The London Palestine Film Festival opened with an expectedly strong, but nonetheless captivating experience, screening Elia Suleiman’s It Must Be Heaven at the Barbican. The film’s protagonist leads a life by observation, with Suleiman playing himself - only presumably more silent and bemused. His quizzical looks throughout invite us to view the bizarre events before our eyes with a similar (…) Continue Reading »

Avant de réaliser le long métrage documentaire L’époque (2018), Matthieu Bareyre a posé sa caméra à l’hippodrome de Vincennes. Loin des représentations de Degas et Manet, l’hippodrome est devenu un lieu devenu anonyme, voué à la fabrication et à la diffusion d’images. Sous les lumières blafardes et au milieu des chaises en plastique, Mehdi, Jimmy, Safir et Kader réalisent leurs pulsions (…) Lire la suite »

"Gaza is unfortunately not a nightmare. Gaza is a horrifying reality. Farah Nabulsi’s short film, Nightmare of Gaza, presents that reality in an artistic way and reminds all of us of the ongoing tragedy." Gideon Levy, Israeli journalist. A haunting, abstract and experimental narrative of a woman in the streets of Gaza surrounded by the devastation after the bombs have stopped. She has been (…) Continue Reading »

Iraq 2009. Ten-year-old Hamoudi has only one leg, but is totally obsessed with football. He and his friends - like the rest of the world - are looking forward to the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester (Messi versus Ronaldo). But then Hamoudi’s television breaks down! Kurdish-Belgian director Sahim Omar Kalifa’s award-winning short is ruthlessly heart-braking, with a (…) Continue Reading »

Soviet Hippies, directed by Terje Toomistu, ‘Lenin vs. Lennon’ – UK Premiere via Dash Arts Continue Reading »

“The Ponds” meets the Londoners whose lives have been changed by outdoor swimming Visit Hampstead Heath in North London at the summer’s peak and you’ll see hundreds of sun-seeking locals swimming in the park’s ponds. Although that (…) Continue Reading »

Nightcleaners – An oddity of its time that captures the British working class struggle of the early 1970s « Nightcleaners » is an early 70s observational account of London’s female office cleaners embroiled in an arduous struggle for fair pay (…) Continue Reading »

The Mayfair Hotel, where I’m about to meet Lynn + Lucy writer and director Fyza Boulifa and newcomer Roxanne Scrimshaw (Lynn), seems very far away from the film’s environment. Set in Harlow, the subtly dark and beautifully acted narrative follows (…) Continue Reading »

Strange Cities Are Familiar, Dir. Saeed Taji Farouky At once lyrical and political, this film centres on a beautifully understated performance by Mohammad Bakri as Ashraf, a refugee living in London who is unable to return to Palestine to be with his dying son. Ashraf is both stern and tender as the London landscape around him transforms into scenes from his past life and the imagined (…) Continue Reading »

Walled Citizen is a documentary by Palestinian filmmaker Sameer M Qumsiyeh in which he attempts to backpack around the world with a Palestinian passport, basically making him persona non grata at customs everywhere. Sameer goes beyond his own personal experience to explore the wider world and concept of travelling and speaks to seasoned backpackers and fellow Palestinians reflecting on the (…) Continue Reading »