Category: World Cinema

Godzilla (1954)

1954 Director: Ishiro Honda Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Fuyuki Murakami, Sachio Sakai Words – Rebecca Kirby. It took fifty years for the original, uncut version of Ishiro Honda’s “Godzilla” (or Gojira) to receive an official release for western audiences.… Continue Reading “Godzilla (1954)”

MONOS

2019 Director: Alejandro Landes Starring: Sofia Buenaventura, Julian Giraldo, Karen Quintero, Laura Castrillón, Deiby Rueda, Paul Cubides, Sneider Castro, Moises Arias, Julianne Nicholson, Wilson Salazar Words – Joe H. In the remote mountains of South America, a group of child soldiers occupy an almost… Continue Reading “MONOS”

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Director: Céline Sciamma Starring: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino Words – Rhiannon Topham. Describing a film as a ‘historical drama’ conjures particularly priggish dress, dialogue and narrative, none of which is typically original or disruptive to the staid all ways of… Continue Reading “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

System Crasher

2019 Director: Nora Fingscheidt Starring: Helena Zengel, Lisa Hagmeister, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Melanie Straub, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Maryam Zaree, Tedros Teclebrhan Words – Rhiannon Topham A ‘system crasher’ is a child in the care system whose destructive behaviour render them unsuitable, or at… Continue Reading “System Crasher”

Dogs Don’t Wear Pants

Director: J.-P. Valkeapää Starring: Pekka Strang, Krista Kosonen, Ilona Huhta Words – Nathan Scatcherd An at once clinical and yet strangely tender story, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants is appropriately a film about contrasts. Following the life of a surgeon, Juha (Pekka Strang), whose wife… Continue Reading “Dogs Don’t Wear Pants”

Nosferatu (1922)

1922 Director: F. W. Murnau Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schroeder, Alexander Granach Words – Eleanor Smith Nosferatu (1922), by German director F.W. Murnau, is a textbook example of the haunting beauty and mystery seen in classic, silent horror films. This exceptional… Continue Reading “Nosferatu (1922)”

Searching Eva

2019 Director: Pia Hellenthal Words – Rhiannon Topham Social media sensation Eva Collé pronounced privacy a defunct concept when she was 14. By 17, she’d left her small Italian town and troubled family life behind in search of something more liberating. Now 25 and… Continue Reading “Searching Eva”

Let It Burn

2019 Director: Maíra Bühler Words – Christian Abbott “Everything around me is saved, but few can save me.” This is a line that comes from one of the residents of an apartment building in Downtown São Paulo, a building that is inhabited by people… Continue Reading “Let It Burn”

Dark Suns – director interview

Dark Suns is an unrelenting investigation into mass disappearances across Mexico, urging you to pay attention. See our feature review of the film >here<. We interviewed director Julien Elie following the film’s UK Premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019.   Reel Steel: My first question… Continue Reading “Dark Suns – director interview”

MOTHER

MOTHER 2019 Director: Kristof Bilsen Words – Rhiannon Topham. We often talk about documentaries being ‘personal’ and ‘intimate’, about their power and capacity to move us in unexpected ways. They are, after all, often based in the lived experiences of people across all walks… Continue Reading “MOTHER”