London Film Festival
LFF Review: Fragments of Paradise
Although the Lumière brothers are widely credited as the pioneers of what has become modern cinema, there wasn’t just one event, or film, which brought motion pictures to life. It was the culmination of the hard work and efforts of many, over a number of years. However, as a medium it never stands still. There …
LFF Review: Under the Fig Trees
In many ways, workplaces seem to have their own ecosystems. Their unique hierarchies and relationship dynamics. There are the obvious power structures within any organisation, from the top down, which guide the direction of work, but there are also informal ones. Those interactions between workers which, over time, create an environment which is either conducive …
LFF Review: Hinterland
At one stage during the early part of the nineteenth century, The Austrian Empire was the third biggest in Europe. That was before several wars, revolution, and an awkward compromise agreement with Hungary which would take the country up to the start of World War I, when they would once again become one with Germany. …
LFF Review: Petrov’s Flu
On 25 December 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from his position as the President of the Soviet Union. He handed over the reins of power to Boris Yeltsin and in doing so ended the era of communism within the sovereign state. The country’s progression towards capitalism was slow and painful, with food shortages and poverty becoming …
LFF Review: Juju Stories
We humans seem to be a really superstitious species. As civilisations have evolved and progressed these ‘old wives’ tales’ have gradually died out. Replaced by advances in science and medicine. However, in many rural areas traditions have survived. These are often transported to towns and cities through migration. This is the case in West Africa, …
LFF Review: The Gravedigger’s Wife
Djibouti is the smallest nation in mainland Africa. Despite recent economic growth, largely driven by its strategic location on the Red Sea and a large service sector, almost half the population live in extreme poverty. Especially in rural areas. Roughly 600,000 people reside in Djibouti City, the capital. With a high unemployment rate and low …
LFF Review: The Neutral Ground
The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on 25 May 2020 was the catalyst for Black Lives Matter protests which erupted across the United States and beyond. While this triggered a debate about memorials to our colonial past in Britain, there were already moves to remove Confederate statues from Southern towns and …
LFF Review: Shepherd
Although this applies to some of us more than others, as humans we are social animals. We yearn for the company of others, to forge friendships and make our own families. This is how early man survived in harsh and dangerous landscapes. However, when something terrible happens we can often retreat and look inwards for …
LFF Review: The Sea Ahead
Lebanon is a country in an existential crisis. Today, the currency has all but collapsed and inflation spirals out of control. While fuel shortages have made normal life all but impossible. The most talented young people have left the country and civil unrest increases inexorably. The majority of the population have fallen into poverty. Beirut …
LFF Review: Babi Yar. Context
Babi Yar is a ravine in Kiev. Its bloody past has afforded it a place in the darkest days of history. Over the course of the 29th and 30th September, 1941, approximately 33,771 Jews were massacred by the occupying German forces. Their bodies dumped and covered with earth in the deep gorge. In the months …