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Festival coverage

Cheltenham International Film Festival

24 May – 5 June 2021

Wet Season
Wet Season

The Cheltenham International Film Festival returned in 2021 with a line-up of 35 films available to stream online. Opening with The Father, which had won Anthony Hopkins an Oscar just two months previously, it closes with Stephen Cookson's Brighton, based on the Steven Berkoff play. There were also live interviews with directors and a special conversation with acclaimed director and producer Stephen Frears.

The festival runs from 24 May to 5 June.

View complete schedule

Other years (6)

Latest reviews

  • I Never Cry
    Review preview for I Never Cry

    The personal is prominent, with Domalewski leaving the viewer to draw their own picture of the broader socio-economic failings of all this.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A woman travels to Ireland to repatriate her father's body after he dies in a workplace accident.
  • My Wonderful Wanda
    Review preview for My Wonderful Wanda

    My Wonderful Wanda picks just the right moments to introduce real emotion into the mix.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Wanda nurses the patriarch of the wealthy Wegmeister-Gloor family. When an unexpected complication arises, family secrets come to light.
  • High Ground
    Review preview for High Ground

    Taking natural sounds from the landscape, Chris Goodes has constructed a soundscape which shifts perfectly with the mood of the film, contributing to the sense of the balance of power and who is or is not an outsider.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    The sole survivor of a massacre as a child, Gutjuk is recruited 12 years later to hunt for a violent Aboriginal warrior.
  • Winona
    Review preview for Winona

    Though there is a strong idea here, Voulgaris never quite succeeds in teasing out its potential.

    Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
    Four young women gambol on a beach. A day of play for close friends, it seems, but there's a reason they’re here.
  • The Night Of The Beast
    Review preview for The Night Of The Beast

    There's a magic about this particular night, something in their air, and you don't have to be a metaller yourself to feel it.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Iron Maiden, Bogota, 1980. A dream come true for two young metalheads who are determined to see the band.
  • The Atlantic City Story
    Review preview for The Atlantic City Story

    Butash brings us close to these characters when they are at their most raw and exposed.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Hitting Atlantic City, Jane forms an unlikely bond with a young gambler. But she can’t run from her marriage forever.
  • Wet Season
    Review preview for Wet Season

    The drama is delicately handled.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    In Singapore, teacher Ling becomes the object of an infatuation when she takes one of her students under her wing.
  • The Swordsman
    Review preview for The Swordsman

    A satisfying action thriller.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A blind swordsman fights to protect his daughter and is forced to confront an old enemy.
  • The Father
    Review preview for The Father

    Zeller elegantly and scarily fuses dream logic with markers of past trauma.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    Anthony is 80 years old. He lives alone in London and refuses the caregivers that his daughter tries to impose upon him. Yet his need for help is becoming more pressing.
  • Father
    Review preview for Father

    Golubovic wants us to feel the weight of all this, and we certainly do, as cinematographer Aleksandar Ilic not only captures the countryside of Serbia but also a sense of dilapidation.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Nikola’s children are taken away from him after social services decide that he is too poor to provide them with a decent living environment. He sets off on foot to lodge a complaint in Belgrade.

A–Z of Cheltenham International Film Festival 2021 reviews

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