Most recent articles
5 February 2020
Q&A with Ariane Labed, dir. Olla - ClermontFF 2020
by Elise LoiseauOlla responded to an advertisement on an Eastern women dating site. She moves in with Pierre, who lives with his old mother. But nothing happens as planned.
First time director but seasoned actress Labed brings us a visually distinctive look at sexuality and modern relationships.
Trailer
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Olla’s character is particularly interesting. Far from being a victim, she (…) Continue Reading »
4 February 2020
Q&A with Antoine Bargain, dir. Disciplinaires - ClermontFF 2020
by Clotilde CouturierOn the edge of the forest of Saint-Jean, near the village of Corte, nature has taken over the abandoned military base. Today, it is a place where families and sportsmen spend their time in relaxation, though in the 1970s it was the worst fear of the soldiers of the French Foreign Legion.
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Where did you get the idea of making a film about this particular military prison (…) Continue Reading »
4 February 2020
Q&A with Valerie Barnhart, dir. The Girl in the Hallway - ClermontFF 2020
by Elise LoiseauWhy does "Little Red Riding Hood" give Jamie nightmares? It’s been fifteen years, and the girl in the hallway still haunts him. This is a testament to locked doors. A lullaby sung by wolves with duct tape and polaroids. Not all girls make it out of the forest. There are stories children shouldn’t hear.
A remarkably effective, inventive and haunting animation about a real-life case of child (…) Continue Reading »
1 February 2020
Short of the Week: Nefta Football Club, dir. Yves Piat
by Abla Kandalaft
In a Tunisian village, children are playing football on a wasteland. Meanwhile, Abdallah and Mohammed come across a donkey with headphones on his ears and bags full of a white powder on his back. The two young brothers decide to bring those bags (…) Continue Reading »
1 February 2020
LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - Conte Anglais (dir: Daniel Marc Janes)
by Tommy HodgsonThis sweet, topical short from director Daniel Marc Janes is both profound and poignant, masterfully touching on the English psyche from an outsider perspective. Shot in 16mm, the visually warm picture ends with a more succinct and intimate expression of Post-Brexit Britain than any insider knowledge could secure. It was showcased as part of the London Short Film Festival’s Visions of Albion (…) Continue Reading »
27 January 2020
LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - Recollective Resistance - Kamal Aljafari’s Port of Memory
by Arooj KhanAljafari’s Port of Memory is the second instalment of a three part series entitled Recollective Resistance, serving as a witness to the destruction, repopulation, and gentrification of the once thriving Palestinian port city of Jaffa – now an extension of Tel Aviv.
Using footage from imperialist–themed action films set in Jaffa, Aljafari provides us with a memoir of the everyday activities (…) Continue Reading »
24 January 2020
Short of the Week: Ahmed’s Song, dir. Foued Mansour
by Elise Loiseau
One day Ahmed, employed at the public baths and nearing retirement, encounters Mike, a teenager adrift. Between the bath house walls, in a place on the point of disappearing, a strange relationship will develop between these two fractured souls. (…) Continue Reading »
23 January 2020
LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - London Lives 2
by Louis Christie
The Mole, (Yiling Ding, 2018)
This short and enigmatic film is a glimpse into the life of a young masseur in Chinatown. A montage of moments in his working day at family-run Hong Ning Herbal Medicine, with voiceover narration in Chinese, (…) Continue Reading »
22 January 2020
LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - London Lives 1
by Louis Christie
Telling a friend where I was going on Wednesday, I had hesitated over the title – was it ‘London Lives, as in ‘many lives’, or could it be lives, as in ‘she lives’? After taking in these eight juxtaposed stories, I felt sure it was the former – (…) Continue Reading »
9 January 2020
Gaza, dir: Gary Keane & Andrew McConnell
by Tommy Hodgson
Gaza never falters in its intimate portrayal of humans whose lives have been profoundly affected by political decisions made without their consent or interests at heart. The footage is unmanufactured; it is not a passive news report about the (…) Continue Reading »