“This is the film made of 1001 images shot by 1001 Syrian men and women and I”– Ossama Mohammed Silvered Water, Syria Self Portrait is a film by a Syrian filmmaker Ossama Mohammed, who is now living in Paris as a political refugee with his wife, and a Kurdish activist, Simav Bedirxan, who shot…
The 58th BFI London Film Festival: Hill of Freedom Review
For a film that was selected for the laugh category at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, the least you’d expect is Hill of Freedom to be funny. Instead Hong Sang-soo’s film is poorly paced with little acting or directorial merit to speak of. The film follows Mori, a Japanese man searching for his…
The 22nd Raindance Film Festival: Panic Review
Desperation can make people do crazy things – and there’s no greater demonstration of that than Sean Spencer’s Panic. With London as its backdrop, Panic is a study in urban isolation, desperation, and London’s ghost community through music journalist Andrew Deeley’s subjective lens. Influences from Hitchcock’s classic Rear Window are immediately obvious, reminiscent in Deeley…
The 22nd Raindance Film Festival: The Horses of Fukushima
On March 11th 2011 a powerful earthquake struck Japan. As a result, a giant tsunami devastated the North-East coast, where over 18,000 people lost their lives. Sadly the seismic sea wave caused horrific damage to the Fukushima nuclear reactor as well. In May 2011, it was confirmed that a serious leak was detected in one…
Gone Girl Review
In the summer of 2012, Gone Girl became one of the year’s biggest literary phenomena, coming second only to the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise. Given the book’s intriguing examination of long-term relationship dynamics, it came as no surprise that the film rights were bought by 20th Century Fox and Pacific Standard soon after the…
The 22nd Raindance Film Festival: In The Sands of Babylon Review
Raindance Film Festival, now in its 22nd year, has always had a strong legacy of showing independent films and uncovering talented filmmakers. This year’s festival brought various interesting films from all over the world, films you are unlikely to see elsewhere. The first one that caught my attention was Mohamed Al Daradji’s movie entitled In…
Japanese Animation Spotlight: Hal
Hal, Wit Studio’s first public project, is a clever and elegant depiction of grief, the nature of relationships, and the catharsis in moving on. Set in a technologically advanced and yet anachronistic society, the film briefly introduces the audience to robot Q01 before we learn of an unexpected death that separates the titular character, Hal,…
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the second instalment in the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise. The film, directed by Matt Reeves, follows on a decade after the events of the first film and finds Caesar and the apes in a secluded colony near the ruins of San Francisco. Having seen no…
Fargo Review
Loosely based on the Coen Brother classic of the same name, Fargo is a dark comedy focused on the consequences of giving in to the devil. The show opens in Minnesota and follows Lester Nygaard, a self effacing man put down by those around him. Following a chance meeting with hitman Lorne Malvo, Lester’s life…
X-Men: Days of Future Past Review
Bryan Singer’s most recent contribution to the X-Men franchise, Days of Future Past, has just come out in cinemas, and what a wonderful return it is. Following his work on X-Men and X-Men 2, Singer took up the mantel from First Class director Matthew Vaughn, tying in the portrayal of the mutant’s past selves with the characters and events of the original trilogy….
In Conversation with Yoon Seok- ho
Yoon Seok-ho is a South Korean television director, whose status was solidified with the success of the TV dramas Autumn in My Heart in 2000 and Winter Sonata in 2002, which are both considered pioneers in Korean melodramatic series, launching the fever that is commonly referred to as the Korean Wave. For years Yoon Seok-…
Heroes Reborn: Will it work?
It was announced on February 22nd by American television company NBC that Heroes will return for 13 episodes in 2015. Heroes, created by Tim Kring, flew onto our screens in 2006 and told the story of a group of people who found themselves with powers after a solar eclipse and how this changes their lives….
The 8th London Korean Film Festival: Hope (Wish)
How much love, understanding and commitment is needed for parents to overcome a horrendous incident that happens to their child? Can the family stick together against all odds? Hope (Wish), directed by Lee Joon-ik, is set in a rural South Korean town and focuses on the story of the 8 year old girl, So-won (Lee…
The 8th London Korean Film Festival: Secretly, Greatly
Who doesn’t want to be a spy? A secret double life and all the perks that go along with the job, right? However, when it comes to Ryn-han’s (Kim Soo-hyun) character, being a spy doesn’t mean you have the glamorous life of James Bond. Instead, one lives the life of a brainless young man who…
