Set in Singapore, during the Great Asian Financial Crisis, Ilo Ilo, written and directed by Anthony Chen, tells the story of a relationship between a family of three: Teck (Tian Wen Chen), Hwee (Yann Yann Ye) and Jiale (Koh Jia Ler) and their Filipino maid, Teresa (striking and moving performance by Angeli Bayani) who has…
Category: Foreign Films
The 57th BFI London Film Festival: Lebanon Emotion
This year’s London Film Festival spoiled the audience with a great amount of Asian films including a few from South Korea. Apart from subtle drama Nobody’s Daughter Haewon by Hong Sang-soo and the comedy of manners Our Sunhi by the same filmmaker, it’s time to mention Lebanon Emotion by Jung Young-heon, a first-time director, whose…
The 57th BFI London Film Festival: Nobody’s Daughter Haewon
Nobody’s Daughter Haewon written and directed by South Korean Hong Sang-Soo, tells the story of the enigmatic, eye-catching film student and aspiring actress Haewon ( superb performance by Jung Eun- Chae), who easily attracts men and makes fellow female colleagues jealous. The narrative is told in a diary format and chronicles a few days in Haewon’s life. Haewon’s…
The 57th BFI London Film Festival: Ida
Born in Poland, Pawel Pawlikoski (My Summer of Love, The Woman in the Fifth) has come back to his native country after years of voluntary emigration and has immediately presented us with an intimate black and white drama Ida, which takes place at the beginning of 1960s. Anna, also known as Ida (Agata Trzebuchowska’s film…
The 57th BFI London Film Festival: Bertolucci on Bertolucci
“Cinema is the mirror of the world” Bertolucci once said. And it sure is in the Italian director’s eyes. Born in 1940, son of the critically acclaimed poet Attilio Bertolucci, he entered adulthood in the 60s. In 1968, he was 27 years old and, according to him, that time was a great experience for him…
In Conversation with Marijn Poels
Marijn Poels is a documentary and independent filmmaker, who stole my heart with his extraordinary film stories. He focuses on making reports and films worldwide for organisations, governments and educational films concentrated on human rights. Apart from being a filmmaker he is also a writer and photographer. Poels’ film style is characterised by real-life recordings,…
In Conversation with Ruud Lenssen
Ruud Lenssen is an independent documentary filmmaker. His films focus on socially relevant topics. In 2010 Lenssen graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam with a BA in Audiovisual Design. His graduation film ‘Kathem & Chris’, a short documentary about the friendship between former asylum seeker Kathem and the local villager Chris in the Limburg village…
56th BFI London Film Festival: Horses Of God ( Les Chevaux de Dieu) Review
Nabil Ayouch’s ‘Les Chevaux De Dieu’ (Horses of God) was described by The Hollywood Reporter as an ‘intimate portrait of boys growing up in a toxic environment’. Written by Jamal Belmahi, Horses of God is based on a book about the five simultaneous explosions in Casablanca in 2003, and “uses current events — the…
56th BFI London Film Festival: The Hunt Review
Thomas Vinterberg’s (Festen) latest film The Hunt, starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, A Royal Affair), is set in a small community during the period of three months. In this town we see the full extent one lie has in destroying an innocent man’s life. Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a nursery teacher who is just getting back…
56th BFI London Film Festival: Zaytoun Review
After directing Lemon Tree and The Syrian Bride, Eran Riklis decided on making another film, setting its action in the Middle East again. Zaytoun is a story of an unlikely road trip and, against all odds, friendship between an Israeli pilot and a Palestinian boy. 1982 Lebanon, as the tension between Israel and Lebanon grows (6 June 1982 Israeli Defense Forces invaded, already…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 