The Comedian (2012)
★★★☆☆
A modern take on the clown’s tragedy, Tom Shkolnik’s The Comedian is short on laughs but strong on introspection.
UK
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
★★★★☆
Caught between tradition and progress, Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist turns Mohsin Hamid’s bestselling novel into a cat and mouse thriller.
Village At The End Of The World (2012)
★★★★☆
Husband and wife team Sarah Gavron and David Katznelson bring the Village At The End Of The World into the limelight of global warming and globalisation.
Flying Blind (2012)
★★★☆☆
A woman in a man’s world, Katarzyna Klimkiewicz’s debut feature Flying Blind exposes the vulnerable face of a woman in love.
Papadopoulos & Sons (2012)
★★☆☆☆
Like a Greek hero of yore, Marcus Markou is taking on the economic crisis single-handedly with Papadopoulos & Sons, his fleecy, feel-good, culture-clash comedy.
Fire In The Blood (2012)
★★★☆☆
Dylan Mohan Gray’s edifying documentary Fire In The Blood pays tribute to those who brought down the multinationals and brought an end to Africa’s AIDS crisis.
A Liar’s Autobiography (2012)
★★★☆☆
Seventeen short films about Graham Chapman, A Liar’s Autobiography offers a kaleidoscopic view of the legendary gay and alcoholic Python.
I Anna (2012)
★★★☆☆
Starring his own mother Charlotte Rampling, Barnaby Southcombe’s psychological London thriller I, Anna is taking motherhood to task.
Sightseers (2012)
★★★★☆
Where do British serial killers go on holiday? Caravanning in the Lake District, of course.
My Brother The Devil (2012)
★★★★☆
A London La Haine, Sally El-Hosaini’s mesmerising debut My Brother The Devil looks at brotherhood, homosexuality and turf wars in post-riot Hackney.
The Soul Of Flies / El Alma De Las Moscas (2010)
★★★☆☆
Against a Spanish backdrop of fantasy and fable, Jonathan Cenzual Burley’s debut The Soul Of Flies puts low-budget filmmaking to the test.
Wild Bill (2011)
★★★☆☆
Set in Stratford’s badlands, Dexter Fletcher’s debut feature Wild Bill has Olympian dreams of turning a wayward father into a family hero. So very London 2012.
Trishna (2011)
★★★★☆
Reinventing Hardy’s Tess Of The d’Urbervilles in a colourful India in its own glorious revolution, Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna is a bitter fall from grace.
A Man’s Story (2010)
★★★☆☆
Filmed over 12 years, Varon Bonicos’s A Man’s Story is more than a bio-doc on Ozwald Boateng, it’s a sharp look at the essence of the man.