Ukrainian Special Film Benefit Screening “BUCHA”
Ukrainian Special Film Benefit Screening “BUCHA” Please Join us for A Special Film Screening Benefit Purchase TICKETS at EVENTBRITE Event Schedule 6:30 p.m. – Doors open6:50
Ukrainian Special Film Benefit Screening “BUCHA” Please Join us for A Special Film Screening Benefit Purchase TICKETS at EVENTBRITE Event Schedule 6:30 p.m. – Doors open6:50
Shorts Package 2 Bernie Director: Dian Weys Year: 2022 Runtime: 7 minutes Language: Afrikaans, English Country: South Africa A 10 km race has been organized that
Once again, Ian Gabriel, director, together with his son Gabe, writer and the main actor, have made a road trip/ drag movie that has some of the best lines I have heard in a movie for a long time, Extremely entertaining, River(Gabe ) reluctantly accompanies father Varun played by actor ( Ace Bhatti who starred in Bohemian Rhapsody as Freddie Mercury’s father), on a road trip to rescue Varun’s ex Monica (played by Diaan Lawrenson) who left when River was born. She is holed up somewhere across the border in a rehab centre and contacts Varun to get her out. Varun who has raised River after Monica leaves was a full-time scammer but has changed his ways and wants to bring River up as a good father. River who performs drag was born a girl but is transitioning and totally estranged from his / her mother. River has a partner Ollie (Cleo Wesley ) gender as “they”, and both are hoping to win the 50,000 Rand prize in a Drag Competition and River has to back in time to perform. The R50,000 is for River to have surgery as part of the transition
Not to have any more spoilers or surprises I will stop here. Safe to say there is never a dull moment in the film, many colourful scenes and characters and so many twists and turns throughout. The Drag competition is with real South African drag performers and is very entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed the film!
This film takes us through a journey of one of the greatest ultra-marathon races of all time, and one of the oldest. The 100th anniversary was celebrated in 2021. it has grown to an average of 15,000 participants each year. The film is based on the 2022 Marathon with 13,000 runners. The race alternates each year from Pietermaritzburg – Durban and vice versa. Since Durban is at the coast and is approximately 89 kilometers from Pietermaritzburg, (incidentally the same runtime as the film) it is either a down- run to the coast or the opposite. Most runners who have done both know how to pace themselves in different directions. The film covers a lot of ground from the early years when there were far less runners than today (34 mostly white male runners in 1921). Due to Apartheid segregation laws black South African participants were not officially allowed to enter until 1975 although some did participate earlier, and the officials just ignored the situation. The historic footage of the earliest race is quite extraordinary, and the coverage of the many subsequent races and the multiple stories of the winners including Sam Tshabalala’s famous win in 1989 were very engaging. Stories of the fastest women participants, and those who did not finish or were over the cut-off period allowed, as well as the rules for entry, the heat conditions etc. all added to the enjoyment. It dragged a bit towards the end of the film, and I expect it was because they wanted to have the length of the film equate with the distance of the Comrades marathon.
George Bizos 1927-2020
Having left South Africa in 1975, I knew of George Bizos. I knew that he was Nelson Mandela’s Lawyer and involved in working with Bram Fischer in the Rivonia Trials in 1963, but I was not aware of his closeness with the Mandela family, looking after the family needs, and the children, while Nelson was in prison.
In 1950 he completed his law degree at the University of Witwatersrand but was not given citizenship because of his political beliefs and was only admitted to the Johannesburg Bar in 1954 after the state relented and allowed him to become a citizen. It took him 30 years to become a citizen. He married in 1948.
The film covers the period when he at the age of 13 together with his father fled from Greece in 1941 to eventually arriving in South Africa in the same year. The rest of the family only joined them in the 1950’s. The film covers his history in South Africa beautifully, and his character and approach to defending human rights are certainly endorsed by the contributions from his children in describing their father. The film paces well and gives one a full picture of how much he did for South Africa in defending the struggles of Apartheid, the TRC, advising on the new Constitution of South Africa and more recently representing some of the families of the Marikana massacre.
The film is well paced very engaging!
If you have never been to Cape Town, South Africa, you are in for a treat. The Umbrella Men is filmed in an area previously called District 6, a mixed residential area close to the city centre. The area was once known for its lively community, many cultures, and music. It changed because of segregation and became dilapidated, but today it is once again a thriving community revitalized with multi coloured buildings and narrow streets.
It is now known as Bo-Kaap. The Goema Club – the focal point of The Umbrella Men and the headquarters for a group of musicians who participate in the annual Cape Minstrel Carnival.
…..The head of the Club has just died and his son Jerome who had moved to Johannesburg some time back and is estranged from the family, is in Cape Town to attend the funeral. He is the sole heir, but does not want to inherit the club and would prefer to sign it over to his father’s companion Aunty Val. He discovers that the club has been signed over to the bank as collateral for an enormous sum of a million Rand, due to accumulated debts his father incurred helping the community. His father’s former business partner, an unscrupulous carpet dealer and crime lord also known as Uncle Tariek is planning to take it over with a scheme with the bank manager. Jerome does not want to let this happen and plans a bank heist to rob the bank.. Of course there is a double cross, and some mistakes in the planning, and a romantic connection that saves the day. But it would spoil the fun scenes to give away the plot.
…..There are many colourful scenes and scenarios throughout the film, good acting as well as some exquisite shots of beautiful Cape Town. The pacing is deliberate and a little slow in the early stages, but moves rapidly to a wonderful finish.
As our sponsored film, I was pleasantly surprised with the script, the quality of the acting and the background to the story of Death of a Whistleblower. Having watched the trailer, I was interested in finding an interview with TIFF and Director Ian Gabriel, and some of the cast. I think Ian has created a remarkable film, exposing where South Africa is today in terms of post-Apartheid and the outcome of the Truth and Reconciliation commission (TRC). Scouring the internet one can find many articles on lack of prosecutions for those who were not pardoned after the TRC. Corruption is still a major issue and disappearance, torture and murder of whistleblowers, a subject reported in quite a few articles. The interview discusses a number of these observations with the director and the cast in attendance are given an opportunity to discuss their roles and their thoughts about South Africa present day. The film moves fast, it is full of action and drama, mainly filmed at night in Johannesburg. Even though it is a South African film, it is easy to follow and has a message that is universal around the world. I was pleased to have chosen it for our co-presented film.
Note we provide some sharing of Facebook and Instagram at the end of our reviews, and we have posted both the link to the interview and to the article I referred to above.
MUSIC IS MY LIFE is an epic film created over several years covering the life of singer and founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dr Josef Shabalala. It encompasses his life, from his early years in rural South Africa as a farmhand at the age 6 with almost no schooling to the height of his global success and his passing in 2020 at the age of 79. The film speaks to us about his love for singing, and incorporating hymns and visions through dreams and religion, that influenced his singing style, known as Isicathamiya music, which developed his unique music. This unique style and interpretation were further explored and adapted, when he met Paul Simon in South Africa. Paul had defied the UN cultural ban on artists performing in South Africa in the mid-eighties and he collaborated with Joseph Shambala and the band, as well as several other South African musicians to produce the album Graceland. The South African Film Festival played a documentary film about Paul Simon’s trip, opening the second S. A. Fim Fest in Vancouver. It was this collaboration that led the way to the huge success that followed Ladysmith Black Mambazo worldwide. While the film shows some beautiful footage of South Africa, it also tells of the difficulties and struggles. that befell The Shabalala family, and how this was overcome with Joseph’s visions and beliefs in his music. A wonderful opening film for this year’s festival which hopefully will be seen by many followers of SAFFCANADA and E.W.B
Movie Title Foreign Title Year Country(s) Language(s) Shorts List Item #1 List Item #2 List Item #3 List Item #4 List Item #5 Awards Director(s)
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Sadly, David House passed away on April 24th 2024, at Vancouver General Hospital. He had been suffering with a recurring bout of Leukemia and other
Having received a recommendation on “Julie Keeps Quiet” for one of our society’s sponsored films, I did some research to find out how realistic a film like this could be. I was intrigued and cautious about the subject matter. I am an avid tennis player and have played tournaments both in my birth country (South Africa) and across Canada. There have been several cases in both the amateur and professional tennis world that I have been aware of and of course in other sports, about coaching abuse. I also wanted to make sure that the tennis was realistic and not just actors. I discovered that actress Tessa Van Den Broek who plays Julie has a ranking in Belgium.
This is her Instagram Statement “Tennis is what I do and is part of who I am.” #tennis. This is her first acting role and the tennis scenes of her and the other students are both natural and very realistic. Mostly practice sessions and one or two matches. I managed to entice, some of my tennis buddies, who are not regular film goers to see the film: They all enjoyed it!
Van Dijl was extremely careful to keep the scenes realist and not overdo the drama situation, while focusing on Julie and why she keeps quiet. One finds out quite shortly after the coach is suspended, that Julie, as the new star player, may have experienced similar issues with the coach, who is under investigation, as his former star pupil had committed suicide. Julie continues to work on her tennis skills with the new coach and is the focus of the attention of the other students, as well as the prestige tennis centre’s board, and her parents. Yet she keeps quiet and tries to focus on some injuries and preparation for an upcoming major tournament. The natural pace of the film and Julie’s discipline just add to the suspense of where this is heading and how it will end.
Naomi Osaka and her longtime agent and business partner Stuart Duguid are behind Hana Kuma, an Emmy Award-nominated creative house, and will serve as executive producers on the film.
The film is Belgium’s entry to the Oscars and the film has been picked up by Film Movement in North America, so it should make its way to Vancouver.
This remarkable film by Min Bahadur Bham, director and co-author Abinash Bikram Shah, stunningly shot through the craft and skill of the most amazing cinematographer Aziz Zhambakiev, presents an iconic and transcendent story as old as The Ramayana’s tale of Rama and Sita. Entirely shot in the Himalaya Mountains, where the air is so thin only brush can grow. The attentive and thoughtful camerawork by Aziz Zhambakiev makes every scene a mesmerizing delight.
The story opens in a remote village on the eve of a wedding between a young woman (Pema, played by Thinley Lhamo) and three brothers, with the young bride ‘s parents lovingly give her advice about the upcoming marriage. The eldest brother, Tashi, is her beloved, the next brother, aptly named Karma, is a monk living in a monastery not far away and the youngest brother, Dawa, is not quite a teenager. The marriage ceremony is presided over by the Rinpoche, head of Karma’s monastery.
When Tashi fails to come back with the trading party, the now pregnant Pema learns he has heard gossip, that she has been unfaithful and doubts the paternity of her child. She decides to embark on a journey to find Tashi and defend herself. She consults with the head of Karma’s monastery who charges Karma to accompany her. There is an awkwardness at first but the two quickly develop affection for each other, with Karma promising, prophetically, to take on the responsibility of the child.
Initially Pema’s main relationship is with Tashi, but then when Tashi is away for many months on the trading trip she forms a maternal and much needed disciplinary relationship with Dawa. She forms a strong bond with Karma on her journey through the mountains to find Tashi.
Pema comes from an authentically open and generous family which makes her naive about gossip and mistrust. There is a telling moment when Pema says to Karma that when she finds Tashi, she wants to ask him why he believes gossip rather than trust her.
Upon hearing that his master Rinpoche is seriously ill and close to death, Karma has to return to the monastery leaving Pema to continue on alone. In a dream sequence or a shared transcendent moment with the spirit of the deceased Rinpoche, he tells her that he will see her in two months. Pema catches up with Tashi after travelling full circle and finds she is in a no-win situation. He will never accept the child and demands that she end her pregnancy.
Both Pema and Karma grow spiritually on their journey as does their destiny. The final scene is of the returning spirit of Rinpoche handing his soul over to Pema for his rebirth.
The pacing of the journey through the barren background of the mountains, although arduous and contemplative, instills a sense of the immensity to this eternal story, with every moment savoured and appreciated.
TRAILER | AWARDS | REVIEW Interview with Director Leonardo Van Dijl ROTTEN TOMATOES SynopsisLeonardo Van Dijl’s debut feature Julie Keeps Quiet never judges the young woman
TRAILER | AWARDS | REVIEW | OFFICIAL SITE From the director team of Aitor Arregi & Jon Garaño THE ENDLESS TRENCH in 2019 Having watched their earlier film “The Endless Trench” at the
Social realism has been a significant genre in cinema since the emergence of Italian Neo-Realism in the late 1940s. Through small, intimate stories about the day-to-day lives and struggles of families worldwide, filmmakers have revealed the beauty and fragility of humanity. These stories—centered on minor struggles and small victories—allowed audiences across the globe to connect with characters and themes, no matter where the films were set. In a way, this genre fulfilled Marshall McLuhan’s idea of the “global village.”
Rosinante is a film that fits firmly within this tradition. It meets all the criteria of a socially realistic film. The story follows Salih and Aysa, a white-collar couple living in modern-day Istanbul. Their six-year-old son, Emre, has yet to speak, so they take him to see a psychologist. Aysa, who trained as an architect, now works from home as an insurance salesperson to care for Emre. Meanwhile, Salih is actively searching for work, often being told he’s “Overqualified” or simply ignored.
In addition to their professional struggles, they are forced to search for a new place to live, but rising rents and limited housing make this difficult. Like many families around the world, Salih and Aysa are simply trying to make ends meet. Salih’s beloved motorcycle, nicknamed “Rosinante,” becomes their lifeline. Salih eventually takes on work as a motorcycle taxi driver, and Rosinante becomes central to the family’s routine and resilience. The three of them navigate the sprawling city on their bike.
Without Salih’s approval, Aysa begins taking night shifts with Rosinante, pushing their resources even further. Through the family’s journeys, we experience the vibrant, modern, and colorful city of Istanbul. As they deal with moving houses, job interviews, and the pressure of Aysa losing her job, tensions rise. The emotional burden of the child’s problems and the financial collapse take their toll on the family, but Salih and Aysa remain good-hearted and reasonable people and together with Rosinante, manage to keep going.
Then Rosinante gets stolen. This marks the collapse of the family’s fragile stability. The loss of the motorcycle leaves them powerless, and the future looks bleak. At the film’s climactic moment, the couple discovers a motorcycle left with the keys still in the ignition—a clear nod to De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves, a landmark of Neo-Realism. Will they take it? Will they succumb to temptation?
The film concludes on a hopeful note. Though not much is explained, things do improve, mirroring the resilience many people experience worldwide.
Rosinante is a solid film. The cinematography is fluid, with strong camera work that captures the beauty of Istanbul. The acting is believable, and the characters are relatable.
However, the film lacks depth. While well-acted, the characters aren’t particularly compelling, and their emotional motivations remain underdeveloped. The absence of dramatic tension isn’t utilized to give the audience space to reflect on the characters or events. None of the main characters experience significant growth, and the supporting characters don’t influence them in meaningful ways. Although the film ends on a happy note, it feels unclear how the resolution was achieved. That said, Rosinante is still an uplifting and engaging film—I just wished it offered more.
“All the world’s a stage….” and apparently, all worlds have stages.
The documentary, Grand Theft Hamlet, from Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls and Mark Oosterveen drops into the fictional world of Los Santos, a city in Rockstar’s online game Grand Theft Auto. (GTA). This is a flexible open world gaming platform, which allows for innovativeness and customization of the gamer’s individual goals and missions.
The overarching theme of the game is accomplishment through criminal activities, setting the environment for constant destruction caused by car chases, murder and explosions. The culture is to shoot first and never ask questions. Missile launchers and guns are the prerequisite props. Staying alive is a challenge. What a great place to stage Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. A play of ambition, murder and retribution.
During one of the covid lockdowns, actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen find themselves exploring this online world, trying to avoid being killed. During a small break in the action, they discover a huge outdoor amphitheatre. As actors the first thought is to stage a play and what better play than Hamlet. They enlist Pinny Grylls’ help with the production, by documenting the process of auditioning, rehearsing and staging the play. Everything is shot entirely within the game.
The team is constantly challenged to find avatars who are willing to audition, without anyone being killed before they have introduced themselves and explained the mission. Then to try to keep all the characters alive and sets intact while they are auditioning, rehearsing and staging the play. The whole process of casting and staging is a hilarious entertaining romp, with wonderful avatars popping in an out of their space within the gameplay.
The organising of the participating gamers who are otherwise occupied with their day-to-day duties at home during lock down and the murderous nature of the game make this production even more remarkable.
The production team was presented with the Stage Innovation Award 2023 (awards recognising excellence in British theatre), Winner Athens Digital Arts festival best video art 2021, Winner Milan Machinima Festival Critic’s award.
Although this is not about GTA, I can’t help but wonder about what is next? Macbeth?
As a Community Partner with 2 sponsored films at VIFF, I was very pleased to choose “Marco, The Invented Truth” as one of these screened at VIFF 2024. I had based my choice on directors Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño’s previous film “The Endless Trench” which played on Netflix during Covid and which I was fortunate see at that time.
Not only was I pleased that the film had chosen VIFF for its North American Premiere, but more so when the large number of attendees at International Village 10, gave it a rousing ovation at the end of the film. It had its second screening at Vancity theatre with many of VIFF passholders attending.
The film opens with the directors’ clapboard setting the tone that this is fiction. Not a documentary, but an unbelievable drama, even though it is based on a true story. Eduard Fernández (Everybody Knows – 2018) plays Enrico Marco Balle to perfection, according to some of the historians. His lies were exposed by historian Benito Bermejo in 1978, the very day he was re-elected president of the Amical de Mauthausen group, named after the camp in Austria, where the Nazis held most of their Spanish political prisoners.
It is never truly understood why he decided to lie about his past as a prisoner in Flossenbürg, a nazi camp in the remote mountain regions of Bavaria, but he perpetuated these lies continuously, writing books and articles of his experiences in the concentration camps, as a Holocaust survivor, and even lecturing in schools, when he was never a survivor.
There is a scene in the film where he visits the camp to obtain a certificate of authentication that he was there, but does not obtain proof, but continues trying to obtain certification that he was there.
In 1978, at the age of 84 he finally admitted that he lied and this what he said” The lie began in 1978. It seemed I was getting more attention and could better publicize the suffering of many people who passed through the concentration camps”
The film masterfully combines fictional scenes with archival footage and reports that blend a reality to his fabricated stories and lies with such belief and insistence, to be inspirational to others, including his family and his fellow members of the committee including, a past holocaust survivor. No-one ever questioned his sincerity and determination until he was exposed. Once exposed he becomes a pitiful human being, despised by those he had fooled, attacked by his daughter and still insisting it was all done in good faith and for the benefit of those who survived. He is never apologetic and still believes he did no harm. He died in 1922 at the age of 101 living alone and yet still trying to have a better version of history written.
Full credit to the wonderful script and the superb direction of the film with its twists and turns, as well as an outstanding performance by Eduard Fernández in the lead role. Hopefully we will get a chance to see this film in the theatres in Vancouver.
“Bao” has many meanings. One meaning is to protect and defend and another is return, revenge and reciprocity. Both underscore the motivations of the characters in this story.
This is the story of one man’s struggle to redeem his family’s honour and himself in order to restore balance in his life. Guan Hu (writer and director) sets the stage on which to play out this tale in a crumbling, decaying town at the edge of the encroaching Gobi Desert.
At the edge of this fast moving and expanding desert (desertification) we find our main character Lang now thirty years old, (played quietly and thoughtfully by Eddie Peng) returning to his hometown after being paroled for his part in the death of a thief, he was pursuing. It is now ten years later and much has changed since his incarceration. Many people have been forced to abandon the city and their dogs, who are now fending for themselves and running wild.
The first scene is telling. As a lone bus appears on which was once a stable roadway and is now a rough jagged track, a pack/herd of dogs overrun the road causing the bus to flip on its side. As people leave the bus, Lang is accused of stealing money from one of the other passengers. This is later disproved but reinforces the stigma that Lang is carrying into his hometown. Worthy of note, the Black dog also is stigmatised through a unfounded suspicion of having rabies.
Lang is not only returning to his home but also to the consequences caused by his part in the death of the thief. His estranged father has become an alcoholic and is living an isolated existence in the now semi-abandoned zoo, caring for the remaining the animals. The family of the dead man headed by the uncle, Butcher Hu (a snake farmer), is seeking payback.
For quite a while Lang can not find his footing until he is assigned community service with the dog catchers and develops a relationship with the black dog, first as a hunter and then as a saviour.
On many occasions throughout the film the dog saves and redirects Lang on the path of his return to balance. In the end, with the help of the dog, Lang successfully redeems himself with Butcher Hu, by saving his life when his snakes are released during an earthquake.
There are some wonderful shots of Lang in a pagoda situated on a hilltop, thoughtfully overlooking the eroding city bustling with large demolition equipment. Everyday life in the city is described by the skillful use of light, changing from the dark of the sandstorms to filtered light reflecting the particulates in the air.
There are many gems and magic moments in the telling of this story. When Lang and the dog first meet, the dog asserts his territorial rights and urinates on the spot where Lang urinated; the second clip from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”; Lang has trouble killing anything so feeds the tiger porridge and then gives the tiger a live rabbit, (which the dog caught because Lang couldn’t shoot it ) the tiger also can’t seem to kill the rabbit; the dog picking up when Lang drops the ball in comforting his father on his deathbed.
This was an interesting tale however the many components and threads in the telling of this story caused it to lose its way at times reducing it from an excellent story to a good story.
The title, 78 Days, refers to the period during which NATO bombed Serbia, a part of the former Yugoslavia, in an attempt to end the Kosovo War. From late March to mid-June 1999, European states fought a war for the first time inside Europe. The film is set in a small village outside Belgrade and centers around one family, particularly the three daughters: Sonja, Dragana, and Tijana.
Sonja, a teenager on the verge of graduating, dreams of studying fashion design, while Dragana, slightly younger, is just beginning to explore her sexuality. The youngest, Tijana, is a charismatic, lively pre-teen who serves as the heart of the family. Together with their father, a carpenter, and their mother, an accountant, they lead a pleasant bourgeois life in a small house surrounded by fields and a stream.
Like many families in that era, they own a Hi8 video camera, which they use casually. None of them has any serious filmmaking ambitions—the camera is just part of their play, a symbol of the times. The events are daily- cutting of hair (beautiful scene), making pancakes, and they often reuse tapes, recording over old footage. It’s precisely this casual, unpolished use of the camera that gives the film its unique power and authenticity.
As the war begins, the father is drafted, but the family finds comfort in the unexpected break from routine. They spend time together—talking, gossiping, and teasing one another. Despite the looming war, their life feels almost idyllic. The arrival of distant relatives fleeing Belgrade begins slowly to crack this ideal picture. The youngest, Lela, becomes a follower of the dynamic, sometimes young dictator Tijana, while the two older girls are drawn to Mladen, a handsome young relative. Tensions arise as the relationships within the family subtly shift, paralleling the war’s quiet but persistent presence.
Toward the end, the war gets too close and the fragile harmony breaks, —but, as in life, it mends, and the war ends. Life goes on.
The end.
The film’s strength lies less in its plot and more in how it’s made and told. The entire narrative is crafted from the Hi8 video as if someone found these tapes 25 years later and tried to make sense of that time. The passage of time is marked by the date stamps on the footage, giving the film a sense of authenticity and nostalgia.
To make this beauty clearer, here are a few relevant facts to take into account while watching:
The casting for the 4 girls, all non actresses took over a year
Part of the research was into how kids used Video cameras, pre-teens, for example, rarely used the zoom function. This was used in crafting the shots according to the character.
Each scene was shot on average 4 times.
The young girls were not given a script, and for every 2 takes the director changed their lines, to achieve authenticity in acting
Although shot in one location, it took almost 2 months of rehearsals and 20 days of shooting.
78 Days captures both the powerful sentimentality of family life and the bittersweet nature of memories. The filmmaker’s childhood recollections and the collective memory of the time merge to create a beautifully compelling story. It’s a reflection of how humanity often tries to hold onto the good moments, but, just like in real life, the things we repress—especially the frightening ones—inevitably surface.
I was enchanted by this animated short film with a haunting, folkloric feel. A young girl struggles to find her footing in the natural world, to apprehend its rhythms and to live in harmony with it. The passage of fruitful and barren seasons embodies hope and grief. Eventually, she seeks the protection and wisdom of a Birdwoman.
This is a timely and important work, whose narrative is based upon the 1976 Majunga massacre. A sensitively crafted, intense and disturbing film, it shows how quickly an apparently trivial neighbourhood quarrel can escalate, resulting in a cataclysm. Simmering interracial tensions and labour unrest prove a combustible combination.
This tantalizingly brief, playful and sensual portrait of a relationship is delightfully ambiguous and almost hallucinatory, flirting with the themes of subjective perception and of the passage of time. A young man who may be asleep on a train and dreaming, or who may be experiencing déja vu, says, “We sit on the train, watching the scenery, eating watermelon … What’s going wrong?” His teasing exchanges with his partner reflect the ways in which cultural influences and individual experience filter our understanding and our very use of language.
In “Sauna Day,” a group of men unwind in a sauna after a grueling workday, their conversation minimal. As the heat intensifies and the steam hisses, most of them leave, leaving only two behind. One of the men uses a bundle of herbs to strike the other’s back. The camera lingers, capturing the intensity and pleasure of this ritual, culminating in their immersion in a local stream, where they find relief and tranquility. After this soothing interlude, they return to the sauna, briefly discussing their day’s labor as they dress, interrupted by the calls of their partners.
Powerful, intimate, amazing sound work that takes over the viewer and draws them in, and lighting, staging and photography that deliberately reminisces with the great masters of painting.
“Sauna Day” explores the physicality of its subjects, but ultimately, it is the soul that resonates most deeply. This short is a solid 10 /10
Samira Elagoz and Z Walsh met in Berlin, fell in love, and made a documentary about their love affair. From the first date, through the struggles of long-distance relationships, meeting the families, Z’s operation, it’s all documented, in the spirit of the generation, in digital forms.
In the spirit of Nan Goldin’s slide show art, the film is composed only of still images and text messages, the film provides an intimate and beautiful insight into the gentle love affair of a transmasculine couple.
At its heart, Gloria! is a feel-good film. Strip away its 19th-century Venetian orphanage setting, and what remains is a familiar narrative: a group of teenagers uniting to overcome a corrupt system, a tyrannical leader, a male-dominated environment, and personal obstacles. Along the way, they discover their voices (one quite literally), gain creative and personal freedom, and even find love.
What sets Gloria! apart is its basis in truth. In Venice at the time, orphanages often doubled as conservatories, where young women were taught music, singing, and instrumental performance, often in churches. This practice continued until Napoleon’s 1807 edict brought it to an end.
Though grounded in historical fact, Gloria! is far from a typical period drama. It is, above all, a celebration of music—the love of it, its transformative power, and its ability to break barriers.
At the center of the film are two young women: Lucia, a charismatic and highly talented violinist and composer, and Teresa, a mute servant from the lowest ranks, mistreated by the convent’s music maestro. When a famous piano maker, impressed by the girls’ talents, donates a piano, the maestro hides it. However, Teresa discovers it, and soon the other girls follow, sparking a musical duel between Lucia’s baroque classical training and Teresa’s untrained, jazz-pop rhythms.
As the Pope’s visit approaches, the plot thickens. The maestro, preoccupied with covering his lover/protégé’s gambling debts, fails to compose a new piece. Lucia’s heart is broken, Teresa finds her voice, and the convent’s dark secrets are exposed.
The film culminates in a modern, jubilant celebration of music, dance, and freedom. The old, conservative, male-dominated world is left in shock, while the young—those who supported the girls, the children, and the newly liberated women—join in the joyful festivities.
Gloria! has its flaws. Sometimes it leans on narrative clichés and the timeline is unclear. However, these shortcomings don’t detract from the film’s beautiful and powerful performances by the cast. It is hard not to get drawn into the group and be taken by their friendship and love of music. The film is well-executed, both in cinematography and editing, while the art direction is easily inspired by the art of the time. Above all, it’s harmonious blending of baroque music (with nods to Vivaldi, once a maestro at the original convents) with pop and electronic sounds turn into one grand musical celebration. We left the cinema, and everyone was moving.
It’s clear that the filmmaker loves music—and, as it turns out, is a musician herself.
In this affecting, meditative and timely drama, Ukrainian family members vacationing in Tenerife have their travel plans and their entire lives upended by Russia’s sudden invasion of their homeland. Blindsided, they experience a bewildering spectrum of emotions as their languorous holiday is converted into an intolerable state of limbo. Carnival festivities swirl around them; Russian tourists drink wine and enjoy the swimming pool while the family frantically seeks news — even in unintelligible Spanish — about the growing devastation in Kyiv. Their dread anticipation and sense of abject helplessness inevitably explode into tensions and fractures between them.
The themes of isolation, disorientation and elements beyond one’s control are conveyed by gorgeous natural imagery, including long takes of the ocean’s unsettled moods, expanses of wilderness, and references to a volcano. Replete with ironic juxtaposition, the film is a visual feast, an eloquent photographic essay about the human condition.
Its somber tone is balanced by significant grace notes, such as the hotel manager’s unexpected generosity; teenage Sofia’s devotion to her adorable six-year-old brother; and her compassion for the displaced strangers she meets, whose alienation she recognizes as greater than her own.
Reinas is a thoroughly enjoyable, bittersweet family drama set against the backdrop of 1990s Peru’s political instability.
Carlos, “El Loco,” is the charismatic, long-estranged father of two daughters whose mother plans an imminent move with them to the United States. He strives to engage the skeptical teenager and her credulous younger sister with tall tales of his career as a crocodile wrangler and a police secret agent, while indulging them with trips to the beach and wild sand-dune rides. Intricate family dynamics and teenage social interactions are rendered in all their volatility and nuance. All the actors are utterly convincing. In a world of casual supernatural belief and occasional danger, a gentle humour generally pervades.
Set against the backdrop of an ongoing occupation, No Other Land is a gripping documentary whose power lies in its simplicity, honesty, and unflinching realism. The film avoids any sense of manipulation or over-dramatization, delivering a genuine portrayal of life in Masafer Yatta, a region in the southern West Bank.
Masafer Yatta is home to 12 small villages where families live modest, cooperative lives, raising animals and farming the land. These communities have existed for generations. However, in 1980, Israel declared the area a closed military training zone, initiating decades of demolitions, destruction, and expulsions. Despite this being illegal under international law, the process continues unabated.
Occasionally, the locals achieve small victories, such as when a school they built remained open for a few more years after a brief visit by Tony Blair drew media attention. Yet even that school is eventually demolished, leaving children and teachers with just minutes to evacuate. It’s just one example among many: homes, chicken coops, and shelters are routinely destroyed, with families left to seek shelter in caves—only to be expelled again. The maltreatment only gets brutal, and although the film features moments of comic relief, the destruction continues: water wells are destroyed, pipes cut, trees uprooted, and chickens scattered. The army deliberatly confiscate electrical generators as well as working tools. Settlers join in the violence, beating and shooting locals in full view of the military, who do nothing to stop them
The film is narrated by Basel Adra, a quiet yet determined second-generation activist from the village. Armed only with a camera, Basel documents the everyday struggles of his community under constant threat. Much of his footage captures chaotic scenes of him running from soldiers, settlers, and police, who frequently harass, chase, and arrest him and his family for his activism. Yet, despite the looming presence of the military and settlers, the documentary focuses on the resilience of the villagers, showing their perseverance amidst relentless adversity.
Basel is joined by Yuval, an Israeli journalist and activist, and their fragile friendship offers a glimpse of humanity within a fraught situation. While Yuval tries to stay optimistic, Basel’s hope is slowly fading as the harshness of their reality takes its toll. Despite moments of warmth and hospitality, the film ultimately presents a bleak outlook for the future of these communities.
No Other Land is a raw depiction of systemic oppression. Knowing about it is one thing, but watching it unfold is a visceral experience. It’s a must-see, offering a gut-wrenching and deeply human portrayal of a community under siege that stays with you long after the credits roll
The playful presentation of the opening credits signals the complex interweaving of art and life in this profoundly insightful film. At times, it is difficult to tease apart artifice and reality. The newlyweds portrayed in the first scene prove to be actors in a movie being shot in a reclusive artist’s home. She has reluctantly agreed to this intrusion into her private space because she needs the money generated by the rental.
Her resentment and sense of alienation gradually give way to fascination, as she finds herself inexorably drawn into the process of the film’s creation and into the lives of the actors and production crew. They scramble to devise a schedule, to improvise solutions, to reconsider approaches. Doors and mirrors ineptly hung, carelessly left open or accidentally broken contribute to an extended poetic contemplation of public and private personas and lives. Similarly, a wedding photo placed askew and the unnamed homeowner’s cherished, unfinished portrait by her late father that leaves her without a mouth prompts consideration of projected and internalized self-images.
The chaos that descends upon a home that has known “no parties, no visitors” transforms it into an unsought reprieve from solitude and a welcome source of community. Director Farshad Hashemi’s exquisitely nuanced and compassionate work will reverberate long after you have left the theatre.
Director Bodgan Muresanu’s tense chronicle of several interwoven lives depicts the havoc, anguish and tragedy wrought upon individuals under Ceausescu’s oppressive regime in the days surrounding the Timisoara massacre of 1989. A middle-aged widow and her adult son, an actress and a theatre director, a labourer and his family, a national radio director and his college-age activist son become fearful of their neighbours, of state surveillance and harsh reprisal. The only alternatives are forced compliance and inescapable self-betrayal or voluntary exile. The entire populace endures economic privation and tight control by the state, their resentment expressed with a mix of sardonic humour and despair. As one character observes, “So many lives ruined — and for what?”
I viewed this film with a Romanian friend who lived in the country during the period depicted, and who attested to this film’s veracity and authenticity in every detail, including its diction and the skillful portrayal of the people’s pervasive mood. Set against an ironic soundtrack, this heart-wrenching, close-to-the-bone close-up of a dictatorship is a powerful film whose final moments are unexpectedly exhilarating.
Movie Title: Sleeping With A Tiger Foreign Title: Mit einem Tiger schlafen Year: 2024 Country: Austria Language: In German, English and French with English subtitles
Movie Title : When We lost To The Germans Foreign Film Title:Toen we van de Duitsers verloren Year: 2023 Country: Netherlands Language: In Dutch with
The Eastern Mediterranean has been a source of many cautionary tales over the course of history, dating from before Aesop to the present day. The director of Hakki, Hikmet Kerem Ozcan, brings us another one.
Hakki is a man who has lived a seemingly well-balanced life in a small village off the Aegean Sea. He is now middle-aged with good friends and a happy and loving family. He supports his family by guiding tourists and selling replicas of historic artifacts. In one of the first scenes, he muses wistfully to the tourists about the loss of the originals through exportation. He is a man who trusts in the goodwill of others and operates mainly in a sharing world of give and take with his neighbours.
Just by chance he finds a valuable ancient artifact on his property, which with the help of a friend he manages to sell for what he thinks is a substantial amount; enough to buy a car. This act exposes the first small crack in the foundation of his being, opening the door just ajar. Later he hears that it sold on the international market for ten times more than he was paid.
This becomes a tripping stone on the edge of the precipice. Hakki starts to tumble down the black hole of greed, one of the seven deadly sins.
Through the exacting eye of the cinematographer, Burak Baybars, we follow Hakki (Played by Bulent Emin Yarar) on his obsessive path as he tunnels through the foundations of his house looking for more artifacts. The complicated maze this creates, both in the foundation of his house and in his core being, is something he cannot escape.
He hollows out his house and its foundations, his relationships and his inner self. One of the first things he loses is authenticity, then his trust in others, then his friends, his family and himself. He sees it all slip away but he cannot stop it.
In the opening scene, which is the last scene, there is a momentary flash of truth as he catches his reflection in the mirror and sees what he has become. The film cleverly ends a step before the first scene creating a never-ending loop for Hakki.
The characters are all portrayed with exaggerated personalities which creates an unevenness in the story telling. Hakki’s wife, played by the perfectly cast Cem Zeynel Kelic, was a little too stoic and long- suffering. The buyer was a little too nefarious, Hakki was a little too open and generous in the beginning and became a little too distrustful and frenzied at the end. However, this is a good story, well told.
A finely observed portrait of late-in-life loneliness, longing and hope, this work is characterized by excellent photography and naturalistic pacing. Its poignant, humorous, and poetic tone is extremely appealing.
Seventy-year-old widow Mahin lives alone in Tehran. For the past thirty years, she has seemed resigned to her circumstances. Suddenly roused from her complacency, she asserts her compassionate spirit and newfound boldness both in a political incident into which she inserts herself and in a romantic situation that she engineers.
The strictures of contemporary Iranian life form an inescapable backdrop to this sensitive tale. And Mahin’s plans, which appear to succeed beyond her expectations, result in an evening that she could never have imagined. Directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha are masters of the ironic twist.
Soundtrack to a Coup d’État is far from a conventional film. The director, known for his exploration of moving images and archival footage, crafts works that challenge the boundaries of cinema and media art.
His 1997 piece DIAL H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, which debuted at Documenta in Kassel, blurred the lines between documentary and essay film, combining found footage, home videos, and Don DeLillo’s texts to critique the relationship between airplane hijackings and media sensationalism. Grimonprez’s signature style—marked by his meticulous editing and storytelling—delivers scathing critiques of capitalism and the media’s role in amplifying terror for the sake of ratings.
In Soundtrack to a Coup d’État, Grimonprez refines his approach, presenting an intricate and intense audiovisual essay. The film is multilayered, with each element revealing new perspectives, culminating in a deeply unsettling narrative. Set primarily between 1955 and 1965, against the backdrop of the Cold War, the film documents the Congolese struggle for independence, the broader awakening of African nations, and the attempts by Western powers to maintain control over Africa’s resources and politics. The narrative leads to the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s charismatic and fiercely independent first prime minister.
Another layer interwoven into the film is the story of jazz musicians and their connection to the American Civil Rights Movement. This parallels their support for Africa’s fight for freedom on one hand, and the way the CIA used them as ambassadors of goodwill to obscure its involvement in local politics and coups on the other.
While the events may be familiar, what sets this film apart is its source material—archival footage from global sources. Grimonprez masterfully combines eyewitness testimony, government documents, memoir excerpts, interviews with CIA agents and missionaries, radio broadcasts, and televised speeches. What begins as a somewhat light narrative, set against the backdrop of jazz music and hope, quickly evolves into an absurd yet chilling nightmare, forcing the audience to confront harsh truths about Western complicity.
The film’s indictment is powerful. It targets Belgian society, its political forces, and the royal family. But it doesn’t stop there—it critiques the American ethos, exposing the hypocrisy behind claims of justice and freedom. The United Nations also emerges as a weak, manipulated organization. Western politicians speak openly of bribery and murder, while others display unapologetic racism and condescension toward Black people.
What makes the film so powerful is not just the story it tells, but how it is told. Through repetition, jump cuts, and modern editing techniques, Grimonprez uses images like a collage. The visuals and music don’t merely drive the narrative forward; they reveal additional layers of meaning. The soundtrack is more than a simple accompaniment—it physically affects the audience, dragging them from exuberance to distress, from oppressive silence to explosive noise, making it almost hard to endure.
This animation follows the story of two friends who see the moon as a disco ball. Their love is so intact that they are willing to travel to the moon while happily dancing, even if that means they are going to lose parts of each other.
This animation is the story of a girl who seems to be lost. Suddenly, she is guided by three birds to a home whose owner is a bird-like mother and takes the girl in, to look after her. After the girl wakes up from a dream of a dead plant to three seeds in her hand, the three birds take the seeds and plant it for a new life to grow in a symbolic way.
Writer/Director Neil Ferron along with co-author Alexandra Dennis-Renner bring “Fishmonger”, a dark comedic Irish tale to the screen.A masterly use of light, supported with skillful camera angles and composition by cinematographer Jack McDonald, creates an atmosphere of otherworldliness.
The audience follows along the wavering path of Christie ( The Christian) O’ Mallaghan as he stumbles between the horns of a dilemma. He is devoted to his overly close Mother, perhaps due to her unusual culinary skills and his dietary peculiarities. Unfortunately she is on her death bed with only 2-3 days to live. According to Island/Catholic Church folklore, if a mother dies with an unwed son she will burn in hell for all eternity. In order to save his mother’s soul, the catholic priest and the villagers insist on Christie taking one of two options. He either marries or dies, rendering his Mother childless.As this is a dark, stormy, sparsely populated, remote island in the Irish Sea, there is only one available unmarried woman, Penny O’Brien. Penny is not interested in marrying the middle aged, mama’s boy, Christie.Enter a wish granting, for a price, magically well endowed sea creature.
If your taste runs to sophomoric burlesque comedy, this is for you. Christie’s last facial