By Anthony Killick. The Brighton Palestine Film Festival is one of the latest contributions to the worldwide proliferation of film festivals dedicated to Palestinian liberation. Taking place from the 7th–9th November at the soon to be demolished Brighton Arts Centre, the festival hosted screenings and talks, with a focus on […]
Different Faces of Syria: Director Mohammed Ali Atassi on Our Terrible Country (2014)
By Yun-hua Chen. Mohammed Ali Atassi brought his second documentary, Our Terrible Country, co-directed with Ziad Homsi, to the Viennale 2014. The film follows the perilous journey of the Syrian intellectual Yassin al-Haj Saleh, at a time the country has been torn apart by the ongoing war. This road trip […]
Nightcrawler: Blood from All of Us
By Matthew Sorrento. He can “work all day, and creep all night,” stated Dr. James Grigson, nicknamed Dr. Death (for his penchant for sending the accused to the chair) about Randall Adams, the man wrongfully accused for the murder of a Dallas policeman featured in Errol Morris’ exemplary documentary The Thin […]
San Francisco Film Society: New Italian Cinema – November 19-23, 2014
November 20, 2014
By Janine Gericke. The San Francisco Film Society’s fall season completes its three weekend season with New Italian Cinema. The weekend offers dysfunctional families, supernatural horror, romantic comedies, and much more as part of its stellar lineup. Sofia Loren makes an appearance in director Edoardo Ponti’s short film Human Voice. […]
Liverpool Radical Film Festival 2014
By Anthony Killick. “Kurdish people don’t just say democracy, we say radical democracy.” (Sema Yildiz) The Liverpool Radical Film Festival ran from the 13th–16th November. As part of an emerging UK wide Radical Film Network the festival makes its contribution towards regaining access to the city through the creation of […]
10.000 Km (2014)
November 16, 2014
By Zhuo-Ning Su. Spanish writer/director Carlos Marques-Marcet’s 10.000 Km is the kind of movie that’s powered by so much honesty and insight that, despite the built-in developmental restrictions from its limited thematic focus, casts a universal spell and hits you on the most visceral level. Photographer Alex (Natalia Tena) wins an […]
Casting David Fincher: An Interview with Laray Mayfield
By Paul Risker. David Fincher’s work features a compelling cast of characters. Working alongside the filmmaker to give these characters life on the screen, by lifting them off the page and placing them into the hands of actors, has been casting director Laray Mayfield. One of the many integral collaborative roles in […]
San Francisco Film Society: Hong Kong Cinema – November 14-16
November 13, 2014
By Janine Gericke. The San Francisco Film Society continues it’s fall season with the Hong Kong cinema series. The three day event has Chow Yun-Fat, a little bit of kung fu, and a special 20th anniversary screening of Wong Kar-wai’s Chunking Express (Chung Hing sam lam, Hong Kong 1994, 98 […]
The 19th Busan International Film Festival
November 11, 2014
By Chris Neilan. The 19th Busan International Film Festival was, as ever, an unrivalled showground for Asian filmmaking talent. A handsome 312 films were screened this year (up from 299 last year) from 79 countries including efforts from Kyrgyzstan, Kurdistan, Iraq, Bangladesh and Nepal as well as the usual heavyweight […]
The Good Life: A San Francisco Film Society French Cinema Now Review
November 9, 2014
By Janine Gericke. The Good Life is director Jean Denizot’s feature film debut, and it proves to be a solid one. The film, based on actual events, follows a father, Yves (Nicholas Bouchaud), and his two teenage sons, 16-year-old Sylvain (Zacharie Chasseriaud) and 18-year-old Pierre (Jules Pelissier), as they live […]