1976 (2022)
★★★★☆
Chilean political thriller 1976 is an unbearably tense and involving debut from actor turned director Manuela Martelli, starring award-winning Aline Kuppenheim.
Women Filmmakers
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival: The Laughing Boy (An Buachaill Geal Gháireach) (2022)
★★★★☆
An Buachaill Geal Gáireach (The Laughing Boy) is the extraordinary untold story of a song that resonated for freedom in Ireland and Greece.
I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) (2021)
★★★★☆
US festival favourite I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) is a touching, positive indie movie, female written and directed, made during Los Angeles’ lockdown (see the mask use) focusing on the struggles to be independent of a widowed mother who happens to be homeless, black and female – and beautiful.
Corsage (2022)
★★★★☆
A compelling woman-led re-imagining of the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Corsage, directed by Marie Kreutzer and starring Vicky Krieps.
BFI LFF 2022: The Blue Caftan
★★★★☆
The Blue Caftan by Maryam Touzani, screening at the BFI LFF 2022, is a beautiful film celebrating understated love and tenderness in everyday life.
Emily (2022)
★★★★☆
Emily Brontë’s creative inspiration is explored through an imagined version of the author’s short life in Frances O’Connor’s stirring directorial debut Emily.
BFI LFF 2021: Faya Dayi
★★★★☆
Faya Dayi, a poetic documentary by director, producer and cinematographer Jessica Beshir, paints a tapestry of haunting recollections and stories about khat that create a vivid picture of the socio-political landscape in Ethiopia.
Cannes Film Festival 2021: the 74th
★★★★☆
Cannes Film Festival 2021: Official Selection
Rare Beasts (2019)
★★★★☆
Written by, directed by and starring Billie Piper, Rare Beasts, a self-styled ‘anti-romcom’, is a manic Munch-like scream about what it’s like to be a modern, thirty-something woman trying to have it all while there’s a crisis all around.
Promising Young Woman (2020) – on demand – Oscar winner
★★★★☆
Promising Young Woman stars Carey Mulligan in a witty, much-talked-about and multi-award-nominated writer/director debut by actor Emerald Fennell.
Nocturnal (2019)
★★★☆☆
Nocturnal, by director/writer Nathalie Biancheri, has a suspenseful surprise that turns creepy horror into emotional drama.
Rocks (2019) and Q&A
★★★★☆
Rocks by Sarah Gavron is a sad and joyous film about the resilience and spirit of girlhood – sisterhood at its most powerful.
The Roads Not Taken (2020)
★★★☆☆
The Roads Not Taken has the best of motives – it’s acclaimed director Sally Potter’s way of conveying how her brother’s dementia fractured his personality. It’s very personal, maybe too personal.
BFI London Film Festival 2020
★★★★☆
The 2020 BFI London Film Festival 2020 from 7 to 18 October is the first edition to be widely accessible wherever you are in the UK, with over 50 virtual premieres, free online events and cinema screenings.