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Bradford International Film Festival · 2011

Bradford International Film Festival 2011

Moviedrome

Premieres and previews of new cinema from around the world,

Programme

43 films · 15 reviews

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13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku)

Review preview for 13 Assassins

Ultimately, what you see is what you get in 13 Assassins. Lots of blood and death and despicable cruelty.

Robert Munro · 4 out of 5
A retired samurai has to assemble a squad of assassins and set a town-sized trap.

(Country: Japan, UK; Year: 2010; Director: Takashi Miike; Writer: Kaneo Ikegami, Takashi Miike, Daisuke Tengan; Stars: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Gorô Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Mikijiro Hira, Hiroki Matsukata, Ikki Sawamura, Arata Furuta, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Masataka Kubota, Sosuke Takaoka, Seiji Rokkaku, Yûma Ishigaki, Kôen Kondô) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

As If I Am Not There

Review preview for As If I Am Not There

Natasha Petrovic infuses the role of Samira with a quiet, stoic dignity, that is both heart-breaking and inspiring.

Robert Munro · 4 out of 5
A schoolteacher suffers brutality at the hands of Serb soldiers during the Bosnian War.

(Country: Ireland, Bosnia; Year: 2010; Director: Juanita Wilson; Stars: Natasa Petrovic, Stellan Skarsgård, Fedja Stukan, Nikolina Kujaca, Zvezda Angelovska, Jasna Diklic, Katina Ivanova, Sanja Buric,) , Official site

Full review

Blooded

Five youngsters are kidnapped and forced into a deadly game where the hunters become the hunted.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Edward Boase; Writer: James Walker; Stars: Nick Ashdon, Oliver Boot, Tracy Ifeachor, Joseph Kloska, Jay Taylor, Cicely Tennant)

Boris Ryzhy

Review preview for Boris Ryzhy

This is less a succession of scenes in a story than poems in an anthology.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A documentary exploring the life of russian poet Boris Ryzhy.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2008; Director: Aliona Van der Horst)

Full review

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (Caves of Forgotten Dreams)

Review preview for Cave Of Forgotten Dreams

If there is anybody who can provide insight into the lives of those long-vanished it must be Herzog.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An exploration of the Chauvet caves in Southern France where the oldest known human paintings can be found.

(Year: 2010; Director: Werner Herzog; Writer: Werner Herzog; Stars: Charles Fathy, Werner Herzog)

Full review

The Christening (Chrzest)

Loosely based on a true story, a Polish man tries to escape his criminal past... the only problem being that the mafia are out to kill him.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2010; Director: Marcin Wrona; Writer: Dariusz Glazer, Grzegorz Jankowski, Grazyna Trela; Stars: Iwona Bielska, Krzysztof Czeczot, Andrzej Franczyk, Robert Jurczyga, Mikolaj Kalucki, Zbigniew Konopka, Michal Koterski, Ireneusz Koziol, Ola Radwanska, Slawomir Rokita, Natalia Rybicka, Tomasz Schuchardt, Pawel Tomaszewski, Adam Woronowicz, Wojciech Zielinski) , Official site

Congo In Four Acts

Portmanteau look at the turbulent African country.

(Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa; Year: 2010; Director: Dieudo Hamadi, Kiripi Katembo Siku, Divita Wa Lusala)

Curling

Examination of the relationship between a Quebecois father and daughter.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2010; Director: Denis Côté; Writer: Denis Côté; Stars: Emmanuel Bilodeau, Philomène Bilodeau, Roc LaFortune, Sophie Desmarais, Johanne Haberlin, Muriel Dutil, Anie-Pascale Robitaille, Yves Trudel) , Official site

Dance To The Spirits (Dansa als esperits)

Documentary focusing on traditional medical practices in a remote area of Cameroon.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2010; Director: Ricardo Íscar; Writer: Daria Esteva, Ricardo Íscar, Lluís Mallart; Stars: Mba Owona)

Deforce

A look at the social and economic problems faced by Detroit.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Daniel Falconer; Writer: Daniel Falconer, Andrew Rodney; Stars: Nelson Jones) , Official site

Elsewhere (La tête ailleurs)

A casino dealer dreams of a different life... but does he have the will to make a move?

(Country: France; Year: 2010; Director: Frédéric Pelle; Writer: Laurent Graff, Frédéric Pelle; Stars: Nicolas Abraham, Frans Boyer, Léna Breban, Anaïs Demoustier, Philippe Duquesne, Jean-François Gallotte, Jade Phan-Gia, Pierre Renverseau)

Essential Killing

Review preview for Essential Killing

The cinematography is jarringly stunning, with episodes of pursuit and suspense broken up by breathtaking vistas of harsh landscapes.

David Graham · 4 out of 5
An interrogated man goes on the run.

(Year: 2010; Director: Jerzy Skolimowski; Writer: Eva Piaskowska, Jerzy Skolimowski; Stars: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Nicolai Cleve Broch, David L. Price, Zach Cohen, Torgrim Ødegård, Varg Strande, Eirik Daleng, Phillip Goss, Lars Markus Verpeide Bakke, Niklas Nygaard, Tracy Spencer Shipp, Dariusz Juzyszyn, Thomas Berg)

Full review

Fanny, Annie And Danny (Fanny, Annie & Danny)

Three troubled adult siblings are brought together by their horrific mother for the Christmas holiday.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Chris Brown; Writer: Chris Brown; Stars: Jill Pixley, Carlye Pollack, Jonathan Leveck, Colette Keen, George Killingsworth, Nick Frangione, Don Schwartz) , Official site

Greenwashers

Examining the complex issues surrounding the practice of greenwash: misleading consumers regarding the environmental benefits of a product or business has become a new marketing standard.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Bret Malley; Stars: Scot Case, Andrew Havenhand, Bret Malley, Bill McKibben, Kelli Pennington)

Guilty Pleasures

Review preview for Guilty Pleasures

A feel-good recognition that nobody’s perfect, despite the ideal lifestyles we’re marketed.

Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
A documentary about a convention for romance novel enthusiasts who dream of making the Mills & Boone story come true.

(Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: Julie Moggan)

Full review

Honey (Bal)

Review preview for Honey

This is a quiet and intimate film, filled with gorgeous natural images and soundscapes that speak volumes.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Examination of the bond between a little boy, the forest and his beekeeper dad.

(Country: Turkey, Germany; Year: 2010; Director: Semih Kaplanoglu; Writer: Semih Kaplanoglu, Orçun Köksal; Stars: Erdal Besikçioglu, Tülin Özen, Alev Uçarer, Bora Altas)

Full review See: San Sebastian Film Festival, Peter Mullan, Bicycle, Spoon, Apple, Honey

How I Ended This Summer (Kak Ya Provel Etim Letom, How I Ended The Summer)

Review preview for How I Ended This Summer

A work of chilling beauty, whose sparse, unforgiving landscapes can accommodate all manner of allegorical readings.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
A youngster on a remote Arctic research station engages in a series of deadly deceptions.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2010; Director: Aleksei Popogrebsky; Writer: Aleksei Popogrebsky; Stars: Grigoriy Dobrygin, Sergei Puskepalis)

Full review See: Interview with Aleksei Popogrebsky about How I Ended This Summer

Im Schatten

A freshly released criminal plans one last heist.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2010; Director: Thomas Arslan; Writer: Thomas Arslan; Stars: Misel Maticevic, Rainer Bock, Uwe Bohm, Karoline Eichhorn, Timo Jacobs, Peter Kurth, Jörg Malchow, David Scheller, André Szymanski, Hanns Zischler, Albrecht Hirche, Lutz Heyden, Stefan Tiede, Claudio Stapane, Aaron Raabe)

Kick-Off

Documentary looks at those selected to represent Austria at the Homeless World Cup.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2010; Director: Hüseyin Tabak; Stars: Orhan Yildirim, Johann Kovacs, Serkan Yavuz, Gilbert Prilasnig) , Official site

Killing Kasztner (Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis)

Examining whether the controversial man who negotiated with Adolf Eichmann in a bid to preserve the lives of 1600 Hungarian Jews.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Gaylen Ross; Writer: Andy Cohen, Gaylen Ross) , Official site

The Last Report On Anna (Utolsó jelentés Annáról)

A look at the role of secret informants in Seventies Hungary.

(Country: Hungary; Year: 2009; Director: Márta Mészáros; Writer: Márta Mészáros, Éva Pataki; Stars: Enikö Eszenyi, Ernõ Fekete, Zsuzsa Czinkóczi, Beata Fudalej, György Cserhalmi, Gabriella Hámori, Adél Kováts, Tibor Gáspár, Zoltán Seress, Juli Básti, Gábor Máté, Tibor Szilágyi, Frigyes Hollósi, Jákob Ladányi, Lili Monori)

Magnet Man (Czlowiek magnes)

Partly inspired by the life of the writer/director's father – a famous “bio-energo-therapist” who used magnets to cure various maladies – Magnet Man combines various sources of real and fictional footage to create a rapid-fire meditation on family dynamics.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2001; Director: Marcin Wrona; Writer: Marcin Wrona; Stars: Ewa Kasprzyk, Zdzislaw Wardejn)

A Marine Story

Review preview for A Marine Story

Weber's performance is the glue that binds this movie together.

James Benefield · 2.5 out of 5
A highly capable soldier who is quietly dismissed after it's discovered she's a lesbian takes on the training of a troubled local teenager who wants to join up.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Ned Farr; Writer: Ned Farr; Stars: Dreya Weber, Paris P Pickard, Christine Mourad)

Full review

Matching Jack

After her son is taken ill, a woman tries to find a way to get a positive outcome from her husband's infidelities.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2010; Director: Nadia Tass; Writer: Lynne Renew, David Parker; Stars: Jacinda Barrett, Richard Roxburgh, Tom Russell, James Nesbitt, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Yvonne Strahovski, Colin Friels, Julia Blake, Marg Downey, Daniela Farinacci, Alexandra Schepisi, Nicole Gulasekharam, Krista Vendy, Jane Allsop, Jacinta Stapleton)

Meek's Cutoff

Review preview for Meek's Cutoff

Along with her eye for composition, Reichardt also deserves praise for the focus on the smaller period details.

Owen Van Spall · 3.5 out of 5
Drama tracks a wagon train on the 1840s Oregon Trail.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Kelly Reichardt; Writer: Jonathan Raymond; Stars: Paul Dano, Bruce Greenwood, Shirley Henderson, Neal Huff, Zoe Kazan, Tommy Nelson, Will Patton, Rod Rondeaux, Michelle Williams)

Full review

Modra

Young love blossoms on a summer trip.

(Country: Canada, Slovakia; Year: 2010; Director: Ingrid Veninger; Writer: Ingrid Veninger; Stars: Hallie Switzer, Alexander Gammal, Mathieu Chesneau, Branislav Dugovic, Cyril Dugovic, Imrich Dugovic, Jan Dugovic, Martin Dugovic, Elena Dugovicova, Marta Dugovicova, Mark Holec, Hugh Mater, Eva Mikytova, Jozefina Ochabova, Katka Pavlikova) , Official site

Mount Bayo (Cerro Bayo)

The lives of a family in a Patagonian village are irrevocably changed after the matriarch attempts suicide.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2010; Director: Victoria Galardi; Writer: Victoria Galardi; Stars: Eugenia Alonso, Guillermo Arengo, Juan Barberini, Adriana Barraza, Elisa Carricajo, Inés Efron, Adela Gleijer, Marcela Kloosterboer, Verónica Llinás, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Nicolas Silberg)

My Flesh My Blood (Moja Krew)

Review preview for My Flesh My Blood

The plot line is not original, but the combination of a shy Vietnamese flower and an angry, unpredictable war horse may well be.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
A brain damaged boxer searches for love.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2009; Director: Marcin Wrona; Stars: Eryk Lubos, Luu De Ly, Wojciech Zielinski, Marek Piotrowski, Joanna Pokojska, Ngoc Hai Bui, Magda Szeplik, Krzysztof Kolberger, Malgorzata Zajaczkowska)

Full review

A Night For Dying Tigers

A family meet on the night before a man is due to be jailed for five years, exposing cracks in their relationships.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2010; Director: Terry Miles; Writer: Terry Miles; Stars: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyan, Kathleen Robertson, John Pyper-Ferguson, Leah Gibson, Sarah Lind, Jessica Heafey, Lars Anderson, Audrey Braun, Daniel Cudmore, Agam Darshi, Geoff Gustafson, Viv Leacock)

Oranges And Sunshine

Review preview for Oranges And Sunshine

In taking on such a huge subject, Oranges And Sunshine acquits itself well.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A social worker struggles to reunite families after discovering the (real life) scandalous deportation of British children to other Commonwealth countries, which often resulted in abuse.

(Country: UK, Australia; Year: 2010; Director: Jim Loach; Writer: Rona Munro; Stars: Hugo Weaving, Emily Watson, David Wenham)

Full review

Outside The Law: Stories From Guantanamo

Documentary, revealing stories of British detainees at the controversial jail.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Polly Nash, Andy Worthington) , Official site

Point Blank (À Bout Portant)

Review preview for Point Blank

While Sartet's back story is as pulpy as they come, it's the delivery that matters and in terms of action thrills, Cavayé never takes his foot off the throttle.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An ordinary nurse defies all odds to help an injured gangster escape from the hospital where he works in order to save his kidnapped, pregnant wife.

(Country: France; Year: 2010; Director: Fred Cavayé; Writer: Fred Cavayé, Guillaume Lemans; Stars: Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Elena Anaya, Gérard Lanvin)

Full review

Le Quattro Volte

A shepherd find himself in the bodies of a baby goat, a tree and a lump of coal as his soul makes its final journey.

(Country: Italy, Germany, Switzerland; Year: 2010; Director: Michelangelo Frammartino; Writer: Michelangelo Frammartino; Stars: Giuseppe Fuda, Bruno Timpano, Nazareno Timpano) , Official site

Reuniting the Rubins

A lawyer is forced to abandon a dream trip to fulfil his mother's wish of reconciling his estranged adult children.

(Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: Yoav Factor; Writer: Yoav Factor; Stars: Rhona Mitra, Timothy Spall, James Callis, Honor Blackman, Hugh O'Conor, Blake Harrison, Rita Davies, Loo Brealey, Theo Stevenson, Chris Wilson, Amy Steel, Asier Newman, Rez Kempton, Claudia Coulter, Alison Pargeter)

The Red Machine

Review preview for The Red Machine

Every actor has a chance to shine, and none fails to take it.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
A young thief is persuaded to help a US government agency steal a Japanese encryption device on the eve of war.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Stephanie Argy, Alec Boehm; Writer: Stephanie Argy, Alec Boehm; Stars: Lee Perkins, Donal Thoms-Cappello, Meg Brogan, Mo Byrnes, Eddie Lee, Madoka)

Full review

Sailor

Described as "a genuine one-off" by festival programmers.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2010; Director: Norman Leto)

Seesaw

Trouble brews for a young couple.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2010; Director: Keihiro Kanyama; Writer: Keihiro Kanyama; Stars: Keihiro Kanyama, Maki Murakami, Keigo Oka, Sora) , Official site

Traces Of A Diary

Documentary portrait of six Japanese artists.

(Country: Portugal, Japan; Year: 2010; Director: Marco Martins, André Príncipe)

Vespa

A young boy goes on a big trip to claim a prize Vespa bike.

(Country: Hungary, Serbia; Year: 2010; Director: Diana Groó; Writer: Diana Groó, Iván Szabó; Stars: György Bajomi Nagy, Rodrigó Balogh, Rudolf Balogh, Krisztina Erdélyi, Kristina Erdely, Zénó Kárász, László Kassai, Gábor Nagypál, Júlia Nyakó, Kata Petõ, János Puporka, Gábor Róbert, Simon Szabó, Sándor Tóth)

Viva Riva!

Review preview for Viva Riva!

One of the most exciting contributions to the genre for years.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A Kinshasa hustler hatches a scheme to steal a lucrative stash of petrol, but his lust for the wife of a notorious crime boss might bring more trouble than he's prepared for.

(Country: Democratic Republic Of The Congo; Year: 2010; Director: Djo Tunda Wa Munga; Writer: Djo Tunda Wa Munga; Stars: Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Hoji Fortuna, Diplome Amekindra)

Full review

When We Leave (Die Fremde)

hen young Turkish-German woman Umay can no longer stand her husband’s ill-treatment, she flees from Istanbul with her five-year-old son into the arms of her family in Berlin. But love, affection, and loyalty soon become irrelevant as they struggle to reconcile Umay’s willful self-determination with the social system that governs their lives.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2010; Director: Feo Aladag; Writer: Feo Aladag; Stars: Sibel Kekilli, Nizam Schiller, Derya Alabora, Settar Tanriogen, Serhad Can, Almila Bagriacik, Tamer Yigit, Alwara Höfels, Florian Lukas, Blanca Apilanez Fernandez, Mustafa Jouni, Aram Arami, Ufuk Bayraktar, Edin Hasanovic, Nursel Köse)

Wonderful Summer (Cudowne lato)

Coming of age comedy sees a young girl get advice from the ghost of her mum.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2011; Director: Ryszard Brylski; Writer: Wojciech Lepianka, Agata Nowak; Stars: Katarzyna Figura, Marek Kasprzyk, Marcin Luczak, Cezary Lukaszewicz, Antoni Pawlicki, Helena Sujecka, Jerzy Trela, Bronislaw Wroclawski)

The World According To Ion B (Lumea vazuta de Ion B)

Portrait of "outsider artist" Ion Barladeanu.

(Country: Romania; Year: 2009; Director: Alexander Nanau; Writer: Alexander Nanau; Stars: Ion Barladeanu) , Official site