BEATS OF THE ANTONOV is a masterful existential dissection and examination of the intricate and complex state of Sudan and its people in the 21st century.
Dearest
DEAREST – a powerful study of child abduction in Shenzhen – is Peter Chan’s most memorable film in fifteen years.
The Shore Break
THE SHORE BREAK is a study on the importance of the land and the relentless spectre of greed and expansion in the 21st century.
What We Do In The Shadows
Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows is a crowd-pleaser of a film, a mockumentary that toys with vampires as much as it does popular culture.
The Case Against 8
Ben Cotner and Ryan White’s The Case Against 8 follows the legal turmoil surrounding California’s controversial Proposition 8 – a ballot that repealed same-sex mariage in the state.
Gabrielle
Although the starry-eyed, soft-focus, suitable-for-work sex contained in the film is a little too close to the reproducing the condescending ideas of people with disabilities as being abnormally innocent, beautiful, pure souls, GABRIELLE offers a strong alternative to the tired stereotypes of disability.
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
Positioned in an environment where matching the quality of the output of Takahata and his contemporaries under the Studio Ghibli banner is an increasingly difficult task, THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA doesn’t attempt to invoke comparison, and whether it’s better or worse for having done comes down to what you want to get out of the film.
Lake August
Heng has a highly defined style that he’s articulated to a markedly more distinct degree in his latest work; his characters move around in a confined and claustrophobic foreground, whilst the landscapes behind them drift off indefinitely, leaving the humans in the frame with a tacit insignificance.
Demonstration
The combination of street protest footage from thirty-three different filmmakers set to the backdrop of opera Don Quixote poses a difficulty in providing a meaningful cinematic experience, but documentary Demonstration manages to stay as engaging for the senses as it is thought-provoking.
Ruin
Ruin is not a perfect movie by any measure; it is sure to rank amongst the most divisive films of the festival and is bound to alienate as many as it charms. That said, it is a film that should be experienced as it does have a lot to give to the – albeit small – audience it targets.