Even though it’s two hours long, there isn’t a minute wasted in this taut thriller that shines a light on the precariousness of being a woman in Iran.
Continue readingHoly Spider (2022)
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Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
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This is a lush and enthralling ‘fairytale’ based on A S Byatt’s short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” and director by Australian legend George Miller.
Continue readingSilent Land (Cicha Ziemia) (2021)
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A compelling parable about the indifference of those with more than enough.
Continue readingEmily the Criminal (2022)
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Emily the Criminal is a solid thriller that is elevated by two excellent lead performances.
Continue readingNothing Compares (2022)
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Sinéad O’Connor was ahead of her time, unapologetically outspoken for all the things we believed but didn’t have the courage to say.
Continue readingBroker (브로커) (2022)
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This latest film from Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda is masterful storytelling. I came out of the screening with a similar feeling to when I watched Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019); contemporary South Korea where the dramatic tension comes from depth of character not plot.
Continue readingHarka (2022)
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There is something inevitable about the trajectory of Ali’s life in Lofty Nathan’s sunbleached drama of hopelessness that foreshadows the start of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia in 2011.
Continue readingUnclenching the Fists (Разжимая кулаки) (2021)
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This is a quintessential film festival film. It immerses you into a little known culture (North Ossetia), claustrophobically shows you the grim reality of an abused person (Ada), weaves a metaphor throughout (those clenched fists), and gives you a final act that will leave you confounded, exhilarated and thinking about it long afterwards.
Continue readingThe Novelist’s Film (소설가의 영화)(2022)
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I find myself wanting to like South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo’s work. Maybe I’m choosing the wrong ones out of his huge filmography as they seem whimsically pedestrian and self-absorbed, albeit in a way that’s meant to be charming.
Continue readingIncredible But True (Incroyable Mais Vrai) (2022)
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If you watched Deerskin (2019), you’ll know what to expect from ‘fabulist’ Quentin Dupieux.
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