Film Festival
LFF Review: Soni
According to a survey carried out by the Thomas Reuters Foundation, India is the most dangerous country in the world for women. It’s in the top 3 for both sexual and non-sexual violence, cultural traditions and discrimination. Many Indians, both male and female, still believe that women should stick to their traditional gender roles, whilst …
LFF Review: Evelyn
800,000 people take their own lives every year around the world. In the UK, over 5,000 suicides were registered in 2017. Whilst there have been great steps forward in publicly addressing issues around mental health, suicide and depression, they are still subjects which aren’t generally openly discussed and remain stigmatised. Even between friends and family. …
LFF Review: Young and Alive
It has become de rigueur within the popular media and modern journalism to castigate Millennials as stupid, fickle or vacuous (seemingly intent on ignoring the fact that it’s not the young who have caused this mess the world finds itself in today). What was noticeable after the horrendous attacks in Paris in 2015 was the …
LFF Review: Bisbee ’17
As the saying goes, history is written by the victors. When it comes to remembering the past, some events are more readily forgotten than others. Guilt and embarrassment can lead to atrocities being buried or approached from the standpoint of denial. Whilst there’s often a call to ‘move on’ or ‘forget the past’, this normally …
LFF Review: Cam
The internet has irrevocably changed how we relax, play, consume and work. The adult entertainment/sex industry has probably been transformed the most by new technologies and the myriad of weird and wonderful possibilities it holds. No longer reliant on classified ads or dingy establishments, a whole new market has sprung up. Turn your ad-blocker off, …
LFF Review: Too Late to Die Young
After a US sponsored coup d’état, Augusto Pinochet kept an iron grip on Chile between 1973 and 1990. After seizing power with the backing of the military, the dictator used his influence to amass a personal fortune and supress any dissenters. When he stepped down it marked a brave new dawn for the South American …
Festival Preview: Celluloid Screams 2018
Now in its tenth year, Celluloid Screams has become a key part of the UK horror film festival circuit. Guided by loving hands, it has changed and grown into an extremely popular event, whilst at the same time retaining a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. In previous years it has brought us the likes of The …
Venice Review: The Announcement (Anons)
There’s a lot to be said for the maxim that the truth is often stranger than fiction. Given the unbelievable events taking place in American politics at the moment, it’s fair to say that no author would claim ownership of that book. Sadly, the US is not alone. Madness seems to have infected politicians in …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Under the Wire
Given the sheer logistics and geography of current ‘war zones’, not to mention the erosions in protections traditionally bestowed on journalists, ‘citizen reporters’ are becoming much more important. However, they don’t necessarily have the same impact as those working within print media in the West. Even with all the dangers involved, heightened by the rise …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: The Waldheim Waltz
With populism on the rise and the likes of Donald Trump in power in America and Sebastian Kurz in Austria, we’re in an incredibly dangerous period in world politics. At the same time, knowledge of the horrors of the past which were committed on European soil seems to be fading. Without learning from history we’re …