Peccadillo Pictures
DVD Review: The Wound
Over the course of human history, taking the journey into manhood has been a pivotal moment in a boy’s life. Whilst the developed world has largely left this tradition in the past, religious ceremonies aside, it still an integral part of many cultures. However, there’s a distinct divide between urban and rural in many African …
Film Review: The Ciambra
After shaking of the yoke of dictatorship and censorship, the post-War period in Italy was a fertile time for film-making. From the neo-realism of Rossellini and Visconti, through the classics of Fellini and Antonioni, to the spaghetti westerns of Leone and the giallo of Argento, it was a hotbed of creativity. As we approached the …
Film Review: Beach Rats
Electric, energetic and raw film-making is one of the greatest joys in cinema. It’s also one of the most difficult and complicated feats to achieve. Translating the verve and zest of real life onto the big screen has proved problematic for most directors. One of the greatest triumphs of 2015 was Sean Baker’s Tangerine. It …
Film Review: In Between
Israeli films which make it as far as the UK, as a rule, tend to fall into two categories. The first, unsurprisingly, is about all aspects of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The second tends to focus on those living outside of the norms of orthodox religion or gender disparity. The latter has been admirably represented of …
Film Review: Tom of Finland
Historically, artists haven’t always held the most prestigious or reputable positions within societies. It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to be a gay homoerotic artist living in a country where homosexuality is illegal. Touko Valio Laaksonen was arguably the most influential gay erotic artist of the 20th century. Over four decades he drew thousands …
Film Review: The Levelling
For many obvious reasons, and a few slightly baffling ones, London remains the focal point of English cinema. On the rare occasions filmmakers heads out into the ‘wilds’, it all tends to devolve into a mess of stereotypes and prejudice. Occasionally, directors have the vision and insight to see past these and produce something truly …
Film Review: Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?
AIDS decimated gay communities in Europe and America during the 1980s and 1990s. Today, it’s estimated that over 36 million people around the world are currently living with HIV/AIDS. Whilst, the majority are based in Sub-Saharan Africa, it continues to have a global pandemic. There have been several powerful documentaries on the disease, including How …
Film Review: Holding the Man
The impact and decimation caused by HIV/AIDS on the gay community during the ’80s and ’90s has been largely overlooked by those on the outside. Despite the deaths of high profile figures such as Freddie Mercury there was a stigma surrounding the disease for decades. Whilst advances in medicine mean it’s now a manageable condition …
Film Review: Next To Her
Israeli cinema hardly has any significance of reputation on a global scale. However, it continues to produce impressive low-budget drama. From meditations on the Middle-East conflict in Waltz with Bashir and The Gatekeepers to religiously fuelled dramas such as Fill the Void and Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, the country has produced some powerful …
DVD Review: A Girl at My Door
The South East Asia region is generally very traditional and conservative in its outlook. Homosexuality, for instance, is often treated in a way that those in the West may find perplexing and retrogressive. South Korea is a prime example. Whilst not illegal in the country there’s no official acknowledgement of LGBT rights. It’s a subject …