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 readingDear Comrades! (Dorogie tovarishchi) (2020)
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MIFF 2021 Wrap Up (a.k.a. What Lockdown?)
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And so ends one of the most unusual MIFF experiences so far. Initially planned to be one week of in-cinema screenings and one week online, the ever-changing border restrictions and stay-at-home rules kept me guessing right up until the eleventh hour. Here’s a final wrap up with the details of how, what, when and where and the statistics of the 33 films I watched.
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 readingLanguage Lessons (2021)
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Natalie Morales transcends the all-too-familiar (thanks COVID-19) movie-made-on-screens gimmick to bring us an intensely moving story of human connection.
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 readingCome Back Anytime (また いらっしゃい) (2021)
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You will leave this exquisite documentary about Tokyo ramen master Masamoto Ueda with a full heart and a hankering for chashu ramen.
Continue readingCaptains of Za’atari (2021)
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A lushly-beautiful documentary with a story that perfectly encapsulates the plight and humanity of refugees.
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.
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