To this day, Ukraine pays for the Euromaidan protest and the Revolution of Dignity that took place in November of 2013 and February of 2014, respectively. Both ended with blood, lowering the standard of living of Ukrainian citizens and the loss of a part of the country’s territory. The first revolt began when President Viktor…
Category: Film events and festivals
74th Cannes Film Festival: “La Traviata, My Brothers and I” Review
14-year-old Nour (Maël Rouin-Berrandou) trudges across his council estate, flip-flops smacking against the concrete as he struggles with a hefty laundry bag and a five-litre bottle of water. It’s the height of summer, and while other kids are out playing or attending summer camp, Nour spends his days either completing community service work or looking…
74th Cannes Film Festival: “I Comete – A Corsican Summer” Review
The feature debut of director and writer Pascal Tagnati, I Comete is a lulling but earnest exploration of the small town of Tolla situated in the very heart of the island. Examining romance, friendships, family conflicts, and everyday snippets of life – Tagnati samples cinéma vérité aesthetics and techniques to create a fictional, layered, and…
74th Cannes Film Festival: “Un Monde” Review
There’s no shortage of films that deal with the concept of childhood bullying, but very few document experiences that will ring true to anybody who has been through it. In recent years, bullying has been depicted in film almost exclusively as an online phenomenon, with all attempts to show the harrowing effects of cyberbullying falling…
74th Cannes Film Festival: “The Heroics” Review
In cinema, drug and alcohol addiction is often treated like the darkest iteration of Chekhov’s gun: if someone says they’re in recovery in the first act, expect them to relapse in the second. Because of this narrative cliche, very few films directly grapple with the realities of rehabilitation, and that rather than being an end…
74th Cannes Film Festival: “Bloody Oranges” Review
There’s a reason the “everything is connected” brand of big screen storytelling is widely mocked. Although the likes of Robert Altman’s Short Cuts and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia managed to find profundity in the semi-interlinking lives of vast ensembles, films such as Paul Haggis’ Crash and the collected works of Alejandro González Iñárritu have made…
23rd Udine Far East Film Festival: “My Missing Valentine” Review
Taiwanese romantic comedies can touch one’s heart regardless of their Rotten Tomatoes rating or the narrative itself. And despite the genre, the country’s cinema has always highlighted its culture and people against the wonderful landscapes and pictorial compositions of local architecture. Although rom-coms are filled with cliches, some storylines make the audience analyse their own…
23rd Udine Far East Film Festival: “Keep Rolling” Review
On the set of her 2017 film Our Time Will Come, Ann Hui is slapping wet mud all across the backs of actors. Her other hand is clutching a walking cane. She stands in the pouring rain, puffing cigarettes, and yelling orders. Reaching 70 years of age – and spending the past 40 plus years…
Japan’s “Midnight Swan” Wins the 23rd Udine Far East Film Festival.
UDINE – 10 thousand participants on site in Udine and 15 thousand digital participants from 38 countries around the world: that’s the summary of the success of the Far East Film Festival 23, in its most experimental form yet. The public understood and enthusiastically supported the opening plan (which it might be more accurate to call a…
23rd Udine Far East Film Festival: “A is for Agustin” Review
Despite the importance that has been attached to education on a global scale over the years, the world still faces enormous inequalities in terms of access to education. The immediate and most telling effect of not receiving education is illiteracy. While only 3% of people in Europe are illiterate, in South America, Asia and Africa…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 