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Festival coverage

Cheltenham International Film Festival

15 September – 24 September 2023

This year's Cheltenham International Film Festival has a line-up heavily focused on British film past and present, including a special tribute to legendary director and producer Stephen Frears. it also provides an opportunity to see some gems from the international film festival circuit which have only just made it to these shores.

The festival runs from 15 to 24 September.

View complete schedule

Other years (6)

Latest reviews

  • The Old Oak
    Review preview for The Old Oak

    Will anyone see this who wouldn't anyway?

    Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
    A musing on the future of The Old Oak, the last remaining pub in a village in Northeast England, where people are leaving the land as the mines are closed. Houses are cheap and available, thus making it an ideal location for Syrian refugees.
  • Fremont
    Review preview for Fremont

    In many ways Fremont is advocating the importance of accepting that a life can be both average and fulfilling.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Donya works for a Chinese fortune cookie factory in San Francisco. Formerly a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, she struggles to put her life back in order. In a moment of sudden revelation, she decides to send out a special message in a cookie.
  • Between The Rains
    Review preview for Between The Rains

    There’s a lack of depth in general.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    A coming-of-age documentary following a young member of a formerly nomadic northern Kenyan community as they deal with the environmental and psychological effects of climate change.
  • Fantastic Machine
    Review preview for Fantastic Machine

    It is highly satisfying that this feature film about the history and cultural impact of photography - and, by extension, film and television - should be such a lovely example of the Reithian principles to “inform, educate and entertain”.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    From the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity’s unique obsession with the camera’s image and the social consequences that lay ahead.
  • Typist Artist Pirate King
    Review preview for Typist Artist Pirate King

    Much more of a natural crowd-pleaser than her previous works, this might be Morley’s most successful film to date.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A road movie which draws from the archives of artist Audrey Amiss.
  • Riceboy Sleeps
    Review preview for Riceboy Sleeps

    An accomplished piece of work.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A Korean single mother raises her young son in the suburbs of Nineties Canada, determined to provide a better life for him than the one she left behind.
  • Nightsiren
    Review preview for Nightsiren

    Nvotová is well versed in the language of the horror film, and some scenes echo the early work of Neil Jordan, but go much further in their hallucinatory concatenation of the forest wild and the monstrous feminine.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A young woman returns to her native mountain village, searching for answers about her troubled childhood, but as she tries to uncover the truth, ancient superstitions lead the villagers to accuse her of witchcraft and murder.
  • BlackBerry
    Review preview for BlackBerry

    This is a film built in the edit, a story which can but understood in linear form only in retrospect.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.
  • Prison 77
    Review preview for Prison 77

    Whereas most prison films focus on strife, it’s the gradually developing friendship which forms the bedrock of the film.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Modelo Prison. Barcelona, 1977. A young accountant awaiting trial for embezzlement, joins forces with his cellmate and a collective fighting for the rights of ordinary prisoners.
  • Remember To Blink
    Review preview for Remember To Blink

    Urbaite shows stylistic ambition.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A young woman engaged to help a pair of children fit into their new French family engages in a battle of wills with their new mum.

A–Z of Cheltenham International Film Festival 2023 reviews

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