Film Festival
BFI Flare Review: No Ordinary Man
Born in Oklahoma City, Billy Tipton was a talented pianist and jazz musician who both played with the greats and became a renowned bandleader. He was also a dedicated family man, living with his wife and three adopted sons. However, when he died suddenly in his 70s, his family and friends were in for one …
BFI Flare: Sweetheart
Being a teenager is never easy. Stuck somewhere between childhood and adulthood, with your body undergoing a number of unseen and seen changes. It can all be extremely confusing. Especially, with peer pressure, parental expectations and the almost constant cultural assault on adolescents. When you’re different, or at least feel different, it can become isolating. …
BFI Flare Review: Firebird
Until relatively recently, being openly gay in the military was a criminal offence, and that was in the more progressive nations. Even then, there’s often a reluctance to ‘come out’ for fear of bullying, harassment and discrimination. In less tolerant and usually only vaguely democratic countries, it’s still illegal. However, in ‘ancient’ Sparta or Medieval …
BFI Flare Review: The Greenhouse
The loss of a loved one can be paralysing. The death of someone who has played a huge part in your daily life can leave a gap which can never be filled. Whilst most people find a way to move on, step by step, it’s just too painful for others. They retreat within themselves. Often …
French Film Festival UK Review: Home Front
Whilst Europe might have prospered financially from its colonies, the decades of misrule and abuse have left lasting scars. The process of independence has been a natural evolution for some but in other instances has been incredibly fractious. This was the case in Algeria where French rule began in 1830 and culminated with the Algerian …
BFI Flare Review: Mama Gloria
Whilst Western societies have come a long way when it comes to equal rights for all, that doesn’t mean that everyone is being afforded the same treatment. Or that there’s not been a backslide over the past few years with the rise of popularism. Whilst there are still massive issues surrounding race relations, gender inequality …
HRWFF Review: A Thousand Cuts
During his election campaign to become President of the Philippines in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte promised to eradicate the drug problem in the country. As mayor of Davao, he removed crime from the streets by employing death squads to murder drug users, petty criminals and the homeless. Since his election to the top job, he’s been …
HRWFF Review: Belly of the Beast
2020 was a busy year for news, but one of the biggest talking points was the death of George Floyd (one of many) and the Black Lives Matter protests. The USA has a serious problem with institutional racism which impacts on every aspect of life. The criminal justice and prisons systems are no exceptions. Indeed, …
BFI Flare Review: Dramarama
It’s not so long ago that being a nerd largely meant a childhood of bullying and constant abuse. To be different at school was almost asking to become a target. The worst part is the feeling that you’re all alone. Today, that situation, to a large extent, has been turned on its head. Nerdism has …
HRWFF Review: A La Calle
the spectre of Hugo Chavez looms large over Venezuelan society, years after his death. His movement gained huge popularity and he became an almost messianic figure, in and outside of the country. At one time ‘Chavismo’, a mix of left-wing populism and social reform, was a potential competitor to capitalism. However, any improvements often came …