Film Festival
IFFR Review: Gritt
Art is highly responsive to events in the wider world. In many ways, it acts as a reflection and critique of the socio-political state of the environment in which it is created. Artists use the only weapon they have, their art, as a means of protest. This spans the spectrum of the discipline from painting …
IFFR 2021 Preview
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has firmly established itself as one of the most exciting and ambitious dates in the European festival calendar. Now in its 50th incarnation, it has amassed a reputation for showcasing the most exciting and cutting-edge filmmaking from across the world. This year’s event takes place in two parts. In …
Sundance Film Festival 2021 Preview
Every January in Utah, the Sundance Film Festival comes to town. It’s the largest independent film festival in America and prides itself on screening world premieres and promoting new voices. This year’s line-up is the usual quality mix of US and World narrative and documentary features, experimental and future visions and the best of short …
FilmFestival Cottbus Review: 18 kHz
It’s hard to quantify just how vast and varied the USSR was as a union. Spanning well over 200 million kilometres and encompassing at least 130 different spoken languages, it encompassed a wealth of different cultures and peoples. It has been difficult for some nations to escape culturally and socially from their former mistress. Take …
Xmas Horror Nights – Red Screening
Imagine, you’ve waited months to see a film at the cinema just to have it spoiled by inconsiderate people during the screening. Audience members talking, playing with their phones or getting up and down all the time. To have an experience ruined and be frequently ‘pulled out’ of the moment. Understandably, it might well make …
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 …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Fear
Whilst immigration, and the control thereof, is an issue for almost every country, in the EU it has become a political hot potato. Although the focus is often on Greece, France or Italy, each country has their own challenges and issues. Southern Europe sees most of its migration come from Africa, but in countries like …
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 …
Tallinn Black Nights Review: Beasts
Men can be animals. In fact, when something truly awful happens you can bet your life it wasn’t a woman who did it. Whilst the scourge of toxic masculinity is arguably on the wane in the West, it still holds sway across much of the globe. It’s a man’s world and many spheres are still …
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 …