Clik here to view.
PASOLINI (DIR. ABEL FERRARA, FRANCE/BELGIUM/ITALY, 2014) – REVIEW
The biographical film is dangerous territory. There are myriad reasons for this: the hackneyed form of the biopic, the biographical inconsistencies, the expectations that come with portraying a revered...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL 2015 | WELCOME TO LEITH (DIR. MICHAEL BEACH NICHOLS &...
In the great Westerns of Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More) and Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) a man always comes to town. The man in question – like Eastwood’s Man With No Name...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BLUE BORSALINO (DIR. MARK LOBATTO) – TRAILER LAUNCH
We’re very pleased to launch the official trailer for the short film Blue Borsalino, directed by Mark Lobatto and executive produced by Christopher Smith (Creep, Black Death). The film stars Emmy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL 2015 | FASSBINDER: TO LOVE WITHOUT DEMANDS (DIR....
The forty plus films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder are among the most honest, ruthless and personal of any director. With near sadomasochistic force, Fassbinder dealt relentlessly with social problems...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE VOICE OF A WOMAN FILM FESTIVAL 2015 | OCTOBER 2-4, LONDON
The Voice of A Woman Film Festival is coming to London this weekend to celebrate the creative leadership and risk-taking and originality of women filmmakers. Running from Friday 2nd October to Sunday...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SPECTRE – FINAL TRAILER
Sony Pictures have released the final trailer for upcoming Bond film Spectre, directed by Sam Mendes, starring Daniel Craig, Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux. What do you make of it? Let us know your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL 2015 | ATOMIC (DIR. MARK COUSINS, UK, 2015) – REVIEW
Continuing with the essay film form for which he has become so revered (see The Story of Film), Mark Cousins’ Atomic – a BBC Storyville film initially made to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BAJIRAO MASTANI – DIRECTED BY SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI
Late in the day it may be, but one of the most visually sumptuous films to arrive in 2015 is surely Bajirao Mastani, by legendary Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Devdas, Goliyon Ki Raasleela...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WHY BATMAN FOREVER DESERVES CULT CLASSIC STATUS
When Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight trilogy wrapped up in 2012 with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, the director had effectively eclipsed all prior Batman films. The trilogy got rave reviews...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NEW BFI TRAILER FOR GODARD’S STUNNING LE MÉPRIS
The BFI will re-release Jean-Luc Godard’s stunning post-modern classic Le Mépris in selected cinemas UK-wide on 1 January 2016. It will be the centrepiece of BFI Southbank’s Jean-Luc Godard season...
View ArticleClik here to view.
TOP TEN FILMS OF 2015 – TOM COTTEY (EDITOR)
1) TIMBUKTU (DIR. ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO, FRANCE/MAURITANIA) A tremendously moving modern tragedy set in contemporary Mali, but filmed in director Sissako’s native Mauritania. Timbuktu tells a story of a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CRACKED ACTOR – RIP DAVID BOWIE (1947 – 2016)
Here’s a documentary well and truly deserving of digital restoration. The BBC made Cracked Actor, directed by Alan Yentob, for their Omnibus strand in 1974. The film captures David Bowie very much in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE AMERICAN DREAMER (DIR. L.M. KIT CARSON & LAWRENCE SCHILLER, USA, 1971) –...
The American Dreamer – showing on MUBI at the time of writing – is an intriguing, reflexive 1971 documentary about Dennis Hopper, shot during the production and editing of his directorial magnum opus...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CARTAGENA 2016 | MIA MADRE (DIR. NANNI MORETTI, ITALY/FRANCE/GERMANY, 2015) –...
Four years after his last work, Habemus Papam, Nanni Moretti returns to some of the themes he’d dealt with in his 2001 Palm D’Or winner, The Son’s Room. Only this time at the heart of the drama no...
View ArticleClik here to view.
CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL 2015 | FASSBINDER: TO LOVE WITHOUT DEMANDS (DIR....
The forty plus films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder are among the most honest, ruthless and personal of any director. With near sadomasochistic force, Fassbinder dealt relentlessly with social problems...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE RISKS OF FILMMAKING – IN NUMBERS
Filmmaking is a challenging business at the best of times. Read on to discover some of the greatest insurance risks in cinema history, from the threat of filming with real lions for the 1981 cult movie...
View ArticleClik here to view.
OUR MOST ANTICIPATED UK CINEMA RELEASES OF 2016 (SO FAR)
With the cinema year well and truly underway, and Cannes just around the corner, here’s a month-by-month rundown of the films we’re (already) looking forward to seeing on British cinema screens in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NOFF 2016 | FILMMAKER INTERVIEW: JAMES PAGE (DIRECTOR OF FROM NORTH TO SOUTH...
In 2009 documentary filmmaker James Page travelled to North Korea on a tourist visa, carrying with him a set of different cameras. Fascinated by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea since a young...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DIFF 2016 | 15 FILMS TO WATCH AT THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Dubai Internatonal Film Festival begins on the 7th of December, running through to the 14th. This year features a lineup of 155 films (features and shorts), and the programme includes a VR...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DIFF 2016 | DUBAI FILM FEST & TEA WITH CULTURE
This December I attended the Dubai International Film Festival for the first time. Among the highlights of the festival (and there were many) was getting to meet the critics behind the excellent...
View Article