The 61st BFI London Film Festival: Loving Vincent Review

Who was Vincent van Gogh? To some, he was a madman; to others, an artist; but most people simply saw him as a genius. Vincent was a man with a unique personality and a great gift, whose life wasn’t filled with roses, but with the difficult reality of being rejected by many. What can be…

The 61st BFI London Film Festival: Journey’s End Review

Journey’s End, by English playwright R.C Sherriff, was performed for the first time at the Apollo Theatre in 1928 with Lawrence Olivier – an emerging young actor at the time – in one of the lead roles. Within a short period of time the show was moved to a West End theatre where it ran for…

The 61st BFI London Film Festival: Wajib Review

Annemarie Jacir, a Palestinian poet and filmmaker, is – to me – the true queen of independent cinema; she is also the voice of those who need to be heard and seen – the ‘voice’ of Palestine. Her career has been marked by unforgettable (and several award-winning) projects, such as A Post Oslo History (2001), The…

The 61st BFI London Film Festival: Devil’s Freedom Review

What makes us humane? What are the characteristics that we value and aspire to, the qualities that make us human rather than brutish? These are the questions that one might ask oneself after watching Devil’s Freedom by Everardo González, a Mexican writer, cinematographer and filmmaker, known for his extraordinary documentaries, including Monsenor: The Last Journey of Oscar Romero (2011)…

The 25th Raindance Film Festival: Lies We Tell Review

Lies We Tell is the debut feature for Mitu Misra, a British-Indian film director who also wrote the film’s story – the screenplay adaptation was done by Ewen Glass and Andy McDermott, two accomplished authors of the thriller genre. The film had its world premiere during this year’s edition of Raindance and – especially for…