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…
Category: Film
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 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: In Conversation with Jeon Hye-jung, the Festival Director
Jeon Hye-jung – who was once a lecturer at a prestigious university in Korea with a background in performing arts – left South Korea many years ago and settled in London. At the beginning of her UK ‘adventure’, she took a position at London Korean Cultural Centre UK, heading government projects and festivals to promote…
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…
The 25th Raindance Film Festival: In Conversation with Matan Yair, Director of ‘Scaffolding’
Matan Yair had been teaching literature in Israel for almost a decade before he made his feature debut Scaffolding. While teaching the subject, he came across individuals from various backgrounds – including challenging youngsters. Matan Yair believed that he could inspire his pupils by letting them follow their own path of self-awareness, by reading poetry and…
The 25th Raindance Film Festival: In Conversation with Rade and Danilo Šerbedžija, Directors of ‘The Liberation of Skopje’
Rade Šerbedžija, born in Bunić, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), is a well-established actor with over 180 (!) film credits. He began his career after graduating from the Academy of Dramatic Arts of the University of Zagreb. He started to perform in films while he was a student, while he also performed at the Gavella Drama Theatre and at…
The 25th Raindance Film Festival: The Liberation of Skopje Review
When on April 17th 1941, Kingdom of Yugoslavia fell under the Nazi Germany and its allies, the nearby Kingdom of Bulgaria and the lives of those living in the country were severely disrupted. Dušan Jovanović (Born 1939), a theatre director, essayist and playwright, used the aforementioned events as an interesting subject in his 1977 play…
The 25th Raindance Film Festival: Scaffolding Review
Matan Yair taught literature in Israel for almost a decade before he switched to film-making. While teaching the subject, he came across individuals from various backgrounds – including challenging youngsters. Matan Yair believed that he could inspire his pupils by letting them follow their own path of self-discovery. One of his students was Asher – his…
The 25th Raindance Film Festival: Siblings Review
There are over 11 million of unauthorised immigrants in the United States, including 5.6 million Mexicans who labour in fields, restaurant kitchens and factories. When not caught and sent to detention centres and courts, they try to survive under the radar, away from immigration officers while chasing their “American Dream”. The Founding Fathers may have…
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