Film Festival
IDFA Review: The Grocer’s Son, the Mayor, the Village and the World…
One of the functions of documentary filmmaking is to allow an audience the opportunity to peek into someone else’s life. To afford the viewer an insight into a world they have little or no knowledge of or which is completely alien to them. Claire Simon has spent her career shining the light on the lives …
IDFA Review: The Earth is Blue as an Orange
In the aftermath of pro-European Union demonstrations which resulted in the Ukrainian Revolution of 2014 and the ousting of the government, there has been continued tensions on the eastern border. Fighting broke out with Russian-backed anti-government separatists in the Donbass (Donetsk and Luhansk regions). This conflict still rages today with the Kremlin looking to flex …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: My Favourite War
Whilst so much has been said, written and shot about World War II, most of it has largely concentrated on the Western Front and the Pacific theatre. This is largely due to who is speaking, writing and filming and where their audience resides. Unless you’re from that arena, the conflict on the Eastern front is …
IDFA Review: Nothing but the Sun
One of the consequences of conquest is the impact this invasion has on the indigenous populations, who, in most cases, had been living happily on their land for countless generations. Whilst the white man was more than happy to kill for what they wanted; Europeans were often equally as deadly when trying to help. Diseases …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Fugitive Dreams
There’s something distinctly American about the road movie. Whether that stems from the likes of Jack Kerouac heading out On the Road or the tradition of freighthopping which has taken generations of Americans far and wide across the country; in search of jobs, a new home or simply temporary shelter. More than just a means …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Enfant Terrible
As the saying goes, the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. That was certainly the case with one of Germany’s greatest film directors. Rainer Werner Fassbinder made his first feature film in 1969 at the age of twenty-four. Thirteen years and Twenty-two films later, he was found dead in his room. …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Exemplary Behaviour
Whilst the last resort for the most serious crimes in civilised countries is life imprisonment, that doesn’t mean to say that the bad guys always get their comeuppance. Or if they do, the sentence they deserve. And even if they do face incarceration, they can often halve their time behind bars for ‘good behaviour’. Whilst …
IDFA 2020 Preview
The International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world’s largest documentary film festival. Despite the closure of theatres in the Netherlands for the early part of November, there will be a mix of in-person and virtual screenings this year; with the industry program taking place entirely online. The festival takes place between 18 November and …
Raindance Review: Here Are the Young Men
If you leave school with a career mapped out then you’re one of the fortunate (and probably privileged) ones. Most of us simply end up making it up as we go along. Especially when there are very few prospects out there to choose from. The transition from childhood to adulthood is often tricky and it’s …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Sisters with Transistors
Like most areas of life, the music industry has always been a male dominated world. Where women have excelled, it’s normally in spheres which haven’t traditionally been the province of men. Thankfully, this disparity is slowly beginning to change and with-it entrenched attitudes towards female musicians. Those pioneers who entered a man’s world, pushed boundaries …