Mana Kotani’s (Yukino Kishii) world is turned upside down the moment she learned that her best friend, and first love, Sumire Utsuki (Minami Hamabe) has died. The bright and bubbly woman she met on her first day of college has gone, there one moment and gone the next. It takes everything she has to keep…
Category: Film
24th Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Park Dae-min, Director of “Special Delivery”
It took a while for Park Dae-min to make his first film. Although he graduated with a degree in architecture, he found his passion for filmmaking back in 2002 when he directed a short film Hey, What Are You Looking For, which was invited to screen at the Busan International Short Film Festival. Park Dae-min…
24th Udine Far East Film Festival: “Special Delivery” Review
Sometimes, when you have seen too many dramas, you just wish to chill out while watching a good action film. And Special Delivery, written and directed by Park Dae-min, is one of those films. Eun-ha (Park So-dam: Parasite) is a delivery driver who asks no questions. She works for Baek Sa-jang (Kim Eui-sung: Taxi Driver),…
Santi Review
Santi (Jon Gutierrez) sits wedged on a sofa at a dinner party with his girlfriend Violet (Zulekha Chaka). He’s politely listening as two of Violet’s friends bicker about the ongoings of a night out – a night out Santi clearly wasn’t invited to. Squished on-screen between their two out-of-focus side profiles, Santi can’t get a…
Pachinko Review
It’s the beginning of the 20th century and the Korean peninsula is under Japanese rule in Apple TV+’s new drama Pachinko. Sunja (Yeon Yu-na), a young girl, although poor, has a decent life. She has a good mother, Yangjin (Jeong In-ji) and a father for whom she is the apple of his eye. After her…
In Conversation with Michał Krzywicki and Dagmara Brodziak, Creators of “The Day I Found a Girl in the Trash”
Raindance Film Festival, founded and run by Elliot Grove, has been helping emerging filmmakers since 1993. Although one wishes for more diversity in the festival programme – there is not enough Asian, South American nor African cinema – it is good to see that Eastern European cinema has been recognised for its talents. During the…
“Memoria” Review
At the 2018 Rotterdam Film Festival, director Apichatpong Weerasethakul opened the doors to the SleepCinemaHotel, a pop-up space playing a 120-hour art installation he’d directed, inviting all attendees to fall asleep to his typically dreamlike series of images. Weerasethakul believes in the relationship between cinema and dreams so strongly he actively encourages people to nod…
“My Films Are Never About the Past but They Are About the Way the Past Is Connected to the Present.” – In Conversation with Sergei Loznitsa, Director of “Babi Yar. Context”
Sergei Loznitsa, a Ukrainian filmmaker, has always been a regular at the Cannes Film Festival. He might not have been a frequent guest at BFI London Film Festival, however, whenever he attends the event, you know you will always be in for a treat with his new work. Sergei has been making films since 1996…
In Conversation with Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., Director of “Wild Indian”
While the world is consumed by greed, hate and other unnecessary things, those who deserve attention are passing almost unnoticed, including Native Americans. They are often invisible, and so is their suffering. In the United States of America, one of the richest countries in the world, Native Americans have suffered, well, since the day colonists…
“The Long Goodbye” Review
What makes one British? A birth certificate, an accent or a passport? There is no denial that the UK has always been resistant to the idea that immigrants could become a permanent part of British society. However, when Brexit hit the ground, no one could have predicted how much hate would resurface. To be clear,…
“Aloners” Review
There’s nothing groundbreaking in the idea that, rather than bringing us closer together, technology has left us more divided and isolated than ever before. There have been several films in recent years that have criticised the dehumanisation of the digital age, and almost all of them have invited immediate parody (most notably, Jason Reitman’s Men,…
6th London East Asia Film Festival: “Not Out” Review
Hear the chants, hear the screams… Baseball is one of the most popular sports in South Korea. With an incredible atmosphere in the stadium during every game, baseball has become more than just a sport. Although what we see on the pitch is exciting, what happens behind closed doors is another story. The journey of…
6th London East Asia Festival: “Zero to Hero” Review
Despite social changes and adjustments within professional sport, disabled athletes themselves have been complaining that they are not treated as real athletes but only as those who are in a great need of rehabilitation. This often reflects on sponsorships, government support and endorsements. It is a widely known issue that Paralympians keep trying to bring…
6th London East Asia 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 working in film…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 