Film
IDFA Review: Nardjes A.
Protests have sprung up across North Africa since the Arab Spring in 2010. Algeria has been no exception and witnessed two years of unrest at the beginning of the decade; against rising unemployment, housing shortages and soaring inflation, amongst other things. It has been fairly calm of late. However, sparked initially by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s …
Film Review: Falling
Men of an older generation were often brought up to believe in certain things. Taught they had to be a ‘real man’. Which usually meant something along the lines of being the breadwinner, never showing emotion and bringing up your children in your own image. As society progressed and increasingly became more liberally minded in …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Beasts
Men can be animals. In fact, when something truly awful happens you can bet your life it wasn’t a woman who did it. Whilst the scourge of toxic masculinity is arguably on the wane in the West, it still holds sway across much of the globe. It’s a man’s world and many spheres are still …
IDFA Review: Garage People
Deep in rural northern Russia, in the outskirts of a mining town, live row upon row of garages. Coming in a range of colours and conditions, these well-used buildings play a vital role in the lives of their owners. They provide an escape from everyday life. A place where they can be themselves and indulge …
Blu-ray Review: Columbia Noir #1
Film noir played a large part of Hollywood filmmaking during the 1940s and 1950s. Whilst these stylish, cynical and melodramatic crime dramas were popular at the time, it was only decades later that many were critically reappraised. This is especially the case with the many ‘B’ movies released over the era. For every big Bogart …
IDFA Review: Crazy, Not Insane
Over the last fifteen years, Alex Gibney has been frighteningly prolific, releasing amammoth twenty-eight feature-length documentaries. What is more impressive, is how consistently excellent they are. Not to mention award-winning, with the likes of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side in particular receiving a lot of plaudits. During …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Ulbolsyn
The English-language dominance in UK cinemas means that we’re only ever exposed to a limited and often narrow range of European cinema. Whilst you’d expect this to be the best of the best, licencing is often down to other factors such as cast, crew and distribution deals. The further east you go within the continent, …
IDFA Review: Bitter Love
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to experience a holiday romance, you’ll know that there’s nothing quite like it. Caught up in the moment. Just the two of you. Without a care in the world or a thought for what that rendezvous will mean in the long or medium term. Time stands still. A cruise …
IDFA Review: ‘Til Kingdom Come
Evangelical Christianity is an anathema for reasonable and liberal people. It has been around for centuries but is most often seen today in the intolerant bile you witness on TV networks across the United States. Indeed, it’s a weapon which President Trump has (successfully) employed in his political rise. Characterised by hectoring preachers and wildly …
IDFA Review: City Hall
Within documentary film circles, Frederick Wiseman is something of a legend. He’s easily one of the greatest living American documentarians and continues to work in a refreshingly unique way. Since 1970, when he established his own production company (Zipporah Films), he has self-released a raft of wonderful observational films, including Ex Libris – The New …