Film Festival
IFFR Review: Drifting
Hong Kong has long been an anomaly in Asia, largely owing to the hundred-year lease Britain obtained on the colony following the Opium Wars. After the Second World War the population rapidly increased. Given both the Eastern and Western influences and different political tensions and ideologies, it became the economic hub of the region. However, …
IFFR Review: La nuit des rois
Storytelling has played a vital role within communities and societies since humans first invented spoken languages. Predating writing, it’s the way that we’ve been able to pass on our histories, myths, legends and religions from generation to generation. These oral traditions have been vital for the evolution of our species. It still plays a huge …
IFFR Review: Shorta
Whilst the Black Lives Matter protests rapidly spread across the whole of America in early 2020, they weren’t just limited to one country. The situation within the US is undeniably unique, but in many ways it’s also a reflection of race relations in many places around the world. Much of Europe, with a history of …
IFFR Review: The Cemil Show
While America has Hollywood and India has Bollywood, Turkey contents itself with Yeşilçam. Between the 1950s and 1970s (known as the Yeşilçam era) it was churning out hundreds of films every year, often looking to the West for inspiration. This golden period produced an eclectic mix of styles and genres, including a slew on B-movies; …
IFFR Review: Bipolar
Dating back to Greek antiquity, the myth of Orpheus has captivated generations of writers and creatives. As one of the only heroes to visit the underworld and return to tell his tale, he’s part of a small and distinguished group. His stories have inspired filmmakers, most notably Marcel Camus for Black Orpheus and Jean Cocteau’s …
IFFR Review: Aristocrats
If you’re born in the UK, it’s easy to have the mistaken belief that class plays a much greater part in our society than anywhere else. Whilst this might once have been the case, it’s a huge factor in determining socio-economic success in most places around the world, one way or another. Japan, like many …
IFFR Review: Riders of Justice
“If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire…the A-Team”. Or at least ‘a team’. This ‘gang’ formula is an almost sure-fire cinematic gold in many ways. Take the Mission Impossible franchise, for example. If Ethan Hunt was all alone, it simply wouldn’t …
Sundance Review: Judas and the Black Messiah
Following the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, the FBI turned its full attention to The Black Panther Party. Whilst Director J. Edgar Hoover described them as ‘the greatest threat to the internal security of the country’, much of their activities were focussed on community social programs. However, as the end of …
Sundance Review: The World to Come
Whilst the popularity of Westerns may have been on the wane for a long time, filmmakers still seem fascinated by this period of American history. The excitement and danger of exploration. The pioneering lifestyle. Traditionally, this has been an almost all male province, with women often relegated to merely wives or prostitutes. However, only we’re …
IFFR Review: Lone Wolf
Whilst today’s Hollywood spies may skydive onto buildings, drive sportscars at precarious speeds and use a myriad of imaginative gadgets, the stories themselves are often just variations on well-worn themes. There are always the good guys, the bad guys and the unknowable players, rearranged in infinite ways. Today’s covert operators owe a debt of gratitude …