IDFA
IDFA Review: The Banality of Grief
How do you deal with grief? Everyone reacts in their own way, anywhere on the cycle from denial, anger, bargaining, depression to acceptance, at any given moment in time. There are no right or wrong answers. Whether someone withdraws into themselves or faces their loss head-on, it’s a difficult and traumatic journey. One which, despite …
IDFA Review: Eskape
The Khmer Rouge, also known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea, ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. While their period in charge was brief, the impact they had on Cambodians can still be felt today. Led by Pol Pot, they carried out a systematic campaign to eradicate anyone with connections to the former regime, professionals …
IDFA Review: F@ck This Job
While Russia might claim to be a democracy, not even the most gullible person could seriously believe that there are fair and open elections in the country. Indeed, since he came to power in 2000, Vladimir Putin has gradually and systematically eroded freedoms of speech and protest. There is next to no official opposition in …
IDFA Review: Four Journeys
Towards the end of the 1970s, the Chinese authorities had a major problem. The population of the country was threatening to spiral out of control and while the birth rate had been in relative decline for decades life expectancy was shooting up. The measures they put in place failed to halt this seemingly inexorable rise, …
IDFA Review: 1970
The Cold War threw up many challenges but one of the strangest, in hindsight, was the lack of information about the daily lives of people living behind the Iron Curtain. While we got inundated with propaganda, there was very little fact. Indeed, even now, our knowledge about this period largely comes courtesy of film and …
IDFA Review: Trenches
Due to advances in weaponry and military technology, trench warfare became prevalent in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. It started an age of martial attrition, where the defenders had the advantage and each metre of ground was gained through (often days and weeks of) blood, sweat and tears. With the arrival of …
IDFA Review: I’m So Sorry
The climate crisis is reaching a crunch point and there has never been as many people in positions of power wanting to change things for the better. Will the agreements struck in Paris and Glasgow be enough? Probably not, but there is at least, for once, a concerted effort to save the planet by the …
IDFA Review: White Noise
Whilst the Tea Party movement may have eventually been unsuccessful, it did have one huge and lasting impact on US society. The politics of fear, which its proponents used as a weapon, has become commonplace. The rise of Trumpism and the alt-right has resulted in a spike in white nationalism and proto-fascism. Combined with the …
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 …
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 …