FIlm Review
Film Review: I Am Not a Witch
Colonialism hasn’t exactly left large swathes of Africa in a great position. If we weren’t stripping countries of natural resources or forcing populations into slavery, we were educating the natives to follow the worst tenets of our prejudiced societies. And whilst the Catholic church did their best to convert ‘the savages’ with their own brand …
LFF Review: A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot
Although the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland officially ended with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, it doesn’t mean life suddenly improved overnight. Whilst Belfast is trying to re-brand itself as a tourist destination, much of the province has fared far worse. Derry, a city in the heart of the violence, is still …
LFF Review: The Nile Hilton Incident
To put it lightly, Egypt as a country is a complete and utter mess. There’s repression of free speech, media witch-hunts and the complete eradication of certain civil liberties. It’s not quite the paradise many hoped for after the uprising against Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Indeed, many are questioning whether they’re really better off now. …
LFF Review: The Ballad of Shirley Collins
There has been folk music in England since the Middle Ages. Whilst its popularity has ebbed and flowed over the decades and centuries, it underwent a revival after the end of World War II; with a network of folk clubs springing up across the country. This in turn brought a new generation of performers through. …
LFF Review: Araby
The global financial crisis destroyed lives, wrecked families and impacted on billions of people around the world. However, there is not group, as is always the case, that were harder hit than the poor. Whilst much of the media focus was on banks and multi-national corporations, scant regard was paid to the working-classes around the …
LFF Review: Rift
If you’re looking to build up atmosphere, suspense, a sense of terror and a general creepiness, then setting and backdrop is key. When choosing the location for a thriller, you’ll be hard-pressed to find somewhere more appropriate for spine-tingling thrills than the Nordic countries. Their sinister, eerie and sparse landscapes have added an essential touch …
Film Review: Boy
New Zealand writer, actor, director and snappy dresser Taika Waititi has made a big impression since his feature debut a decade ago. His first film, the impressive Eagle Vs Shark, announced him as someone to keep an eye on. He’s gone on to make the brilliant What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for …
LFF Review: Becoming Who I Was
To quote a certain William Shakespeare, “some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em”. If you’re a Buddhist, there’s another option. Followers believe that great religious teachers are reincarnated. They refer to those who are the new incarnation of these leaders as Rinpoche. This is the subject of Moon …
LFF Review: The Cakemaker
Grief is such a difficult subject to tackle in film. All too often, the drama spills over into melodrama or sentimentality. It’s a fine line to tread and it takes a certain kind of directorial temperament to be successful. A steady hand, an empathetic sensitivity and a willingness to take risks and not just opt …
LFF Review: Princess Cyd
Whilst coming-of-age films with female protagonists are nothing new to European cinema, in America they’re only really a recent phenomenon. When they were made, they’ve tended to fall into specific genres such as comedy (Juno) or horror (Carrie). However, Marielle Heller and Kelly Fremon Craig broke the mould with The Diary of a Teenage Girl …