There’s an embarrassment of riches on the free to stream services right now, we’ll start with BBC’s iPlayer and two fantastic American indies you may not be familiar with.

First up 2013’s Short Term 12, a hugely impressive low budget drama set in a home for troubled teenagers. The film avoids easy fixes and sentimentality and never refrains from portraying damaged lives, but thankfully ends on a note of great positivity.

Made with a cast of at the time largely unknown actors, it features uniformly great performances from among others, future Oscar winners Brie Larson and Rami Malek playing staff members struggling to cope with the emotional workload – well worth a watch.

Just as good is 20th Century Women, also on iPlayer, with four time Oscar nominee Annette Benning stealing the show. Benning plays Dorothea, single mother of 15 year old Jamie, worried about their relationship she persuades her lodger and her neighbour’s daughter to help raise him.

20th Century Women is that rare kind of film you wish you saw more often, the kind that gradually accumulates an emotional weight as it goes on so that by the end you feel a real connection to the fictional characters and their lives.

With a clever structure and a few subtle stylish flourishes from writer director Mike Mills, this is one of my favourites of recent years.

My last choice this week is French heart transplant drama Heal the Living, currently available on All4/channel4.com

Starting with a tragic accident, the film follows a donated heart as it makes its journey from donor to recipient, and looks at the lives and people involved in that journey.

Finally we’ll end with the exciting news that Kinokulture is planning to re-open on Friday, September 4, I can’t wait. More details to follow.