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Festival coverage

East End Film Festival

3 July – 8 July 2012

The 2012 East End Film Festival is a truly international event with a great selection of films and lots of interesting ways to see them, including free outdoor screenings. There are masterclasses, workshops and opportunities to meet the filmmakers alongside the visual entertainment. This year's event is taking advantage of its overlap with the Olympics and World Pride to further diversify what it has to offer.

Other years (5)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Long Distance Information
    Review preview for Long Distance Information

    Long Distance Information depicts that phone call so well, the stilted awkwardness as you ask about things you don't care about.

    Donald Munro · 4 out of 5
    A phone call reveals the difficulties of estrangement within a family.
  • Art Will Save The World
    Review preview for Art Will Save The World

    The title of Niall McGann’s documentary is a joke, elevating the work to a level of self-importance that the mischief therein consistently and amusingly undercuts.

    Michael Pattison · 3.5 out of 5
    A look at the work, life and legacy of Luke Haines.
  • How To Survive A Plague
    Review preview for How To Survive A Plague

    This is not just a piece of history, it's a how-to guide with lasting relevance.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    The story of Act Up and the ordinary people who transformed the tratment of AIDS.
  • Call Me Kuchu
    Review preview for Call Me Kuchu

    Despite its grim subject, this is a film full of fight, with all the energy you'd expect from that.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    The story of the Ugandan campaigners who have spoken out against the country's proposed Anti-Gay Bill.
  • The Hot Potato
    Review preview for The Hot Potato

    Ray Winstone has always been at his best in comedy, and here he excels.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    The acquisition of a valuable lump of uranium leads two east end chancers into a series of scrapes.
  • Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
    Review preview for Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

    Weiwei is such a fascinating subject that even a documentary that never seems to stray into the experimental is compelling, but white text on a black screen does not a revolution make.

    Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
    Renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has garnered international attention as much for his ambitious artwork as his political provocations and increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government.
  • Ping Pong
    Review preview for Ping Pong

    This might not seem like the most exciting piece of cinema but you'll be surprised by how quickly you find yourself rooting for its vivacious heroes.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A documentary following eight players on their way to the over-80s world table tennis championships.
  • Swandown
    Review preview for Swandown

    Echoing Homer's Odyssey and also the procession of the Olympic torch, Swandown happens in fits and starts, sometimes achingly slow, intermittently brilliant.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A documentary maker and a historian seek to uncover England's secrets as they travel through its waterways in a swan-shaped pedalo.
  • Electrick Children
    Review preview for Electrick Children

    This low-key coming of age drama pokes gently into questions of faith, temptation, family and belonging.

    Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
    A sheltered Mormon girl believes her unexplained pregnancy must have been caused by listening to rock music.
  • Kotoko
    Review preview for Kotoko

    This is a difficult film, full of abhorrent behaviours and unbearable tensions – but at the same time it shows a profound respect towards its troubled subject, and therefore towards its viewers as well.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    A single mother clings to life amid nightmarish mental problems and self-mutilation.

A–Z of East End Film Festival 2012 reviews

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