German Film Festival 2021 – The Space Between the Lines

Sending a seemingly simple cancellation email lands Emma (Nora Tschirner) into the inbox of Leo (Alexander Fehling), a nonchalant linguist who is looking for a connection after the recent separation from his girlfriend, Marlene (Claudia Eisinger). Lighthearted banter turns into something deeper as Emma and Leo are forced to walk the line between playful conversations …

Review – Little Joe

Dangerous plants aren’t a new phenomenon in film. Little Shop of Horrors, The Ruins, The Happening, … all star flora with a thirst for blood. But where the aforementioned plants actually want to kill, Little Joe is just trying to manipulate and survive. Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s film tells the story of Alice (Emily Beecham …

German Film Festival 2021 Review – Berlin Bouncer

Taking place across the sprawling metropolitan, Berlin Bouncer follows the lives of three of Berlin’s most famous bouncers — Sven Marquardt, Frank Künster, and Smiley Baldwin. Director David Dietl tries to capture the history of what Berlin was, what it has become, and where it is expected to go. As an outsider, the idea of …

SAFF 2021 Review – Toorbos

“In the end, the forest doesn’t push you out, it kicks you out.” It’s the 1930’s in the Knysna Forest of South Africa and there are groups of people who live out here, away from the modern big city. They are happy to be living on the land and as a community of their own. …

SAFF 2021 Review – Jozi Gold

Gold is dirty. Mining is the back bone of most communities. However once a mine has depleted its resources, the community is left with the fall out. In Johannesburg, South Africa, where a majority of the world’s gold is mined, many mines have been left abandoned and over time the surrounding areas have turned into …

Review – Silo

Marshall Burnette’s feature directorial debut Silo, which is inspired by true events, is not your typical rural drama. What starts as a seemingly peaceful day in an American farm town, turns into a race against the clock when a teenager becomes the victim of a grain entrapment accident. Heavy metal fanatic Cody (Jack DiFalco – …

Review – Moffie

Kai Luke Brummer as “Nicholas” in Oliver Hermanus’ MOFFIE. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films release. Not since Top Gun has there been a movie dripping with toxic masculinity and homoeroticism. In 1981 Apartheid is still thriving in South Africa and 16 year old Nicholas (Kai Luke Brümmer) has been drafted into the army …

Review – ‘The Adventures of Wolfboy’

We have a new folktale in our midst thanks to director Martin Krejcí and screenwriter Olivia Dufault. Told in chapters, The True Adventures of Wolfboy follows a short time in the life of a young boy, Paul (Jaeden Martell), as he searches for his estranged mother. While the visual style and the story are not …

Review – ‘Saint Maud’

There’s a rosary pinned beside Maud’s bed of one, an open bag and neatly arranged possessions give the façade of an organised life and maybe mind. When Maud (Morfydd Clark) prays to God, it is slow and concise and it sounds more like a chat. Like He’s on the other end of the line, like …

Review – ‘Two of Us

Fresh from scoring a Golden Globes-nomination for Best Motion Picture – International Feature, ‘Two of Us’ (otherwise known as ‘Deux’) has won a series of international awards while cruising the festival circuit. This delicate love story is Filippo Meneghetti’s feature debut, and tells the story of Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeleine (Martine Chevallier). These two …