The Lonesome Dove Cinema Club
The Best of Western Films from Around the World
Dust off your boots pilgrims.
Every two months, The Lonesome Dove Cinema Club transforms Belfast into the Wild West. From the haunting landscapes of The Great Silence to the nihilistic justice of Unforgiven, we explore the rugged frontier of film. Whether it’s a cult classic like Black God, White Devil or a legendary tale like The Return of Frank James, we are dedicated to one thing: celebrating the cinematic power of the Western.
Lonesome Dove Screenings
The Lonesome Dove comes around about every two months, if the creek don't rise. At the moment we're screening at the Beanbag Cinema, deep in the heart of Belfast.
Open Range (2003)
“Cows is one thing,” he says, “but one man telling another man where he can go in this country is something else.”
In a change to our planned screening of 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada' (postponed to a later date), The Lonesome Dove brings you Kevin Costner's 'Open Range'. This fantastic modern western is also a tribute to the late, great Robert Duvall.
Duvall plays Boss Spearman, the gruff leader of a small band of 'Free Grazers' moving their cattle across country. His right-hand man, Charlie Waite is Costner at his most angst-ridden and handsome, Bull Durham with a six shooter. These two come into conflict with a deranged landowner played by Michael Gambon.
Led by a wonderful performance by Duvall, this is a western of heroes and villains, values and bravery, set against the dying light of the open range.
139 minutes.
Screening 26th March, 7pm.
The Great Silence - Il Grande Silenzio (1968)
Presented in partnership with Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
“Because wherever he goes, the silence of death follows”
On an unforgiving, snow-swept, frontier a group of bloodthirsty bounty hunters, led by the vicious ‘Loco’, preys on a band of persecuted outlaws who have taken to the hills. As the price on each head is collected one-by-one, only a mute gunslinger named ‘Silence’ stands between the innocent refugees and the greed and corruption that the bounty hunters represent. But in this harsh, brutal world, the lines between right and wrong aren’t always clear, and good doesn’t always triumph.
Featuring one of Ennio Morricone’s most haunting and melancholic soundtracks, director Sergio Corbucci (Django,Navajo Joe) was in a dark place, and he poured his cynicism at the world around him into this groundbreaking film. Starring two icons of cinema, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski,The Great Silence is a classic anti-western that echoes the political paranoia of Europe of the time, as the revolutions of the 60s became bathed in bloodshed.
The Great Silence will be introduced by Des O’Rawe, reader in Film Studies at Queen’s University Belfast.
105 minutes
Screening 7pm, 6th May 2026 at The Beanbag Cinema
The Lonesome Dove Cinema Club
The Lonesome Dove CInema Club is dedicated to the screeing of the finest westerns, and also to building a community of western lovers. Founded by Hugh Odling-Smee, the club is always looking for new members for the lonesome trail.
Contact The Lonesome Dove
Please do send us a message if you'd like to be added to our mailing list, give us feedback on a screening or suggest film titles or venues for future events.