Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent Spoiler alert: this review contains significant plot details. ‘Souad’ (Ayten Amin, Egypt, 2020) showing at UK cinemas from 27th August 2021, https://www2.bfi.org.uk/whats-on/bfi-film-releases/souad. Souad (Bassant Ahmed) is a 19-year-old girl who lives with her younger sister Rabab (Basmala El Ghaiesh), and their parents in Zagazig, a city […]
Category: Film and Media
Drawing Attention to and Restoring Order in ADHD
‘Take Care of Zizi’ (TV Series, directed by Karim El Shennawy, Egypt, 2021) Mariam Naoum, Mona El Shimi and Magdy Amin (TV script writers) in conversation with Khalid Ali, film, and media correspondent In the critically acclaimed Arab TV series ‘Take Care of Zizi’,. Zizi (Amina Khalil) is a young […]
Justice for Seni: A Public Campaign Against Racism in Psychiatric Units
‘RIP SENI’ (UK, 2021) Daisy Ifama, and Lizzie Reid film directors in conversation with Khalid Ali, film, and media correspondent ‘RIP SENI’ world premiere at the Sheffield Doc / Fest 6th June 2021, https://sheffdocfest.com/film/rip-seni On the 24th of June 2020, a graffiti reading ‘RIP SENI’ appeared on a public artwork outside Bethlem Royal Hospital, […]
Sudanese Women Exercising Power and Politics
Suzannah Mirghani, Sudanese filmmaker, explores Sudanese matriarchal traditions in her short film ‘Al-Sit’ in conversation with Khalid Ali In 2019, Sudanese cinema came to the international limelight with three highly acclaimed films; ‘Khartoum Offside’ (Marwa Zein), ‘Talking about Trees’ (Suhaib Gasmelbari), and ‘You Will Die at Twenty’ (Amjad Abu Alala). These award-winning films were the […]
Unexpected Gifts: Film review of “Looted,” by Rene van Pannevis
Looted, directed by Rene van Pannevis, UK, 2019, available on virtual cinema and on-demand. by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell, New York. Alert: the review contains plot spoilers! The central story of Looted is a bitter father-son saga, a tragedy about parental failure and filial remorse. The film also includes explicit depictions of terminal […]
Review of “I Know This Much Is True” TV series (Derek Cianfrance, USA, 2020)
“Man Can Do What He Wills But He Cannot Will What He Wills” On the Freedom of the Will, Arthur Schopenauer, 1839. By Dr. Franco Ferrarini, gastroenterologist and film reviewer. This short HBO series centres on the life of two twin brothers, Thomas, and Dominick Birdsey (both played by Mark Ruffalo), the former affected by […]
Reflecting on Loss and Grief
Review of ‘Loco’ (Rory Wilson, UK, 2020), ‘Skeletons’ (Will Peppercorn, UK, 2020), and ‘Early Grief Special’ (Jessica Chowdhury, UK, 2020), showing at the BFI Future Film Festival—Free Program Available online 18–21 February 2021, https://www.bfi.org.uk/future-film-festival Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent History taking from patients, and presenting stories of people’s illness in a […]
Film Review: “The Mole Agent”: Growing old behind closed doors
‘The Mole Agent’ (Maite Alberdi, Chile, 2020), in UK cinemas and on-demand form Friday 11th December 2020, distributed by Dogwoof Khalid Ali’s selection for the best documentary film in 2020 Documentary film is a genre that a regular film viewer might find difficult to enjoy on a Saturday film-night out. Maite Alberdi challenges those prejudices […]
Blurred Lines: “Preparations to be together for an unknown period of time” (Film Review)
‘Preparations to be together for an unknown period of time’ (Lili Horvát, Hungary 2020) Khalid Ali’s selection for the best feature film in 2020, and Hungary’s submission for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ for 2021 Oscars by Khalid Ali The opening credits for Lili Horvat’s film are lines from a Sylvia Plath’s poem pondering on […]
Love and Insight in a Time of Plague (Film Review)
‘The Sixth Day’ (Al-Youm Al-Sades) (Youssef Chahine, Egypt, 1986, produced by Misr International Films) Review by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Based on the novel of the same name by Andrée Chedid, ‘The Sixth Day’ portrays the raging epidemic of cholera in Egypt in 1947. With its inescapable relevance to the current […]