Dogwoof
Film Review: Last Man Standing
Nick Broomfield has been making documentaries for over five decades now. His style and idiosyncratic ways of working have been highly influential on many other filmmakers. The English filmmaker’s most high-profile documentaries have been about musicians. Kurt and Courtney caused controversy and was pulled from Sundance but it’s Biggie and Tupac which probably generated the …
Film Review: The Human Factor
The Arab-Israeli conflict can be traced back into distant history but in its current incarnation can probably be dated to 1948 and the establishment of the state of Israel. Wars, conflicts and regular skirmishes have been sporadically breaking out in the region ever since. Today, the focus is largely on the continuing hostilities between Israelis …
Film Review: Some Kind of Heaven
Located in central Florida, The Villages is the largest retirement community in the world. On the face of it this shiny happy ‘Disneyland for retirees’ seems like some kind of utopia. With a wealth of facilities, activities and different neighbourhoods, there’s something for everyone. The ‘resort’ is consistently the fastest growing metropolitan area in the …
Sundance Review: Captains of Zaatari
Millions upon millions of children around the globe grow up dreaming of becoming a professional footballer. The same dream has been passed down from generation to generation. Today, wherever you are in the world, thanks to the wonders of modern technology you can watch your heroes play on TV or online. Whilst the chances of …
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 …
Film Review: Assassins
Whilst there remain a few secretive regimes around the world, none are quite as covert or fascinating as North Korea. Since the end of the Korean War, its borders have essentially been closed. Whilst we’re only afforded slivers of information from defectors or visitors, it’s clear that the Kim Family’s cult of personality, alongside the …
Film Review: 76 Days
Wuhan is a city of 11 million people in the Hubei province of central China. Odds are you probably hadn’t heard of it until late December 2019, when it became the epicentre for global news following the outbreak of a disease which would rapidly morph into a global pandemic. COVID-19 has gone on to take …
Film Review: MLK/FBI
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important, influential and pivotal social and political figures in America during the second half of the twentieth century. His central role in the civil rights movement and his untimely death are ingrained within the psyche of the country. His determination to protest peacefully and exact nonviolent …
Film Review: Sing Me a Song
How often do you find yourself watching a film and when it ends wondering how it will all turn out? Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but several years down the line. Richard Linklater answered that question quite beautifully in his ‘Before’ trilogy. That prospect of a brighter future can easily sour. In Happiness, Thomas …
Film Review: The Mole Agent
Life expectancy has been steadily rising since the Industrial Revolution in the ‘First World’. This has been largely thanks to improvements in standards of living, healthcare availability and scientific breakthroughs. Along with decades of (relative) peace, this has led to aging populations. Public services and elderly care have failed to keep up, whilst diseases such …