FIlm Review
Film Review: A Deal with the Universe
For most couples, having a child (or children) is one of the most important driving forces in their relationship. Whilst many pregnancies are unplanned, some people struggle for years to have offspring, whilst it’s just not possible for others. They often become increasingly desperate in the lengths they will go to in order to give …
Film Review: Prospect
The success of Alex Garland’s Annihilation and Ex-Machina demonstrate how much of an appetite genre fans have for intelligent science-fiction filmmaking. The likes of Moon, Under the Skin, Primer and Predestination show that budget doesn’t have to be an obstacle to success. We no longer live in an age where the lack of a wide …
Film Review: Last Breath
Contracting ‘the bends’ is a real hazard for all deep-sea divers. Saturation diving allows specialised commercial operators to work at great depths in a pressurised environment. It’s a risky vocation which can be incredibly dangerous. It’s also an area which is highly regulated and extremely health & safety conscious. However, regardless of how many precautions …
Film Review: Active Measures
The last few years has been a tumultuous time for global politics. A shift to the right and a regressive step towards nationalism has seen a number of surprising (and worrying) election results and a polarisation within societies around the world. The victory of President Trump shocked many commentators but there has been talk of …
Film Review: Eaten by Lions
Family plays an important role in most peoples lives. Love them or hate them, your nearest and dearest are always there. Until they’re not. And then their absence can be keenly felt. Or you might have never known your family or wish you hadn’t. Death of a close relative, and the subsequent grief and loss, …
Human Right Watch Film Festival Review: Saf
There’s a worrying modern phenomenon which is sweeping through cities around the world. In generations past, the rich had moved to the suburbs leaving the poor to live in fairly desolate urban areas. Now that trend is reversing with vast swathes of inner-cities being gentrified and turned into building sites. The poor are once again …
Film Review: Sharkwater Extinction
In 2006, Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart made Sharkwater. In doing so he exposed the barbaric practice of shark finning. His film contributed to a ban of this horrific practice in several countries around the world. Inspiring a new generation of young activists, it has been one of the greatest conservationist successes of this century so …
Human Rights Watch Film Festival Review: The Feeling of Being Watched
America, the land of the free, has been a racist and intolerant country from its very inception. One which has thrived and prospered from spilling the blood of others. One which attempted to wipe out its own indigenous population and enslaved many others. Whilst the great USA claims to be a cultural melting pot, that …
Human Rights Watch Film Festival Review: Screwdriver
It has been a theme, throughout history, that the oppressed often look for champions whom they can rally around. Fairly normal people can be elevated into god-like figures as long as it serves the wider cause. We’ve seen a resurgence of martyrdom across the Middle-East, but this doesn’t always end in death. The imprisonment and …
Human Rights Watch Film Festival Review: Minding the Gap
Today, America finds itself in a strange position as a country riven by conflict. Whilst Donald Trump’s politics and persona are well and truly hideous, his success has highlighted the large minority of society who feel ignored, betrayed and unrepresented by the political elite. There are few areas where this economic and social decline has …