A worthy but meandering elegy to the many transgender people murdered in Brazil, the highest per capita in the world, according to the end credits.
Continue readingMadalena (2021)
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Dear Comrades! (Dorogie tovarishchi) (2020)
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In carefully composed black and white imagery, we watch the Soviet propaganda machine go into overdrive to cover up 1960s labour strikes and a subsequent, ill-advised massacre.
Continue readingBallad of a White Cow (2021)
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Reminiscent of an early Asghar Farhadi film, this tense and elegant drama by partners Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam explores the complexities of sacrifice and atonement in contemporary Iran.
Continue readingNinjababy (2021)
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Yngvild Sve Flikke’s gorgeous, feminist drama snuck up on me like a ninja, baby.
Continue readingLa Civil (2021)
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Based on the real experiences of a woman seeking justice after her daughter is abducted by a Mexican cartel, Teodora Mihai’s first feature is not so much a revenge thriller as a portrait of indomitable strength amidst unimaginable tragedy.
Continue readingNudo Mixteco (2021)
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This stunning first feature by Ángeles Cruz interweaves the stories of three indigenous women across one festival day in a small village in the Cerro Nudo Mixteco mountainous region between Puebla and Oaxaca in Mexico.
Continue readingLa Verónica (2020)
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Mariana Di Girolamo is in the centre of every frame in Leonardo Medel’s stylish, unsettling and completely absorbing look at artifice and narcissism.
Continue readingThe Hill Where Lionesses Roar (2021)
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The Hill Where Lionesses Roar is a remarkable achievement by 20-year old actor Luàna Bajrami (seen recently as Sophie in Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)), who is writer, director and star of this languidly beautiful story that captures the frustrations of youth, poverty and gender in rural Kosovo.
Continue readingWomen Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema (2019)
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With a run-time of 14 hours, this is a documentary to own so that you can dip in and out when you have the time. I was expecting a chronological exploration of female directors but this is something much more universal. Breaking the art of film-making down into 41 chapters, each technique and approach is illustrated only by clips from films made by women.
Continue readingEma (2019)
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Plot be damned, this wacky, fantastical tale carries you along in a multi-coloured street dance, transfixed by the awful beauty that is Ema.
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