Amber Wilkinson is an Edinburgh-based journalist with more than 20 years’ experience. She has been writing for Screen since 2019.
Best film
1. Natchez
Dir. Suzannah Herbert
The history of Natchez, Mississippi is viewed from multiple perspectives in Herbert’s astutely observed documentary that questions the insidious impact of nostalgia on historical narratives, and asks who has the right to tell stories. In a town full of antebellum mansions, Herbert steps into the world of the white-dominated Garden Club through which the descendants of enslavers earn a living with tales of the “old south”. Meanwhile, Black pastor Tracy ‘Rev’ Collins offers a less glossy and more historically accurate guide to the area. This is a patient film with an eye for irony that waits for masks to slip and hard truths to be revealed.
2. Sound Of Falling
Dir. Mascha Schilinski
Sinuous stream-of-consciousness storytelling glides through multiple female lives connected to a German farmhouse over the course of a century. Schilinski’s haunting approach immerses us in the emotional experiences that link the women as they navigate a male-dominated world with death a close companion.
3. Celtic Utopia
Dirs. Dennis Harvey, Lars Lovén
Harvey and Lovén marry an engaging dip into Ireland’s modern folk music scene to a consideration of the complexities surrounding the Irish language’s ties to religion and conservatism. A wide range of artists from both sides of the border address that heritage through their work, in a film whose thoughtful educational element is carried along by freewheeling energy.
4. 2000 Meters To Andriivka
Dir. Mstyslav Chernov
Chernov’s stark follow-up to 20 Days In Mariupol takes us to the frontline with a Ukrainian battalion attempting to liberate the village of the title. A visceral and immersive slice of reportage, filled with an acute sense of what is being lost.
5. Sentimental Value
Dir. Joachim Trier
A textured examination of reconciliation within a family that sees Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt nimbly work intellectual ideas into believable dialogue between a father and his daughters, as they try to break free from the roles they have constructed for themselves.
6. The Voice Of Hind Rajab
Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
7. Calle Málaga
Dir. Maryam Touzani
8. The President’s Cake
Dir. Hasan Hadi
9. Nouvelle Vague
Dir. Richard Linklater
10. A Useful Ghost
Dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
