Gets Good Light Review

Coming out of the growing ‘Abolish ICE’ movement – Gets Good Light is a compassionate and powerful protest against the growing powers of the Immigrant and Customs Enforcement Agency in the United States. Since the start of Trump’s administration, the number of individuals apprehended by ICE has only grown – approximately 4,143 undocumented immigrants without…

A Better You Review

Self-improvement seems to be the ‘thing’ of the 21st century – everywhere you look, there are self-help books telling you how you can be the best possible you. Experiences no longer just have to be fun but also ‘life-affirming’. Hobbies are no longer just for enjoyment – but to be a project or skill you’re…

How Far is Home Review

In January 2017, President Trump signed an executive order that barred citizens and refugees from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia from entering the U.S for 90 days. All 7 countries being predominantly Islamic, the ban was dubbed as a ‘Muslim ban’ for its Islamophobic undertones and blatant disregard of the lives of…

Los Conductos Review

A former cult member Pinky (Luis Felipe Lozano) works at a sweatshop at an undisclosed location in Bogota, Colombia. Although there is nothing to provide a window into how he was indoctrinated into a cult, with a certain look of uncertainty about this world in his eyes one can imagine that he’d make the perfect…

70th Berlin International Film Festival: Jumbo Review

Machines have feelings just like us, or at least that’s what Zoé Wittock’s debut feature film Jumbo would have you believe. Centred on the love affair between Jeanne (A Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Noémie Merlant) and a theme park ride she’s named Jumbo, this erotic drama, which is based on a ‘true’ story,…

70th Berlin International Film Festival: Yalda – A Night For Forgiveness Review

It took a while for Iranian cinema to come to light, nonetheless, this doesn’t mean that there haven’t been any works worth paying attention to. With Abbas Kiarostami, Rakhshān Banietemad, Bahram Beyzai, Dariush Mehrjui, and Asghar Farhadi paving the way for worldwide recognition, Iranian cinema became a frequent ‘guest’ at many prestigious film festivals. Although…

The Trouble with Nature Review

Awaking in a field of swaying lavender, famed philosopher Edmund Burke (Antony Langdon) jumps up – muttering under his breath, ‘this isn’t what I imagined at all – there’s nothing here except lavender and more lavender’. The reason for his peculiarly placed nap? To find out more about the ‘sublime’ – the very concept he…

70th Berlin International Film Festival: Curveball Review

Arndt Wolf (Sebastian Blomberg) is a bioweapons expert living and working in Berlin in the year 2000. A few years before, he spent months on end working in Iraq helping to search for anthrax production plants. It’s a trip he can’t get his mind off of. Despite his investigation in Iraq being shut down and…