Where are you going Aida? Aida (Jasna Đuričić) is a former teacher, co-opted into translating for the UN in Srebrenica during the 90s Bosnian war.
Continue readingQuo Vadis, Aida? (2020)
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Mayor (2020)
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This is a beautifully-made documentary that carries us close beside the mayor of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Musa Hadid, as he goes about his day, dealing with everything from fountains to Israeli aggression.
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 readingLast and First Men (2017)
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This was the first time at MIFF 68.5 that I really missed being in a cinema. Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson directs his only feature, bringing together three distinct and disparate components to create an emotional experience that cries out for sensory immersion.
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.
Continue readingAtlantis (2019)
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Valentyn Vasyanovych knows how to frame and hold an image. This slow and poignant exploration of the aftermath of war is like a series of tableau, stitched together to create a compelling and rigorous story.
Continue readingDigger (2020)
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I can see what this austere drama from Georgis Grigorakis was trying to do and, for a first feature, it is well crafted and tonally interesting. Pitched as a David and Goliath battle between an everyman and a mining company and also, oddly as a ‘Western, revisited’, it didn’t quite achieve its aim.
Continue readingSweet Thing (2020)
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A low-budget family affair with a crew made up of director Alexandre Rockwell’s film students, Sweet Thing feels like a home movie as seen through the eyes of children.
Continue readingJust 6.5 (Metri Shesh Va Nim) (2019)
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From the first moments of this high-speed Iranian cop thriller, you think you know what it’s about. Drug dealers are bad, cops are a bit rough around the edges but basically good. They’ll struggle and the problem isn’t solvable but they’ll get their man. Saeed Roustayi second feature is much more than it says on the tin.
Continue readingIdentifying Features (Sin Señas Particulares) (2019)
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It’s hard to believe that this compelling drama is the first feature directed by Fernanda Valadez. It is a beautifully constructed film that pulls you in by various threads into a story of mothers and sons, broken by a cruel society.
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