Category: GFF strand – Pioneer

An Indian retelling of the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Kia, an autistic teenage girl, investigates the death of Cosmos, a pregnant cat. The movie is beautiful but has no pacing at all.

An Iranian film about a doctor who becomes obsessed with idea that he might be responsible for the death of a boy after they are in a minor car accident together. This despite the fact that the boy is found to have died of botulism from eating tainted meat and didn’t die until days after…

A dramatised biopic of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s teenage years. I’d say it’s probably best to come to this movie with no idea about who Jeffrey Dahmer is, and just see it as a character study of a disturbed young man missing opportunities to reach out for help. Otherwise, it is a bit unsettling watching…

An engaging film about an Iranian guy who tries to get his green card in Denmark but seducing women in the hopes of marrying them. It’s an interesting look at race and gender and power. For him, these white women hold his life in their hands, they can decide if he stays and prospers here…

A film about homelessness and parenthood. A woman tries to provide what life she can for her son while they flit between motel and squat, selling fighting cocks with her violent boyfriend. What I liked about this was its portrayal of neglect and abuse as not necessarily the product of people but of the practicalities…

A movie about a woman struggling to cope after losing her friend to suicide. This film is positively seething with grief. It’s raw and brutal. It also manages to be blackly comic in a very Scottish way. I really liked it. There are bits I was a bit hm on. At one point I did…

A movie about two rich white girls who grew apart due to one’s psychopathy, but now reunite to murder a douchebag stepdad. Surprisingly funny and enjoyable. Also good to see for Anton Yelchin’s last performance.

A sleepy dreamlike tale of a young boy getting lost in the woods.

An Afghani film about a female chief of police who prevents a girl being stoned to death in a Taliban-controlled area. Under pressure from Tabilan leaders and businessmen, her husband is told to bring her to heal and their fight results in her being arrested and sentenced to death for killing him in self-defence. It…

A lovely quiet sigh of a film, about grief. A brother and sister bury their father and then find three elderly men have shown up at the family farm. The three brothers were the farm’s previous owners and now want the land back so they can die and be buried there. The struggle between all…