Festival Review: News From Planet Mars (2016)
★★☆☆☆
After Lemming and The Monk, Dominik Moll’s News From Planet Mars is a desperate comedy of male empowerment and family harmony.
2016
Festival Review: Théo et Hugo Dans le Même Bateau (2016)
★★★★☆
A deliciously simple story of one night of romance, Ducastel and Martineau’s Théo et Hugo Dans le Même Bateau uncovers the ins and outs of gay love.
Festival Review: Zero Days (2016)
★★★☆☆
Exposing the secrecy around cyber-warfare and the US attack on Iran’s nuclear industry, Alex Gibney’s Zero Days pleads for a break in the silence.
Festival Review: Little Men (2016)
★★★★☆
A delicate portrait of friendship and fractious neighbours, Ira Sachs’ Little Men is an all-too-brief glimpse into the hopes and dreams of a Brooklyn boy.
Festival Review: Genius (2016)
★★★★☆
Documenting the relationship between Thomas Wolfe and his editor, Michael Grandage’s Genius reveals the irreconcilable nature of creation and analysis.
Festival Review: Soy Nero (2016)
★★☆☆☆
Following a Mexican teenager on his journey from immigrant to green card holder, Rafi Pitts’ Soy Nero seethes with palpable discomfort.
Festival Review: A Serious Game (2016)
★★☆☆☆
An evocative period drama of forbidden love, Pernilla August’s em>A Serious Game is disappointingly short on characterisation and emotion.
Festival Review: You’ll Never Be Alone (2016)
★★☆☆☆
A portrait of Chilean society waking up to homosexuality, Alex Anwandter’s You’ll Never Be Alone turns homophobia into a vigilante fight for justice.
Festival Review: Crosscurrent (2015)
★★☆☆☆
An ambitious portrait of modern China, Yang Chao’s Crosscurrent is a poetic knot of yearning, mourning and the shifting sands of time.
Festival Review: Death In Sarajevo (2016)
★★☆☆☆
Set in the multilayered world of a hotel, Danis Tanovic’s Death In Sarajevo begs the question whether we really need a metaphor for the Balkans.
Festival Review: Being 17 (2016)
★★★☆☆
Exploring themes of identity, masculinity and desire, André Techiné’s Being 17 is a delicate portrait of adolescent confusion and first love.
Festival Review: Yarden (2016)
★★★☆☆
Adapted from Kristian Lundberg’s autobiographical novel, Måns Månsson’s Yarden is a parable of entitlement that turns welcomingly political.
Festival Review: Kater (2016)
★★★★☆
Set in Austria’s musical circles, Klaus Händl’s sensuous and delicate Kater sees an idyll of gay love torn asunder by a moment of violence.
Festival Review: Fire At Sea (2016)
★★★★☆
Half-documentary, half-fiction, Gianfranco Rosi’s Fuocoammare paints a portrait of life on Lampedusa with its fishing traditions and new waves of migrants.