There is a warning at the start of this film that it contains references to child sexual abuse and so you know it is going to be potentially a tough watch.
Continue readingGentle Monster (2026)
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Rose (2026)
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You know I love a black-and-white film, and pretty much any film with Sandra Hüller.
Continue readingJohanna D’Arc of Mongolia (1989)
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The Melbourne Film Festival is doing a strand of films by Ulrike Ottinger this year and, not knowing anything about this director, I was drawn in by this one being set largely in inner Mongolia at a time where no western directors had previously been allowed to film there.
Continue readingHolofiction (2025)
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Wow. This is one of those festival films that you probably wont get to see it elsewhere. It is wordless and created entirely from 1-2 second clips from fictional movies set during WWII and the Holocaust.
Continue readingYellow Letters (Gelbe Briefe) (2026)
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This hooked me from the moment it showed a dramatic title card that made it clear that it was being filmed in Berlin but we should consider this was Ankara in Turkey.
Continue readingMirrors No. 3 (Miroirs No. 3) (2025)
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I’m not sure why I feel slightly disappointed with this solid and gentle drama from Christian Petzold.
Continue readingParis, Texas (1984)
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I am grieving a little bit for my 24-year-old self. Paris, Texas was the movie for me in the 80s. I was living in London with a lot of time on my hands and not that big a social circle. I discovered arthouse cinemas in Soho and Brixton and would go on my own to see these weird and wonderful films.
Continue readingPerfect Days (2023)
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A ad for an anniversary screening of Wim Wenders’ Paris Texas played before the session of his latest film Perfect Days. I lived in London for a few years in my early 20s and it’s where I discovered non-mainstream films. I would go to art house cinemas, particularly one in Soho, and watch films on my own. This is where I discovered films like Paris Texas, Diva, Betty Blue, Down by Law, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing and The Kiss of the Spiderwoman. I fell in love with cinema.
Continue readingThe Zone of Interest (2023)
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The ‘zone of interest’ was the Nazi party term for the 40 square kilometre area around Auschwitz and also the name of Martin Amis’s novel, a very different version of a glimpse into the life and home of Rudolf Höss.
Continue readingDying (Sterben) (2024)
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You would think that a three hour film called Dying would be depressing or perhaps overwhelmingly emotional or sentimental. Director Matthias Glasner delivers an absorbing story of a family, told in chapters about each person, and laces it through with humour and an almost dispassionate emotion.
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