Film
Sundance Review: Sabaya
In summer 2014, daesh captured the town of Sinjar and most of the Sinjar district in Northern Iraq. The population fled into the mountains, including an estimated forty thousand Yazidis. The insurgents waged a systematic campaign of genocide against the Yazid People, capturing girls and young women and murdering everyone else. Whilst the exact number …
Sundance Review: President
The ‘resignation’ of President Robert Mugabe in 2017 ended a chapter in Zimbabwe’s history which had begun almost four decades earlier. Whilst the ZANU-PF leader might have been hounded out of office following a year of protests, he was then simply replaced by a man in the same mould, Emmerson Mnangagwa. A year later the …
Sundance Review: Mother Schmuckers
The film industry is often a family affair. There is probably no other area of the economy where this is so prevalent. While the insipid nepotism of children of the rich and famous getting an unfair advantage is widespread, there’s also the unusual phenomenon of film siblings. Whether that’s in-front (Affleck, Gylennhaal, Mara) or behind …
Sundance Review: Son of Monarchs
The United States of America and Mexico have a long and complex history. Dating all the way back to the Texas Revolution in 1835, the socio-political relationship between the two nations has been interwoven over many generations. Millions of Mexicans have crossed the border chasing the American dream of a ‘better life’, forming a vital …
Sundance Review: Human Factors
Since the rise of the first great civilisation in Mesopotamia, there has probably never been a time in human history where we’ve been so disconnected. While we might now have friends scattered around the world, our busy work schedules and online lifestyles can lead to families becoming virtual strangers. Family units can often be more …
Sundance Review: In the Same Breath
2020 was the most difficult year, around the world, in post-war history. 2021 seems set to rival it, but with the approval of several vaccines at least there’s now a light at the end of a very long tunnel. Whilst it’s not over yet, thoughts have turned to the handling of the pandemic. With the …
DVD Review: The Man Who Laughs
Released by Eureka Entertainment, this classic silent film garners a new restoration in 4K as a part of the label’s ongoing Masters of Cinema series
Film Review: Mirai
There’s nothing that can prepare you for having children. Whilst a firstborn is a brand-new and exciting experience for everyone involved, the second child can prove to be a trickier proposition. For the parent(s), there’s the prospect of having to now juggle caring responsibilities for two young ones with everything else. Then there’s the elder …
Sundance Review: Censor
The rise of the video nasty created a moral panic across the UK in the early 1980s. These low-budget films were characterised by their violent and bloody content. However, due to a loophole in the law, they escaped the ever-vigilant gaze of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). After a public outcry, this omission …
IFFR Review: Gritt
Art is highly responsive to events in the wider world. In many ways, it acts as a reflection and critique of the socio-political state of the environment in which it is created. Artists use the only weapon they have, their art, as a means of protest. This spans the spectrum of the discipline from painting …