Features

In short, loved it. In long, ‘Get Out’ is everything you’ve heard and more. Consistently, whether I’m in book club, the bar, in a secret black people meeting at work, people who’ve seen it want to see it again. And those who have seen it twice offer to go with me to see it for a third time. The only thing armchair critics are wrong about is that the film is scary. Not sure who billed it as a horror film, but know that it is suspense and social commentary. This film is a meet the parents (…)

"1990, seven young dancers joined pop star Madonna on her most controversial world tour. Wild, talented and barely twenty, the dancers set out on the trip of a lifetime. Their journey was captured in Truth or Dare, one of the highest-grossing documentaries ever." 25 years after the tour, Strike a Pose, currently screening at Dochouse in London, finds out the journey the dancers set on, the issues that that the tour raised and how it altered their lives. We spoke to directors Ester Gould (…)

Friday sees the release of Close Relations (Rodnye), Vitaly Manksy’s exploration of both sides of the recent conflict in Ukraine, shedding light on its impact on civilians in Ukraine, Russia and the separatist Donbass region. The documentary will be screened at Berta Dochouse from Fridau 20 January. Trailer available here. Synopsis: Critically acclaimed filmmaker Vitaly Mansky’s intimate new documentary finds him crisscrossing Ukraine in the wake of the Maidan uprising, which has left (…)

“A personal, insightful and beautifully made film” Huffington Post “One of the most breathless documentaries in recent memory” The Village Voice The film will be presented for the first time in the UK at a special screening in partnership with the Iraqi Association on Thursday, January 12th 2017 at Rivercourt Methodist Church at 6:30pm. A UK digital release will follow, date TBC. Press release below! Tracing the emigrations of his family over a century, this riveting documentary (…)

« La Sociale » est un film à ne pas manquer, pour les questions qu’il pose comme pour les vérités qu’il nous fait connaître, mais aussi pour sa ferveur envers ce qui est l’une de nos plus belles réussites dans le sens où elle allie la sécurité de tous avec la solidarité de chacun : la Sécurité Sociale, notre assurance du droit à vivre dignement.

The good news is that Miles Ahead, the Miles Davis biopic, has a lead actor (Don Cheadle) playing the title character that strongly resembles Davis (side eye, whilst still supporting, to you Zoe Saldana and David Oyelowo). The better news is that those wary of biographies which take you through a troubled childhood, discovery, downfall and comeback, highlighting little known facts of creative genius, will find none of that here. It was more a day-in-the-life-of in which Davis’s dialogue and (…)

The full programme for the upcoming FRAME: THE LONDON DANCE FILM FESTIVAL 9-12 June is out! Taking place in Kingston-upon-Thames, the festival is presented by UK’s pioneering dance company BalletBoyz in association with dancescreen. FRAME showcases talent in dance, film and choreography, and will screen 122 films over the three days, premieres, new releases and classic films, alongside panel discussions and community activities at various venues across the town. FRAME Dance Film (…)

Get ready for booze, explicit sex, and a love triangle. Essentially a blues story, but also so much more. Queen Latifah (Dana Elaine Owens) reportedly spent the better of a decade trying to get this film made. However the film doesn’t appear to be a labour of love; the Bessie Smith biopic seamlessly weaves the personal, the poetic and the political. Part of the reason this HBO TV film took so long to be green-lighted is because Ms Smith, The Empress of the Blues, is still a black woman of (…)

A short film directed by a Palestinian has been nominated for an Oscar this year. Ave Maria is a humorous story about a Jewish family who crash their car outside a small convent of five Arab nuns. For a film set in the present day West Bank, this film is as light as you could imagine, yet it still has a relevant message about the unnecessary restrictions imposed by strict adherence to religion. God-given rules prevent human communication – hilarity ensues. Director and co-writer Basil (…)

Homme Less is a feature documentary directed by Thomas Wirthensohn, who follows the life of the charismatic and seemingly successful Mark Reay as he goes about his day-to-day activities in the Biggest of Apples. This is a man who has all the makings of your typical downtown success story, with his stylish wardrobe, clean shave and handsome haircut and face. The documentary is well constructed in this sense, exploring the man in terms of his hard work and successes before attending to the (…)