Festival reviews
-
Reviews‘Just Look Up’ review: US climate activism doc shows passion, but covers familiar ground
Joshua Oppenheimer and Adam McKay executive produce lightweight portrait of protest group Climate Defiance
-
Reviews‘Mariinka’ review: CPH:Dox opener is arresting but tonally uneven account of life in east Ukraine
Belgian filmmaker Pieter-Jan De Pue filmed his observational documentary over 10 years
-
Reviews‘Replica’ review: Fascinating if limited study of Chinese women embarking on AI relationships
Chouwa Liang’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival premiere is a follow-up to her 2022 short ‘My AI Lover’
-
Reviews‘Derek Vs Derek’ review: A British farming feud roots gentle environmental documentary
James Dawson’s appealing, insightful film bows in Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
-
Reviews‘Sinsin And The Mouse’ review: Verbose, meandering two-hander sees strangers connect in Taipei
Yukinori Makabe’s Glasgow Film Festival premiere is adapted from a short story by Banana Yoshimoto
-
Reviews‘Sentient’ review: Powerful, challenging exploration of biomedical animal testing
Tony Jones’ hot-button film plays Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival after a Sundance premiere
-
Reviews‘Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man’ review: Cillian Murphy returns as Tommy Shelby in rousing period actioner
Barry Keoghan and Rebecca Ferguson also star in feature set in 1940, six years after the events of the show’s sixth season
-
Reviews‘Psalms Of The People’ review: Affectionate portrait of Gaelic psalm singer Rob MacNeacail
Jack Archer’s film premieres at Glasgow Film Festival
-
Reviews‘Bucks Harbor’ review: Delicately-woven tapestry of life in rugged New England fishing community
Photojournalist-turned-filmmaker Pete Muller’s documentary plays True/False Film Fest following Berlin premiere
-
Reviews‘500 Miles’ review: Bill Nighy and Maisie Williams star in mawkish Irish drama
Overly-sentimental adaptation of Mark Lowery novel premieres at Dublin
-
Reviews‘Molly Vs The Machines’ review: Emotional docu-drama explores the insidious threat posed by social media
Marc Silver’s film premieres at Glasgow before a UK theatrical run and broadcast on Channel 4
-
Reviews‘Sad Girlz’ review: Two Mexico City teens cope with the fallout from sexual violence in sensitive, authentic debut
Fernanda Tovar’s assured friendship drama won Berlin’s Generation 14Plus strand
-
Reviews‘Ivan & Hadoum’ review: Low-key Spanish LGBTQ+ debut explores issues of class and identity
Ian de la Rosa’s accomplished film premiered in Berlin’s Panorama, where it won the Teddy award for Best Feature
-
Reviews‘Forever Is Now’ review: Immersive, balanced portrait of Ireland Green Party leader Eamon Ryan
Neasa Ni Chianain’s fly-on-the-wall documentary follows 18 months in Ryan’s professional and personal life
-
Reviews‘Samanta Nobody’ review: A homeless girl struggles to make her way in muted Irish drama
Ciaran Creagh’s Dublin title stars newcomer Ruby Jean Lennon as the down-on-her-luck protagonist
-
Reviews‘Yo (Love Is A Rebellious Bird)’ review: Joyful, creative documentary portrait of grief, love and friendship
Anna Fitch pays tribute to her late friend Yolanda Shea in this celebratory Berlin Competition title
-
Reviews‘Once Upon A Time In A Cinema’ review: Dublin opener is nostalgic drama set in 1980s Limerick
David Gleeson bases his feature on his own experiences growing up in a family of Irish cinema owners
-
Reviews‘A Child Of My Own’ review: Intriguing Maite Alberdi Netflix doc on Mexican fake pregnancy case
The Berlinale Special screening follows ‘The Mole Agent’ and ‘Eternal Memory’
-
Reviews‘Soumsoum, The Night Of The Stars’ review: Gentle magical-realist fable follows a spiritual connection in rural Chad
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s follow-up to Lingui, The Sacred Bonds is a less propulsive, more pensive work
-
Reviews‘Lali’ review: First all-Pakistani film to play Berlin is heady, tonally disjointed comedy thriller
Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s Berlin Panorama title is unafraid of defying genre convention