Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘The Gravedigger’s Wife’ (Khadar Ayderus Ahmed, Somalia, Germany, France and Finland, 2021) Khalid Ali’s choice for the best film of 2021, and Somalia’s submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022 An illness does not affect a sick person only; […]
Tag: film review
Beirut and the Perpetual War
Film Review written by Nahed Salah, Egyptian film critic and book author ‘Youssef’ (Kazim Fayyad, Lebanon, 2021) winner of the best first feature in Alexandria Film Festival 2021. Recent events in Beirut portray a significantly different picture from the one often celebrated in poetry, music, and classical films as ‘a city of beauty and love’. […]
The Women’s Hour
Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘Sixty Minutes’ TV series, directed by Miryam Ahmadi (Egypt, 2021) Available to watch on Shahid MBC. This review comes with a spoiler alert warning A ‘phenomenon’ is defined as ‘’someone or something that is very impressive or popular especially because of an unusual ability or quality’’. […]
Passively Dying While Still Alive
Interview by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘You Will Die At Twenty’ (Amjad Abu Alala, Sudan, 2019) winner of Best Debut Film – Venice Film Festival, and Best First Film, Best Screenplay, Fipresci Prize- Carthage Film Festival 2019. In UK cinemas from Friday 12th November, http://www.newwavefilms.co.uk/view-film-detail.html?viewListing=MjE5&cat=1 Based on the Sudanese writer Hammour Ziada’s short […]
A Primer on Compassionate Care
Film Review by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Review of ‘Limbo’ directed by Lotje Sodderland, UK, 2021 Limbo is a short film by Lotje Sodderland, a director best known for the celebrated account of her own hemorrhagic stroke in My Beautiful Broken Brain.[1] Before viewing Limbo, another documentary that portrays real people, […]
‘And Then There Was Hope’
Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent Review of ‘A Bird Flew In’ (Kirsty Bell, UK 2021) screening at Raindance London Film Festival on 5 November at Curzon Soho (https://raindance.org/festival-programme/a-bird-flew-in/), and available UK-wide via Curzon Home Cinema 6 – 8 November in Raindance’s digital programme. On the 23rd of March 2020, Boris Johnson, […]
Listen without Prejudice
Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘Listen’ (Anna Rocha de Sousa, Portugal, UK, 2020) showing on Saturday 30th October at 29th Raindance Film Festival, https://raindance.org/festival-programme/listen/, and then available for 3 days UK-wide via Curzon Home Cinema https://homecinema.curzon.com/film/listen/ ‘Listen’ is a testament to the fact that film can be a powerful medium for […]
Untold Stories from the Black Wild West
Film Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘The Harder They Fall’ (Jeymes Samuel, USA, 2021) opened the BFI London Film Festival (LFF), showing on 7th and 10th October at LFF, and streaming on Netflix from 3rd November 2021. Black History Month has been observed in the UK every October since 1987. One of […]
A Journey of Self-Acceptance
Film Review by Robert Abrams Review of Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, documentary directed by Ric Burns (Steeplechase Films, USA, 2019) Screening for one night only special event in UK and Irish cinemas on 29th September. For tickets and more information, https://www.altitude.film/movies/tag/coming-soon Oliver Sacks: His Own Life bears the key hallmarks of a Ric Burns […]
Breaking Free from the Cage of Modern Society
Film Review by Dr Franco Ferrarini, Gastroenterologist and Film Reviewer “Nomadland” (Chloé Zhao, USA, 2020) winner of the Oscar for best film, best director (Chloé Zhao) and best actress in a leading role (Frances McDormand) in 2021. At the beginning of ‘Nomadland’ we meet Fern (Frances McDormand), a middle-aged, middle-class woman, in what is probably […]