Festival Review: Gayby Baby (2015)
★★★☆☆
A neatly observed, fly-on-the-wall documentary on gay parents, Maya Newell’s Gayby Baby adds fuel to the fire of Australia’s hottest topic.
documentary
Festival Review: He Named Me Malala (2015)
★★★☆☆
After An Inconvenient Truth, Davis Guggenheim’s He Named Me Malala brings Malala Yousafzai’s story to the masses. Just a little too easily.
Festival Review: A Guy From Fenyang (2014)
★★★☆☆
Uncovering the life and works of Jia Zhangke in his home city, Walter Salles’ A Guy From Fenyang reveals the metropolis behind the man.
How To Change The World (2015)
★★★★★
Jerry Rothwell’s inspirational documentary How To Change The World explores the birth of Greenpeace and the tumultuous sea-change it sparked in environmentalism.
The Confessions of Thomas Quick (2015)
★★★★☆
A haunting portrait of Sweden’s one and only serial killer, Brian Hill’s The Confessions of Thomas Quick reimagines the collaborative nature of storytelling.
The Salt Of The Earth / Das Salz der Erde (2014)
★★★★☆
A retrospective of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado’s The Salt Of The Earth sees man and mankind come to life.
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
★★★★☆
Charting the rise, fall and rise again of Nina Simone, Liz Garbus’s What Happened, Miss Simone? creates an icon of the High Priestess of Soul.
The Impressionists and the Man Who Made Them (2015)
★★★★☆
The Impressionists and the Man Who Made Them gives art lovers the chance to learn about the stories behind some of the world’s greatest exhibitions.
Argerich Bloody Daughter (2012)
★★★☆☆
A family portrait and a fly-on-the-wall bio-doc of a great pianist, Stéphanie Argerich’s Argerich – Bloody Daughter wraps itself up in maternal knots.
The Decent One / Der Anständige (2014)
★★★☆☆
Diagnosing the internal conflict of high-ranking Nazi and family man Heinrich Himmler, Vanessa Lapa’s The Decent One exposes the indecency of the “decent”.
Altman (2014)
★★☆☆☆
Ron Mann’sAltman is a stoic by-the-numbers documentary celebrating the films of the great director, but offering little insight into the man behind the lens.
Maidan (2014)
★★☆☆☆
Uncompromising in its running time, Sergei Loznitsa’s sedate shooting style renders this potentially remarkable account of civil unrest quite the opposite.
Festival Review: What Happened, Miss Simone (2015)
★★★★☆
Pieced together out of archive footage, interviews and diaries, Liz Garbus’ What Happened, Miss Simone? makes a soul-stirring melody out of the blues.
Festival Review: Misfits (2015)
★★★☆☆
A portrait of life for gay and lesbian youth in Tulsa, Jannik Splidsboel’s Misfits explores homophobia and identity in the Bible Belt.