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Cheltenham International Film Festival · 2023

Cheltenham International Film Festival 2023

Features

Programme

39 films · 17 reviews

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The 9th Step

After a decade of addiction, a man's life is back on track... but then he finds himself living with his estranged teenage daughter.

(Country: Lithuania; Year: 2022; Director: Irma Puzauskaite; Writer: Egle Vertelyte; Stars: Valentin Novopolskij, Gerda Ciuraite, Kristupas Birzietis, Lina Brazau, Romas Buozys, Karolis Butvilas, Tauras Cizas, Algirdas Dainavicius, Angelina Daukaite, Jonas Golubovskis, Povilas Jatkevicius, Laurynas Jurgelis, Aleksas Kazanavicius, Viola Klimciauskaite, Andrius Kucinskas)

Ajoomma

A widow obsessed with Korean soap operas travels abroad for the first time in her life to Seoul and finds more than she had bargained for.

(Country: Singapore; Year: 2022; Director: He Shuming; Writer: He Shuming, Kris Ong; Stars: Hong Huifang, Kang Hyoung-suk, Jung Dong-hwan, Yeo Jin-gu)

Amusia

A love story between a girl who "escapes" from music and a boy who "survives" thanks to music.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2022; Director: Marescotti Ruspoli; Stars: Fanny Ardant, Maurizio Lombardi, Adriano Chiaramida, Carlotta Gamba, Giampiero De Concilio)

Backwards (Subuk)

A woman spends two decades battling to secure a proper education for her severely autistic son.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2022; Director: Jacek Lusinski; Stars: Malgorzata Gorol, Andrzej Seweryn, Marta Malikowsku)

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.

(Country: Kenya; Year: 2023; Director: Andrew H Brown, Moses Thuranira)

Full review

Beyond The Summit

Two mountaineers, one of whom already owes his life to the other, take on the Himalayan mountain Annapurna.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2022; Director: Ibon Cormenzana; Stars: Javier Rey, Blana Apilanez, Kandido Uranga)

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.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Matt Johnson; Writer: Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, based on the book by Jacquie McNish; Stars: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Rich Sommer)

Full review See: Q&A with Glenn Howerton about BlackBerry , Interview with Matt Johnson about BlackBerry

Bolan's Shoes

A woman decides to go on a pilgrimage to Bolan’s shrine in London in honour of what would have been his 75th birthday, bringing back painful memories.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Ian Puleston-Davies; Stars: Timothy Spall, Leanne Best, Mathew Horne, Ian Puleston-Davies, Mark Lewis Jones)

Breaking The Ice

Review preview for Breaking The Ice

Stern takes her time letting us discover what really concerns her characters, their hard shells and vulnerable cores.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
An Austrian woman escapes from the pressure of running her family’s vineyard by playing ice hockey. Then a new player arrives to challenge her rigid worldview, leading to a life-changing night on the streets of Vienna.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Clara Stern; Writer: Clara Stern; Stars: Alina Schaller, Judith Altenberger, Tobias Samuel Resch, Pia Hierzegger, Wolfgang Böck)

Full review See: Clara Stern in conversation on Breaking The Ice, Pia Hierzegger, Michael Haneke, and Jules Et Jim

Cora Bora

Cora senses her open relationship is on the rocks. When the struggling musician and messy millennial goes home to Portland to win her girlfriend back, she realizes it’s much more than her love life that needs salvaging.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Hannah Pearl Utt; Writer: Rhianon Jones; Stars: Megan Stalter, Jojo T Gibbs, Manny Jacinto, Ayden Mayeri, Thomas Mann, Chrissie Fit, Andre Hyland, Chelsea Peretti, Margaret Cho, Darrell Hammond)

The Eternal Daughter

A ghost story about a middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother must confront long-buried secrets when they return to their former family home, a once-grand manor that has become a nearly vacant hotel brimming with mystery.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2022; Director: Joanna Hogg; Writer: Joanna Hogg; Stars: Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies)

Fantastic Machine (And The King Said, What A 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.

(Country: Sweden, Denmark; Year: 2023; Director: Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck)

Full review

Fathers And Mothers

Competitive parents resort to increasingly childlike behaviour on a school camping trip.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2022; Director: Paprika Steen; Stars: Lisa Loven Kongsli, Nikolaj Lie Kass, Amanda Collin)

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.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Babak Jalali; Writer: Babak Jalali; Stars: Anaita Wali Zada, Jeremy Allen White, Gregg Turkington)

Full review See: Babak Jalali

Grand Expectations

A Corsican road rage incident which goes fatally wrong changes the destiny of an ambitious young woman.

(Country: France; Year: 2022; Director: Sylvain Desclous; Stars: Rebecca Marder, Benjamin Lavernhe, Emmanuelle Bercot, Marc Barbé, Pascal Elso, Cédric Appietto)

Il Boemo

Review preview for Il Boemo

In less adept hands this could have become a clash of content but Václav keeps all his elements in balance, managing to celebrate the beauty of opera on the one hand while showing us uglier mini dramas playing out at the front and back of house.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Biopic of composer Josef Mysliveček.

(Country: Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia; Year: 2022; Director: Petr Václav; Writer: Petr Václav; Stars: Vojtech Dyk, Karel Roden, Lino Musella, Barbara Ronchi, Lenka Vlasáková, Martina Babisova, Salvatore Langella, Lana Vlady, Zdenek Godla, Cristiano Donati, Diego Pagotto, Philippe Jaroussky, Philip Amadeus Hahn, Emöke Baráth, Raffaella Milanesi)

Full review

Klondike

Review preview for Klondike

Gorbach presents war as an insidious and dangerous beast, prowling about the edges of people's lives, swiping at those who aren't directly involved just as easily as those who are.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of a Ukrainian family living on the border of Russia - Ukraine during the start of war. Irka refuses to leave her house even as the village gets captured by armed forces. Shortly after, they find themselves at the center of an air crash catastrophe on July 17, 2014.

(Country: Ukraine, Turkey; Year: 2022; Director: Maryna Er Gorbach; Writer: Maryna Er Gorbach; Stars: Evgeniy Efremov, Oleg Shcherbina, Oksana Cherkashyna, Oleg Shevchuk, Artur Aramyan)

Full review

Last Dance

A 75-year-old man finds new meaning in life when he secretly joins a contemporary dance group.

(Country: Switzerland, Belgium; Year: 2022; Director: Delphine Lehericey; Stars: François Berléand, Kacey Mottet Klein, La Ribot)

Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels)

Review preview for Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

For exuberance, inventiveness and gut-spilling humour, Guy Ritchie's debut takes some beating.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
After losing in a card game a London con has to make the money back fast.

(Country: UK; Year: 1997; Director: Guy Ritchie; Writer: Guy Ritchie; Stars: Nick Moran, Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Nicholas Rowe, Nick Marcq, Charles Forbes, Vinnie Jones, Lenny McLean, Peter McNicholl, Vas Blackwood)

Full review

Luise

During the First World War, a recently bereaved young farmer offers shelter to two strangers. When she begins to fall for one of them, the other becomes jealous.

(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2023; Director: Matthias Luthardt; Stars: Luise Aschenbrenner, Christa Théret, Leonard Kunz)

Lord Of The Flies

Review preview for Lord Of The Flies

For all that time has changed the way it fits into the world, Lord Of The Flies remains as important today as it was in 1963.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A group a schoolboys stranded on an island quickly turn to savagery and fiercely hierarchical behaviour in this adaptation of William Golding's classic tale.

(Country: UK; Year: 1963; Director: Peter Brook; Writer: Peter Brook, based on the book by William Golding.; Stars: James Aubrey, Tom Chapin, Hugh Edwards, Roger Elwin, Tom Gaman)

Full review

Mamma Mia!

Review preview for Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! is a roller coaster of emotion, careering colourfully from the blue waters of the Adriatic.

Chris · 3.5 out of 5
When her daughter wants to get married, Donna has to explain that any one of three men could be her father.

(Country: UK, US, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Phyllida Lloyd; Writer: Catherine Johnson; Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried, Nancy Baldwin, Rachel McDowell, Colin Davis) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Profile of Meryl Streep

The Miracle Club

Three close friends who have never left the outskirts of Dublin get the journey of a lifetime - a visit to Lourdes, the picturesque French town and place of miracles.

(Country: Ireland, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan; Writer: Joshua D. Maurer, Timothy Prager, Jimmy Smallhorne; Stars: Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Agnes O'Casey, Stephen Rea)

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.

(Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic; Year: 2022; Director: Tereza Nvotová; Writer: Barbora Namerova, Tereza Nvotová; Stars: Natalia Germani, Eva Mores, Juliana Olhová, Iva Bittová, Jane Olhová)

Full review See: Interview with Tereza Nvotová about Nightsiren

No Dogs Or Italians Allowed

An animated story about the director's grandparents as they left their home in Ughettera and survive war, famine, flu and fascism as they sought to build a new life in France.

(Country: France, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal; Year: 2022; Director: Alain Ughetto; Stars: Ariane Ascaride, Alain Ughetto, Stefano Paganini)

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.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Ken Loach; Writer: Paul Laverty; Stars: Debbie Honeywood, Andy Dawson, Reuben Bainbridge, Col Tait, Rob Kirtley)

Full review

On The Ftinge

A lawyer activist strives to help people who are about to be evicted from their homes, but also struggles financially.

(Country: Spain, Belgium; Year: 2022; Director: Juan Diego Botto; Stars: Penelope Cruz, Luis Tosar, Christian Checa)

Prison 77 (Modelo 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.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2022; Director: Alberto Rodríguez; Writer: Rafael Cobos, Alberto Rodríguez; Stars: Iñigo Aranburu, Javier Beltrán, Carlos Bernardino, Polo Camino, José Gabriel Campos, Jesús Carroza, Víctor Castilla, Víctor Castillo, Iñigo de la Iglesia, Javier Gutiérrez, Miguel Herrán, Javier Lago, Alfonso Lara, Daniel Mantero, Ana Cecilia Mendes)

Full review See: Q&A with Alberto Rodriguez about Prison 77

Property (Propriedade)

When rebelling workers occupy Teresa’s family estate, she flees at the last minute into an armoured car. She is trapped, but refuses to negotiate.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2022; Director: Daniel Bandeira; Stars: Malu Galli, Zuleika Ferreira, Tavinho Teixeira, Samuel Santos, Edilson Silva)

Remember To Blink (Per Arti, The Family)

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.

(Country: Lithuania; Year: 2022; Director: Austeja Urbaite; Writer: Austeja Urbaite; Stars: Dovile Kundrotaite, Anne Azoulay, Arthur Igual, Inesa Sionova, Ajus Antanavicius)

Full review See: Anne Azoulay and Dovile Kontrotaite talk about language challenges and working with children in Remember To Blink , Adopting different perspectives, Austeja Urbaite chats about her first feature Remember To Blink

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.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2022; Director: Anthony Shim; Writer: Anthony Shim; Stars: Choi Seung-yoon, Ethan Hwang, Dohyun Noel Hwang, Anthony Shim, Hunter Dillon)

Full review See: Interview with Anthony Shim about Riceboy Sleeps

The Spirit Of The Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena)

Review preview for The Spirit Of The Beehive

Although an undoubted classic of the period - and featuring one of cinema's best child performances in Torrent - the allusive and elusive style of the film is difficult to engage with.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
A screening of James Whale's Frankenstein alters how an impressionable young girl sees her world in 1940s Spain.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1973; Director: Víctor Erice; Writer: Víctor Erice, Ángel Fernández Santos, Francisco J Querejeta; Stars: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent, Isabel Tellería, Ketty de la Cámara, Estanis González, José Villasante, Juan Margallo, Laly Soldevila, Miguel Picazo)

Full review

Time Out (Temps Mort)

Three prisoners nearing the end of their sentences go back to their communities on 48 hour leave.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2023; Director: Eve Duchemin; Stars: Karim Leklou, Issaka Sawadogo, Jarod Cousyns)

Tristana

Chaos ensues when the young ward of an infatuated nobleman begins to assert her independence.

(Country: Spain, Italy, France; Year: 1970; Director: Luis Buñuel; Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Fernando Rey, Franco Nero)

The Trouble With Jessica

Just when a couple are celebrating the long awaited sale of their home, a writer attending their dinner party is inconveniently found dead in the garden.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Matt Winn; Stars: Rufus Sewell, Indira Varma , Shirley Henderson, Olivia Williams, Alan Tudyk, Ann Reid)

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.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Carol Morley; Writer: Carol Morley; Stars: Monica Dolan, Kelly Macdonald, Gina McKee, Kieran Bew, Christine Bottomley, Judith Chandler, Gary Bates, Orla Cottingham, Dawn Butler, Kya Brame, Anand Toora, Pauline Whitaker, Neal Barry, Issam Al Ghussain, Gavin Kitchen)

Full review

Vasil

A Bulgarian immigrant who is gifted when it comes to bridge and chess is offered a place to stay by a young Spaniard, whose family disapproves.

(Country: Spain, Bulgaria; Year: 2023; Director: Avelina Prat; Stars: Ivan Barnev, Karra Elejalde, Alexandra Jimenez)

Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios)

As she doggedly searches for her inconstant lover, protagonist Pepa serves as the common thread linking absurd situations with insights into the bizarre lives of numerous characters.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1988; Director: Pedro Almodóvar; Writer: Pedro Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar, Jean Cocteau; Stars: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, María Barranco, Rossy de Palma, Kiti Mánver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, Eduardo Calvo, Loles León, Ángel López de Andrés, Fernando Guillén, Juan Lombardero, José Antonio Navarro, Ana Leza)

The Way To Happiness

A man who narrowly escaped the Holocaust, whose best friend fled Pinochet's Chile, falls for a cinema projectionist.

(Country: Belgium, France, Luxumbourg; Year: 2021; Director: Nicholas Steil; Stars: Simon Abkarian, Pascale Arbillot, Django Schrevens)