Really fascinating film. Taking place almost entirely inside the back of a truck, four migrants hope that the journey from Belgium to the UK will provide them with a chance at a better life. The film exists somewhere between documentary and fiction, as the directors film from within a reconstructed space, but the four guys…
Right, so it’s a 70s Afrofuturist blaxploitation flick created by cosmic jazz artist and absolute legend Sun Ra. Knowing that going in, it still somehow managed not to be what I was expecting. First things first, like most blaxploitation movies, it’s made on a budget of £2.50, so bear that in mind going in. Despite…
Afronauts is an atmospheric short film about a girl preparing to go into space, as Zambia tries to beat the U.S. to be the first on the moon. The film has this early sci-fi feel, filmed in black-and-white on the rocky gravel of a quarry. The homemade aluminium spacesuit made for the main character has…
What I liked about Does Your House Have Lions is that it tries to be a documentary without being a documentary, it tries to be with its people rather than show its people. The people in the film, vqueeram, Dhiren, and Devangana, are living through extraordinary times, documentary-worthy times, but rather than pull back and…
Queer experimental Arab film, a sort of 1001 Nights where two lovers discuss their relationship and those from their past, which spiral out into a web of a community. Very kinda unique and playful format, utilising song, dance, poetry, animation, direct interviews with camera, and action on green screen. It keeps each narrative suspended in…
The film opens with a quote from George Orwell’s 1984, “Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present, controls the past.” Three survivors of the Syrian Revolution, Odai, Rani and Yadan, meet to share their stories. They try to tell what happened in the beginning, when the protests were met with violence,…
Jesus fucking Christ. In the absolute silence that followed the end of this film, an old woman sitting behind me said to her friend, “That is the most terrifying film I have ever seen”. She’s not wrong. Think Come And See vibes. And the beginning of this film is so sunshiney and lovely, you’d never…
Beautiful arthouse horror, like a Saudi Shadow Over Innsmouth. Shot in black and white, the story takes place on this stark rocky island surrounded by an expanse of deadly sea. There, the people survive by sacrificing their firstborn daughters to the sea, in return for favour for the fishermen’s hunt. Until Hayat breaks that tradition.…
Captains of Zaatari follows the highs and lows of two boys, Fawzi and Mahmoud, as they try to follow their dreams of becoming footballers. They are Syrian refugees in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where there are few opportunities, but football provides a way out. I’ll be honest, I saw the first few opening…
Beautiful short film Baba is about a queer Libyan who has set their dreams on asylum in the UK, and a life in Manchester’s Canal Street. The night before his interview at the British embassy, he must sneak back into his family home to recover his passport. But events unfold that rock his certain plans.…