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 […]
Tag: film review
Women, the State and Film Activism
Film Festival Announcement by Khalid Ali The 25th Human Rights Watch Film Festival, UK Digital Edition, Barbican Cinema On Demand, 18–26 March 2021, https://ff.hrw.org/london Reproductive rights and the right to family, survivors of rape and access to healthcare are the focus of several documentaries in the 25th edition of Human Rights Watch Film Festival taking place from 18-26 March, presented exclusively on 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 […]
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 […]
Film Review: Unnatural disasters, a look at ‘Cooked: Survival by Zip Code’
Review by Neil Singh, a primary care physician and senior teaching fellow in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School ‘Cooked: Survival by Zip Code’ (Judith Helfand, USA, 2018, distributed by Bullfrog Films) (Streaming free on PBS, also available on Amazon) “What’s the best way to prepare for […]
A woman on the verge of suicide
‘The Human Voice’ directed by Pedro Almodovar (Spain 2020) shown at the London Film Festival 2020 and due for UK wide release on 7th November Review by Khalid Ali, Film and Media Correspondent ‘The Human Voice’ takes back esteemed Spanish Film auteur, Pedro Almodovar to the narratives he cherishes the most; stories of embittered women […]
Silent Suffering in the Valleys of Hope
Review by Dr Ayesha Ahmad, Global Health Correspondent, Medical Humanities Journal Widow of Silence, d: Praveen Morchhale, India, 2018 (Urdu with English subtitles) Winner of ‘best film award’ in Kolkata Indian Film Competition Showing at the London Indian Film Festival 2019, http://londonindianfilmfestival.co.uk/2019-festival-programme/ The silence during the first few scenes of ‘Widow of Silence’ is […]