Aurora
The difficulties of motherhood and creation, in all its forms, are at the fore of AURORA. Carmen Paddock reviews at IFFR 2021.
Category Archives: Reviews
Riders of Justice
RIDERS OF JUSTICE is underpinned by the innate absurdity of existence and love for the fools navigating this abyss. The film’s weakest sides are its predictable concluding beats, but it is hard to be mad at a film this good-hearted.
Luzzu
Alex Camilleri’s feature directorial debut is a melancholy lament on the decline of traditional ways of life. Without romanticising an often difficult daily life, his story of a Maltese fisherman is naturalistic but beautiful.
John and the Hole
There is plenty to commend the technical and performance aspects of JOHN AND THE HOLE. Still, the storytelling choices and structure fill in the intriguing gaps with narrative quicksand, into which the film’s potential slowly sinks.
Quo vadis, Aida?
Jasmila Zbanic’s heart-wrenching feature swirls through moments of reflective anguish and ruminating cynicism, with the perfect formula to remember, condemn and question the forces that lead to the infamous events of the Bosnian genocide.
Trouble
Garnett brilliantly lends herself to her father likeness, reconstructing scenes and lip-syncing interviews herself as if he were present. She allows Dave to be documented despite his absence. A unique and moving way of reconnection, seeing daughter transform into father.
Letter to a Friend
The impression given in LETTER TO A FRIEND is that what once had a sense of perpetuity has undergone a rapid, recent, and enduring change. An accelerating transformation that has not only scarred a Bethlehem neighbourhood physically but has warped the nature of the very fabric of life.
Nitrate Kisses
The erasure methods employed by the hegemonic cultural mainstream have been many, but the means by which LGBTQ people have fought for visibility and the freedom to present as they wish publicly and proudly are far greater. NITRATE KISSES is one such expression of that pride and power.
We’re Still Here
It’s inevitable that WE’RE STILL HERE will leave you wanting to grab some campaign boards and join in on the wave of activism. Ciéra Cree reviews at Document Human Rights Film Festival.
Synchronic
SYNCHRONIC joins the dense history of time travel films with an intriguing mechanic and clear character motivations to attach to it. However, Benson and Moorhead’s film zips by at a pace that means our attachment to those characters never develops the film into the emotionally engaging feature it could have been.