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East End Film Festival · 2012

East End Film Festival 2012

British

Programme

21 films · 3 reviews

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Arena: Amy Winehouse

A documentary exploring the singer's connections to the stars she admired and featuring rare concert footage.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Maurice Linnane; Stars: Amy Winehouse)

Builders And The Games

A look at the development of London Olympic infrastructure from the perspective of those involved in its construction.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Margaret Dickinson)

Dave Pearson: To Byzantium

An exploration of the work of Hackney artist Dave Pearson, discovered in its true glory only after his death.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Derek Smith)

East End Babylon

The story of street punk band the Cockney Rejects provides a gateway through which to explore the cultural landscape of London's East End.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Richard England)

Fish N' Chips

A Cypriot immigrant returns 'home' after many years in London to realise his dream of running his own chip shop, but finds himself missing the metropolis.

(Country: Cyprus, UK; Year: 2011; Director: Elias Demetriou)

From Cable Street To Brick Lane

A look at the history of anti-racist and anti-fascist movements in the East End of London.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Hazuan Hashim, Phil Maxwell)

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.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Tim Lewiston; Writer: Tim Lewiston; Stars: Ray Winstone, Jack Huston, Lois Winstone, Colm Meaney, David Harewood, Derren Nesbit, John Lynch) , Trailer

Full review

Jaywick Escapes

Jaywick Sands, Essex. In this forgotten slice of Britain, time slows down. Once the favourite holiday destination for London's East enders, Jaywick is now a community riddled with high levels of crime, unemployment, and anti-social behaviour. But for many of its residents, it is a place to escape the temptations of big city life, to contemplate past mistakes, to hatch new plans…In Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie’s atmospheric film, we step into the pretty seafront cottages to witness life through the eyes of a handful of Jaywick's residents. Teenager Mac roams the town, harbouring a family secret. Born and bred in Jaywick, he’s dismayed that the community has been recently named the most deprived place in the UK. Widowed Nick has returned to Jaywick to begin a new life, but finds himself haunted by bittersweet memories as he roams the boardwalks. Meanwhile, Sara hopes to finally kick away shadows from her past life and get her children back.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Karen Guthrie, Nina Pope)

Make Your Own Damn Art: The World Of Bob And Roberta Smith

A documentary exploration of the political art of Patrick Brill, aka Bob and Roberta Smith.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: John Rogers; Stars: Patrick Brill)

Mustafa's Sweet Dreams

Everyone in Turkey is familiar with the delicious pistachio-filled baklava that is made in Gaziantep in Anatolia. This is where sixteen-year-old Mustafa works in his uncle’s large bakery, together with a lot of other boys. The rules here are clear-cut: if an apprentice is disrespectful to a master baker this could well earn the apprentice a beating. The novice bakers – some of them no more than ten years of age – are fed up with being bossed around by master bakers at work and parents at home. They all have dreams of a better life. Mustafa longs to go to Istanbul where he hopes to gain fame as the greatest baklava baker of all time. One day, he decides to set off – against his uncle’s wishes.Director Angelos Abazoglou interweaves Mustafa’s story with documentary-style images of real local people and locations. Thus we are treated to images of women at the market, as well as village life and men enjoying a dance together. Abazoglou reserves his most poetic and sensual images for the portrayal of baklava-making: be it the wafer-thin layers of pastry shimmering against the light or the powdery dusting of flour on the young apprentices’ hair. And no sooner do the sweet pastries emerge from the oven than the mouth begins to drool.

(Country: Greece / UK; Year: 2011; Director: Angelos Abazoglou)

Nice Guy

Unemployment leads a well intentioned dad to become caught up in startling social breakdown.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Pascal Bergamin)

The Olympic Side Of London

A historian asks Stratford locals for their perspectives on the future of their community after the Olympics have passed.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Daniele Rugo)

Personal Best

A documentary following young sprinters as they train for an important competition.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Sam Blair)

The Pharmacist

A pharmacist's life is changed forever when she decides to try and help an injured man who is in hiding.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Patrick von Boetticher)

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.

(Country: UK, Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Hugh Hartford; Stars: Les D'Arcy, Rune Forsberg, Sun Lao, Terry Donlon, Dorothy DeLow, Lisa Modlich, Ursula Bihl, Inge Hermann)

Full review

Riot From Wrong

An attempt to unravel the truth behind the 2011 London riots through interviews with participants and those affected.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Ted Nygh)

Strawberry Fields

An inventive melodrama referencing Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire, a complex story of lust, rivalry and liberation in Kent countryside.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Frances Lea; Writer: Frances Lea, Judith Johnson; Stars: Anna Madeley, Christine Bottomley, Emun Elliott, Philip Martin Brown, Florence Bell)

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.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Andrew Kötting; Stars: Andrew Kötting, Iain Sinclair, Stewart Lee, Alan Moore)

Full review

The Tempest

A group of teenagers rehearsing for The Tempest contemplate what it means to be British in the aftermath of the London riots.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Rob Curry, Anthony Fletcher)

Twenty8k

Trying to clear her brother's name leads a young woman into a dangerous situation.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: David Kew, Neil Thompson; Stars: Parminder Nagra)

What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?

A young boy travels through the wilderness of the Lea Valley.

(Country: UK; Year: 2005; Director: Paul Kelly)