Film Review by Robert Abrams, Emeritus Professor, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York ‘Dirty Difficult Dangerous’ (Wissam Charaf, Lebanon, 2023) Dirty Difficult Dangerous opens as Ahmed (Ziad Jallad), a young Syrian refugee, walks the streets of Beirut, calling out the Arabic refrain of “Iron! Copper! Batteries” in the hope of exchanging old metal parts for cash. […]
Tag: film review
“Pennies from Heaven”: Resilience in the Time of Covid
‘Back Home’ (Sara Shazli, Egypt, 2021) Film Review by Professor Robert Abrams, Emeritus Professor, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York As with all good art, the film Back Home can offer rewards from more than one perspective, but to this viewer the film is chiefly the portrait of a resilient older man who employs self-deprecating […]
Tears on Tears: A Career Built on the Tragedies of Others
Tár (Todd Field, USA, 2022) Review by Franco Ferrarini, gastroenterologist, and film reviewer Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is a world-famous conductor. Her fame is not just due to her achieving the prestigious position of being the director of the Berlin Philharmonic, but also for being the first female chief conductor reaching this position. However, she […]
The Paradox of Memory
Film Review of Memory (Michel Franco, USA, 2023) by Dr Khalid Ali, film, and media correspondent Film is on UK and Irish cinemas from Friday 23.2.2024, https://memoryfilm.uk/ Michel Franco, award-winning Mexican film director (figure 1), is a keen observer of the nature and dynamics of relationships between ailing patients and their paid carers. In ‘Chronic’ […]
In Dementia, Does Truth Matter?
Review of ‘I’m Not From Here (Yo No Soy de Aquί)’ Directed by Maite Alberdi and Giedre Zickte, Chile, 2016 Film Review by Robert Abrams, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York I’m Not From Here is an arresting short film directed by the Chilean team of Maite Alberdi and Giedre Zicte. […]
Fifty Years of Scary Scanners: Time to Exorcise a Movie Cliché?
Blog by Michael Jackson, Chair British Society for the History of Radiology (BSHR), and Arpan K Banerjee, Chair International Society for the History of Radiology (ISHRAD) This year, 2023, saw the passing of acclaimed movie director William Friedkin, whose films include The French Connection (1971), and Sorcerer (1977), and To live and die in LA […]
Enduring Love, Everlasting Memories
The Eternal Memory (La Memoria Infinita) (Maite Alberdi, Chile, 2023), winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize in Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival 2023 Review by Khalid Ali, film, and media correspondent Released in the UK Friday 10th November Many films portraying dementia focus on the loss of identity of affected individuals, the […]
Saluting Our Sisters from Sudan and South Sudan
Film Review by Khalid Ali, film and media correspondent Goodbye Julia (Mohamed Kordofani, Sudan, 2023), screening on 14th and 15th October at the London Film Festival, https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff//online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=goodbye-julia-lff23 Winner of the Freedom Prize, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2023. Alert: this review contains spoilers The riots, looting, and violence that erupted in Khartoum in 2005 […]
Of Dogs and Men (and Aging)
Review by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Review of The Truffle Hunters (directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, Italy, 2020), available from Amazon Prime The Truffle Hunters is a subtle, cinematically beautiful documentary, drawn from the personal stories of a group of aging Italian truffle hunters. Taken together, these stories celebrate […]
Justice for Indigenous People
Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent Wednesday 9th August 2023 marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People celebrated by the United Nations (UN). The day commemorates the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations held in Geneva in 1982. According to UN statistics, there is an estimated […]