Thank you Jenny. I sat next to Jenny on my first day and we chatted. She is a regular MIFF-goer and one year stepped in to manage the festival, so she knows her films. We compared our schedules and she saw that I was seeing Magic Magic by Chilean director Sebastián Silva, who is having a retrospective at MIFF this year. Although she quite liked that film, she recommended two others of his – The Maid and Old Cats. So I booked The Maid and loved it. Continue reading
Tag Archives: 4.5 stars
The Ground We Won (2015)
StandardI admit that I booked this film because it was filmed in black and white and from New Zealand. I knew it was about rugby in a rural town but that was about all. When it began I thought, “Oh Lordy, what have I done. I’m watching a film about sport.” I’m so glad I booked it. Continue reading
Being 14 (2015)
StandardI really enjoyed this French drama that follows three 14 year old girls, Sarah, Louise and Jade, through a year where they fall in and out of friendship, fight with parents and teachers and try to find their way. Continue reading
Mustang (2015)
StandardThe second film of the festival for me and it was a gem. This Turkish film began gently. Five sisters ranging in age perhaps from 11 to 16, play a game on the beach with friends, both girls and boys, on the way home from school. It is an image of exuberance and youth, so normal. But the word of a neighbour sets off a chain of events that swiftly and inexorably changes the world of the girls. Ostensibly because of convention, but really because of fear, their uncle and grandmother shut off the outside world and try to force them into the acceptable role of wife. Continue reading
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