Bulawayo Morning Mirror Extra - 25/6/2026 ZIMBABWE ACADEMY OF MUSIC Tel: 2260684 / 2267195 WhatsApp: 0782 946 086 E-mail: zam@gatorzw.co.uk The Nest cafe is open for all Academy events and throughout the day. THURSDAY 25 JUNE AT 6.30 P.M. UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN When Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) learns her husband is cheating on her from a writer whom she gave a bad review, her life is turned upside down. In an attempt to bring her out of a deep depression, her best friend, Patti (Sandra Oh), encourages Frances to take a tour of Italy. During the trip, the new divorcee impulsively decides to purchase a rural Tuscan villa and struggles to start her life anew amid colourful local characters, including the handsome Marcello. - The epitome of what a feel-good movie is supposed to be but rarely is, this one is beautiful to look at and life-affirming to think about, and it doesn't have a pretentious bone in its head. [The Observer] - An enjoyable, entertaining odyssey with beautiful landscapes, a fun mood, and a charming performance from the always sexy Diane Lane. [ Cinema Crazed] - Has an emotional core of realism that is so precise and delicate and pinpoint accurate that it's overwhelming... [Flick Filosopher] - This is a delightful for the target audience and the rest of you out there will like it too. [Greenwich Village Gazette] - Sensual, luscious, vibrant filmmaking, and not a single frame of it is tepid or mundane. [Northwest Herald] Admission: $3.00 THURSDAYS 2 & 9 JULY AT 6.30 P.M. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a gripping crime thriller following Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist recently convicted of libel against a corrupt billionaire. He is hired by elderly, wealthy Henrik Vanger to investigate the presumed murder of his 16- year-old grandniece, Harriet, who vanished from their secluded family island in 1966. Lisbeth Salander: An unorthodox, fiercely independent computer hacker with a photographic memory and a traumatic past. She is initially hired to research Blomkvist's background but later hacks into his case files, impressing him enough that he brings her on as a partner Together, Blomkvist and Salander comb through decades of Vanger family history, diaries, and photographs to discover a disturbing pattern of anti-Semitic and misogynistic murders dating back decades. This is the original Swedish version expanded with deleted scenes as a two-part mini- series and dubbed into English. - It's the rare film of this length that doesn't make you look at your watch once. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is such a film. [Washington Post - Powerful, graphic, funny and disturbing, an astounding piece of cinema. [The Sun] - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is rife with nightmarishly violent and horrific behaviour. It's intense, graphic, frightening. And, yes, exhilarating. [Philadelphia Inquirer] - A sensational, spine-chilling thriller that will leave you clenching the arms on your theatre chair until your knuckles turn white. [Watertown Daily Times] Admission: $3.00 FRIDAY 10 JULY AT 6.30 P.M. PONCHIELLI: LA GIOCONDA Recorded live at the Vienna State Opera, Placido Domingo and Eva Marton star in a sumptuous recording of Ponchielli's famed four-act melodrama, a story of tyranny and intrigue set in semi-historical and ever-romantic Venice which demands large resources including a full-scale ballet, the celebrated Dance of the Hours. The story - based on a long forgotten Victor Hugo drama - is an emotional roller coaster of high passion and self-sacrifice and Ponchielli's score might be sumptuous to the point of occasional over- ripeness but it contains some marvellous arias, and whenever La Gioconda herself is on stage, it's hard not become enthralled by the richness of her suffering as painted by Ponchielli's lush, explosive music. - Ponchielli's wonderful opera masterly done. Perfection. [Amazon] - The performances from the entire cast can't be faulted, the two leads Eva Marton and Placido Domingo are especially outstanding and Barnaba is wonderfully devilish in characterisation. [IMDb] - This is a lovely Gioconda. The ultra-conservative production isn't ashamed to take this opera for the blood-and-thunder melodrama it is. Eva Marton sounds fantastic and Domingo is at the top of his game here while Fischer manages to draw a beautifully warm sound from the Vienna strings and the sense of a great occasion is well captured. [MusicWeb International] Admission: $3.00 THEREAFTER Thursday 16 July Kinky Boots Thursday 23 July Captain Corelli's Mandolin Friday 24 July Delibes: Coppelia Thursday 30 July The Girl Who Played with Fire - 1 Thursday 6 August The Girl Who Played with Fire - 2 ++++