Auditory Hallucinations, Agoraphobia and Extremism as Portrayed by Actor Ahmed Magdy

In this podcast, our Screening Room editor, Khalid Ali, explores the role of film in shining a light on mental illlness, dysfunctional families, and the rise of religious fanaticism with Egyptian director Ahmed Magdy. Recently introduced to acting, Ahmed talks about his portrayal of three challenging characters: a young man imprisoned in his mother’s house in […]

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Romanticizing Tubercolosis

Our screening editor, Dr Khalid Ali (Khalid.ali@bsuh.nhs.uk), here writes about the importance of Romanian director Radu Jude’s new film Scarred Hearts (Romania, 2016) and interviews him at the London Film Festival in the podcast included below. Each year on the 24th of March, several organizations around the world celebrate ‘International Tuberculosis Day’. It serves as a […]

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London Human Rights Watch Film Festival

  Film activism: London Human Rights Watch Film Festival- 6-17 March 2017, https://ff.hrw.org/london Introduction by Khalid Ali, Screening room editor Film events have recently become a platform for standing up against social injustice, and racism; the Oscar ceremony on Sunday 26th February was a powerful statement from film makers uniting against violation of human rights. […]

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Film review: Arrival

  What can aliens teach us about being human?   Review of Arrival, my film of 2016 (USA, 2016, directed by Denis Villeneuve) By: Dr James Hartley, Foundation Year 2 at Brighton and Sussex University Healthcare Trust   The above question is one that is commonly asked in the sci-fi genre. Think Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal […]

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Film Review: Dubai International Film Festival

United by film in United Arab Emirates An overview of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), 7-14th December 2016, https://dubaifilmfest.com/en/page/223/diff16.html Dr Khalid Ali, Screening room editor Cinema can be a contemporary mirror of our society as film-makers tell their stories reflecting on universal political, social, and economic challenges. Health and well-being were prominent themes in the […]

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Film Review: Dear Zindagi

  Julia Roberts meets Sigmund Freud in Goa: A review of Dear Zindagi, directed by Gauri Shinde, India 2016, 4* Currently in general release in UK cinemas  Reviewed by Dr Khalid Ali, Screening room editor Bollywood cinema has secured its international box-office appeal with a well known formula of combining action, melodrama, song, and dance in […]

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Film review: Mannequin

  The Banality of Evil – Review of Mannequin, Egypt, 2015, directed by Dr Mina Elnaggar   Reviewed by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York   Mannequin is a short, terrifying film with ambitions as large as its 7-minute running time is brief. The action starts immediately: An unnamed man who must […]

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Film Review: Doctor Strange

The theme for the next issue of Medical Humanities is Science Fiction. There are many online articles already available on the theme (see Related Reading below). The blog will feature a series of reviews and original pieces on Medical Humanities and Science Fiction over the next weeks.   A Superhero inside you…   Review of Doctor Strange, […]

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