London Film Festival
LFF Review: Leave No Traces
Poland has long played an integral role in European history. The invasion of the country by Germany sparked World War II and its subsequent membership of the Eastern Bloc and the Warsaw Pact, revolution and independence have all been turbulent. Solidarity, a trade union movement, played a pivotal role in this political change. In 1983, …
LFF Review: The Alleys
When we’re children, the world around you feels huge and scary. However, as we get older, we soon realise just how small our neighbourhood is. If you live in compact housing, there’s a reasonable chance everyone knows each other. This can be both good and bad. While communities can be great sources of support and …
LFF Review: Ripples of Life
Today’s capitalist China is almost unrecognisable from where the country was at the end of the last century. By embracing private enterprise and a market economy, the ‘red dragon’ has focussed its massive human, technological and mineral resources into becoming the second largest economy in the world. However, this revolution has come at a price, …
LFF Review: All About My Sisters
Families are complex and often contradictory groupings at the best of time, but when you add severe external pressures into the mix the many interrelationships can become far more complicated. Introduced by the Communist Party of China in the early 1980s, the ‘one-child’ policy was intended to combat rapid population growth. It was strictly policed …
LFF Review: Bantú Mama
We’re not all born equal. While (theoretically) anyone can become rich and successful, where you come from and who your parents are play a huge role in determining your life prospects. What jobs will be available to you. The places you can live. For immigrants, this bar is often set quite low. Simply earning enough …
LFF Review: All My Friends Hate Me
University is an exciting time. A time to experiment. A time to try new things and meet new people. One where the emphasis is often on ‘having a laugh’ and being in the moment. Making friends is relatively easy but due to the fleeting nature of campus life they often don’t ‘stick’. Especially if you …
LFF Review: Sediments
Swimming against the general tide in the EU, while several members have curtailed LGBTQI+ rights, Spain is in the process of passing a law which will allow trans people to self-determine their gender. However, like its European brothers and sisters, the country is in the midst of a culture war. Tradition clashes with modernism in …
LFF Review: Les Enfants Terribles
Ever since the establishment of the first towns and cities, people across countries have been drawn to them. Towards the possibilities they hold in terms of education, work and culture. The industrial revolution and the mechanisation of manual labour has sped up this migration. Those who have remained in the villages and hamlets often hold …
LFF Review: White Building
Since its foundation back in the 15th century, Phnom Penh has been (off and on) the capital of the Khmer nation. Today, as the capital of Cambodia, it houses a population of nearing three million souls and is the nation’s economic, industrial and cultural heartland. Like most major cities in the region, it’s experiencing a …
LFF Review: Burn It Down!
Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place in August 1969 and became a defining moment for the counterculture generation. Drawing huge crowds, pictures from the festival have become iconic. Its reputation as a high cultural watermark was cemented by a documentary which was released a year later and spread the message around the world. Taking …