkinson and Eri Kaishima) are a duo performing music for marimbas and percussion. Programme to include contemporary marimba music by Keiko Abe and Nebojsa Zivkovic, and arrangements of Bach and Piazzola.

In aid of SOS Children's Villages and the Tom Parkinson Memorial Fund.

Isis Chamber Orchestra - Orchestral Concert

• Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D Major
• Schumann - Symphony No.3 The Rhenish
• Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

• Conductor - Paul Cox
• Violin - Caroline Duffner
• Leader - Andrew Lack

Under 16's free when accompanied by an adult (Please contact Box Office)