This is the third in our series of Fall films in partnership with the Lester Centre. We are excited to be bringing acclaimed actors and filmmakers to local audiences through seasonal picks from the Toronto International Film Festival circuit.

Tickets are $13 for members and $15 for non-members and are available at the door. Films start pretty promptly at 7 pm.

Want to know more about the film? Check out the preview here, or see below for a synopsis: https://youtu.be/2YL4_bEKSzc?si=6NbU5xmN9rknk32r

Propelled by Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes, this inspiring drama from veteran director Nicholas Hytner (The Lady in the Van, TIFF ’15) depicts a British choir director’s efforts to assemble an ensemble during the darkest days of the First World War. Written by Hytner’s frequent collaborator, revered playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George), The Choral is a testament to music’s power to sustain our souls in troubled times.

The year is 1916 and the Great War is draining a Yorkshire town of its men, leaving the local choral society without voices. For a performance of Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, the society’s director, Dr. Guthrie (Fiennes), is forced to recruit his singers from among the town’s adolescent population. Guthrie is a demanding taskmaster, yet under his guidance these teens will come to know the transcendent joys of singing together, while steeling themselves for their impending conscription.

Joined by fellow British acting legends Simon Russell Beale (TIFF ’17’s The Death of Stalin) and Roger Allam (TIFF ’06’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Fiennes is in top form here, embodying the proverbial stiff upper lip while allowing vulnerability to break through the veneer of reserve.

The Choral is a deftly executed period tale that reminds us of the importance of cultivating community and using art to process anxieties and generate hope.