THE PIGEON is an intrinsically detailed, minimalist film focusing on one boy’s transition from a quiet life of bird-keeping to a confrontation with the realities of working life. Director Banu Sivaci takes viewers on a humbling journey through the Adana slums of Turkey, where life prospers within the small urban community, but protagonist Yusuf struggles … Continue reading The Pigeon
Dubbed by Netflix audience as “the scariest horror film ever”, VERONICA has almost too much to live up to. Whether that statement is true or not, Paco Plaza delivers an entertaining film with just a couple of letdowns throughout. As eerie as it may sound for some, it has been already more than a decade … Continue reading Verónica
Unpretentious and fresh in its approach to tackle patriarchy within a local Spanish church, HOPELESSLY DEVOUT offers a feast of eccentric characters who will definitely make you smirk. There is always some kind of genuine excitement when you take a seat in the cinema and you are about to watch a young director’s first feature. Even … Continue reading Hopelessly Devout
CLIMAX is the latest incendiary offering from the mind of provocateur Gaspar Noé, writes Murray Ferguson
A group of young women training to be car mechanics are at the centre of Theresa Traore Dahlberg’s OUAGA GIRLS, a documentary that uses unique narrative methods to create its coming-of-age tale. Dahlberg’s debut feature is set in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. We see the young women go to school in a country … Continue reading Ouaga Girls
MUG is an interesting and darkly comic look at what constitutes a personal identity. Jim Ross reviews at Cambridge Film Festival.
In this thought-provoking documentary, journals of the Finnish Linguist, G. J Ramstedt, are narrated following his travels to Mongolia, Japan and China starting in 1898 as a 25-year-old linguistics researcher. Ramstedt firstly journeys to Mongolia to study the languages, including their relation to the Finnish language. He’s accompanied by his family as he embarks on … Continue reading Eastern Memories
Deana McGuffin is a third generation boot maker living in New Mexico. Her boots are more art than footwear. The short documentary film BOOTWMN explains how Deana was approached by a San Franciscan artist with a commission to make a gay-themed cowboy boot, representing “the gay state.” We then join a team of cross generational … Continue reading BootWmn
Supported by the strength of the cinematography and sound design, MARSHLAND is is an engaging look into the psyche of Spain during its period setting. Amber Heath review at Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival.
HANDIA is a technically accomplished and engrossing tale of two brothers in the 19th-century Basque country. Jim Ross reviews at Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival.
