When WWII ended, Poland was thrown into another brutal fight, this time not against Nazis, but against communism, which took over the country from 1947 until 1989. While the 1950s, 60s, and 70s were unsettling, it was the 1980s that many consider to be the most significant time in the lives of Poles. Martial Law…
Category: BFI London Film Festival
Nomadland Review
Nomadland is a curious beast; a sobering look at the ramifications of an ageing, expanding workforce in the gig economy following the 2008 recession, critical of the corporations who have forced people into this position, while also feeling at first glance like it’s pulling some of its punches. At least, that’s how this writer interpreted…
I am Samuel Review
The criminalisation of same-sex relationships in Africa is commonplace. In 2013, 38 African countries made homosexuality a crime under the law. Opposition to people of different sexual orientation has become more and more visible, with Kenya being one of those countries where homosexuality is criminalised and socially unacceptable; if convicted, a person could face up…
64th BFI London Film Festival: ‘Relic’ Review
When Kay (Emily Mortimer), along with her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote), visits her mother Edna (Robyn Nevin), a wave of bizarre incidents begins to occur. Upon arrival in Edna’s house, the woman is nowhere to be seen and she is reported as a missing person. Three days later, Edna comes home, dirty, disoriented, without shoes…
64th BFI London Film Festival: ‘The Painter and the Thief’ Review
We’re first introduced to Karl-Bertil, the thief of this story, through grainy CCTV footage. The painter, Barbora, watches the footage in shock as she watches him and another unnamed accomplice steal two of her oil paintings from a gallery. Confused as to why anyone would be interested in stealing two paintings from an artist unknown…
64th BFI London Film Festival: ‘Shirley’ Review
Not to be confused with a faithful statement of reality, Josephine Decker’s Shirley is based on the semi-biographical novel of the same title by Susan Scarf Merrell. Blending fact and fiction, Shirley draws from the real-life accounts of famed American Gothic writer, Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) writing her sophomore novel Hangsaman in the early fifties…
64th BFI London Film Festival – ‘Supernova’ Review
The term ‘supernova’ is used to describe the powerful and monumental explosion that occurs at the end of a star’s life cycle; accompanying a supernova is often a large and shrouding black hole encapsulating everything in its perimeter. In more earthly terms, Harry Macqueen uses the phrase in his latest venture Supernova to liken the…
63rd BFI London Film Festival: Moffie Review
Tucked up in their dorm beds, sandwiched between lumpy mattresses and itchy blankets, South African soldiers are swapping stories. One of them starts to tell the story of two soldiers found kissing in a bathroom stall – ‘Moffies’ they’re derogatorily named. After being caught the pair are dragged out and thrown in front of their…
In Conversation with Steven Yeun of ‘Burning’
Steven Yeun greets me with a big smile and a warm handshake as we meet at the Mayfair hotel in London on a cold October morning. We sit down and chat about what it means to be a Korean-American, his latest production Burning, and working with Lee Chang-dong. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised…
Roma Review
Roma follows the story of Cleo (Yalitza Aparico), a young indigenous housekeeper working for a middle-class family in Mexico City during the early ‘70s. Partly based off Alfonso Cuarón’s own childhood, Roma is an ode to the woman who helped raise him. Reflecting on a perspective of his upbringing that is different to his own,…
In Conversation with Teo Yoo – Viktor Tsoy in Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘Leto’
It has been almost three years since we last spoke to Teo Yoo, and looking at his fast-growing list of projects, he has kept himself very busy. Among his most recent projects that the audience was able to enjoy was his phenomenal portrayal of Viktor Tsoy (one of the Soviet rock pioneers) in Leto (Summer) by…
62nd BFI London Film Festival: Outlaw King Review
Is Outlaw King, directed by David Mackenzie, Netflix’s direct answer to Mel Gibson’s Braveheart? Where William Wallace’s tale ends, Robert the Bruce’s (Chris Pine) begins. After the guerrilla war against England, Scotland falls under the rule of Edward I (Stephen Dillane). It doesn’t take long for Bruce to learn that oppressor is even crueler than…
62nd BFI London Film Festival: Namdev Bhau in Search of Silence Review
By 2020, Mumbai’s population is expected to grow to 28 million, making it the most populated city on Earth. With a population this size, it’s no wonder that Mumbai is one of the noisiest cities in the world; its noise pollution being three times worse than that of New York and London. Noise pollution is…
62nd BFI London Film Festival: Leto Review
In the Soviet Union, like in many other communist countries, a free growth of specific music genres was quite limited. The story of Kirill Serebrennikov’s new work, Leto (Summer), begins in the 1981 Leningrad, at a concert of an underground rock band. But unlike what a person would expect when there is a rock concert…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 