VENICE 2024: Quiet Life (2024)
★★★☆☆
Quiet Life, directed by Alexander Avranas, shows how the stress of being a Russian refugee in Sweden can result in resignation syndrome (a ‘shutting down’).
Finland
IFFR 2024: Natatorium (2024)
★★★☆☆
Natatorium is a female-centred, atmospheric thriller debut in a World Premiere at the IFFR for Iceland’s Helena Stefánsdóttir.
Fallen Leaves (2023) (Kuolleet lehdet)
★★★★☆
Fallen Leaves is Aki Kaurismäki’s drily touching film of a kind of love story amid the grinding reality of life.
Cairo Conspiracy (2022) previously Boy from Heaven (Walad min al-Janna)
★★★☆☆
Adam arrives in Cairo to study at the renowned Al-Azhar University and unexpectedly finds himself drawn into the centre of a dangerous world of religious and political power in writer/director Tarik Saleh’s compelling thriller.
Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (2019) – on demand
★★★★☆
Despite its silly title, black comedy Dogs Don’t Wear Pants by J.-P. Valkeapää is a touching – if harrowing – study of an extreme way of overcoming corrosive grief.
We Are The Weirdos (2019)
We Are The Weirdos 2019, woman-directed shorts presented by The Final Girls feminist film collective, showcases the most exciting new female voices in genre cinema from around the world.
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Borg vs McEnroe (2017)
★★★☆☆
Janus Metz’s Borg vs McEnroe recreates Wimbledon 1980 and delves into the winning psychology of the two tennis rivals.
The Other Side of Hope (2016)
★★★★☆
Aki Kaurismäki is in top droll, compassionate form dealing with the refugee crisis in The Other Side of Hope.
The Other Side of Hope (2017)
★★★★☆
Offering a warm welcome to refugees in gloomy Finland, Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope is one of the director’s lightest and brightest.
Rare Exports – A Christmas Tale (2010)
★★★☆☆
Turning Santa into the ultimate horror movie villain, Jalmari Helander’s Rare Exports dishes the dirt on the man coming down your chimney with Christmas relish.