East End Film Festival — A–Z of films

A cast of talented actors and a superabundance of musical acts and a genuine sense of fun.

Messy, unstructured and deeply disappointing

There are some brave decisions here. This is not the entire Shakespeare, but a cut down version, including the key bits and, where necessary, pruning boldly.

The comedy is well balanced with awkwardness and grim observations of modern life.

Heineman's film inevitably includes some tough-to-watch footage but he recognises the power in not always showing death.

Sng makes no bones about the fact this is a campaigning film, firmly voicing an argument that home ownership is not the main thing we should be striving for - but he does manage to keep a level of political balance.

Its exploration of the tension between the real and the fake is timely and important.

Allam makes no secret of the fact that, as Ted, he's essentially playing Fry himself, capturing every little vocal tick and expressive nuance.

The idea that a family would face the war crime equivalent of lions, tigers and bears in the space of a few hours barges through the boundaries of belief.

There’s a strange voyeurism to the film, especially given the isolated nature of North Korea.

This film might wear its heart on its sleeve, but it is technically slick, well-acted, and laced with ear-friendly tunes. It is, in short, a proper musical.

Rather than pick apart rituals... Weinstein simply lets us see them in action as part of the natural fabric of his life

There's a touch of Claude Chabrol's psychological unease at work in this debut from debut director Ben Hecking

There's much here that recalls Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake, but Mark Gillis' film takes a very different direction and is, in its way, much more subversive.

Loach lets those who lived through this speak for themselves.

Although much of Laaksonen's work was hardcore, Karukoski doesn't seek to 'shock' audiences with outrageousness, instead gracefully zoning in on the man and his life to celebrate his both his bravery and his art.

It still does things that surprise.

Sobel doesn't invite us to pity these men but rather to listen to what they have to say.