Film Festival
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2021 Preview
Sheffield Doc/Fest has taken a new direction under the curation of Director Cíntia Gil. Whether by intention or through necessity, given both editions under her curatorship have been during lockdown constraints, there has been a distinct move away from the previous English-language-centric and big film/event focus. Instead, the programme has undergone a transition to become …
IFFR Review: Birds of America
One of my local galleries houses John James Audubon’s beautiful Blue Crane, Or Heron. It’s a picture which has always fascinated me. It’s a magnificent work of art but it’s the sheer vibrancy and animated majesty of the illustration which jumps out at you. The French ornithologist, naturalist and painter embarked on his quest to …
Grimmfest Review: To Your Last Death
Whilst it’s become something of a cliché, the portrayal of rich and powerful white men as bad parents, not to mention dubious people, still often rings true. Power and money can easily corrupt and that obsession with accumulating as much as possible can lead to neglecting other areas of your life. Especially your family and …
Grimmfest Review: A Perfect Enemy
Airports are eerie and haunting places. They function as transit hubs for people who are either embarking on a journey or returning home, providing a space which acts like something akin to being in a state of limbo. There is a lot of thought and planning which goes into building these ‘cathedrals of the sky’ …
Hot Docs Review: The Spokeswoman
Around twenty-five million Mexicans self-identify as being indigenous, that’s something like twenty percent of the population. And though it’s taken several centuries to recover, the numbers are roughly what they were when the Spanish first set foot in the country. Under the constitution, aboriginal citizens are (theoretically) entitled to self-determination, but in practice their rights …
CPH:DOX Review: Children of the Enemy
One of the biggest talking points and political challenges created for European governments by daesh and their attempt to make a caliphate is what to do with those citizens who travelled to Syria (and other countries) to join the group. Whilst the easy option, and one taken by many governments, is simply to strip that …
CPH:DOX Review: A Black Jesus
If you look at any representations of Jesus in Europe, Australia, America and most of the developed world, you might be mildly puzzled by the fact the son of God is normally white with long hair and a beard. Given he would have been a Palestinian Jewish man living in Galilee, which on today’s map …
CPH:DOX Review: The Last Shelter
Hundreds of thousands of Africans make the perilous journey from their hometown toward the promised land of Europe every single year. To a large extent, they follow well-established and frequently trodden paths. These periodically shift due to wars, conflicts and crackdowns. Today, many of these routes follow the same footsteps as the sub-Saharan caravan networks …
Visions du Réel Review: Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege)
Whilst it seems that there’s been a huge spike in awareness due to the impact the current refugee crisis is having on Europe and America, there have been displaced peoples throughout human history. Since the end of World War II, Africa and the Middle East have been particularly badly hit. This is due to a …
CPH:DOX Review: Holgut
Extending east from the Ural Mountains until it hits the sea and at over 5 million square miles Siberia accounts from almost three-quarters of Russia. It’s also one of the most sparsely populated regions on the planet. This is largely due to the climate, specifically the very short summers and long hard winters, when temperatures …