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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
At its heart, BABY DONE is a film about being uncomfortable adopting the roles of parenthood, and realising they’re only as restricting as we allow them to be. The film’s shortcomings aren’t from a lack of ideas, but rather from their execution.
STARDUST isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t seem to strive for much more than that. The Bowie biopic lacks the cryptic charisma of its subject; something that might distract from a disjointed and inconsequential narrative.
Beneath the documentary textures of BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS, its vérité camerawork and calm but quick editing schemes, something planned and constructed is at work. The Ross brothers transform a concocted scenario into a space full of what seems like extempore feeling and lived-in experience. Marc Nelson reviews.
TENET ends up something of a Rube Goldberg machine of a film: a wondrously complex set of mechanics that is fascinating, but also an incredibly convoluted way of masking what is, in essence, a thin and poorly executed story.
