DIRECTOR Greta Gerwig’s new adaptation of American literary landmark Little Women (PG) and additional Christmas week screenings of Downton Abbey (PG) are among the seasonal cinema highlights at Lighthouse, Poole.

The new cinema programme also includes the first local screenings of Sundance hit Judy and Punch (15), a live action reinterpretation that turns the traditional puppet show on its head and the only local showing of veteran journalist and campaigner John Pilger’s new film, The Dirty War on the NHS (cert tbc), in which he investigates his view that one of the last bastions of true public service is being dismantled by stealth.

Other documentaries include the long-suppressed Yves St Laurent: The Last Collections (PG), an acerbic, sometimes shocking fly-on-the-wall piece commissioned by the legendary designer’s partner that was filmed 20 years ago but has been unseen since 2007.

The cinema also hosts a series of classic Christmas films featuring White Christmas (U), It’s a Wonderful Life (U), Elf (PG) and Die Hard (15), as well as Emma Thompson’s seasonal rom-com Last Christmas (12A) and the sequel Frozen 2 (PG).

Further highlights include Knives Out (12A), the murder mystery starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis, and Le Mans ’66 (12A) that teams Matt Damon and Christian Bale as visionary Ford car designer Carroll Shelby and British driver Ken Miles who took on the might of Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Widely acclaimed French romantic comedy La Belle Epoque (15) casts Daniel Auteuil as a disillusioned man in his sixties who stages a re-enactment of the moment he met his wife in the hope of rekindling their passion; while The Good Liar (15) reunites Gods and Monsters director Bill Condon with Ian McKellen as a career con man who grows to care about his latest mark (Helen Mirren).

Lighthouse benefactor Ian McKellen also appears in a stellar cast with Judi Dench, James Corden, Idris Elba and Taylor Swift in director Tom Hooper’s ambitious, CGI-enhanced staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats (cert tbc).

* For full details and to book tickets, visit lighthousepoole.co.uk or call 01202 280000.