Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2008
The Director's Showcase - a strand for established global filmmakers that often don't get much play outside of film festivals, and rarely at all in multiplexes. - The EIFF states: "Classics of the future, from the established international auteurs of our time."
21 films · 17 reviews
The cinematography is quite beautiful and makes great use of the African scenery and landscapes.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Gerardo Olivares; Writer: Gerardo Olivares; Stars: Adoum Moussa, Illiassou Mahamadou Alzouma, Aminata, Kanta)
UK Premiere
Much of the story is smoke and mirrors in terms of fact, but this is pitched more at romance fans than Houdini addicts.
(Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Gillian Armstrong; Writer: Tony Grisoni, Brian Ward; Stars: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Saoirse Ronan, Jack Bailey, Aaron Brown, MacKay Crawford, James Fiddy, Martin Fisher, Tim Frost, Campbell Graham)
UK Premiere
(Country: Philippines; Year: 2007; Director: Brilliante M Mendoza)
UK Premiere
(Country: Russia, France, Belgium; Year: 2007; Director: Andrei Konchalovsky; Writer: Andrei Konchalovsky, Dunya Smirnova; Stars: Yuliya Vysotskaya, Irina Rozanova, Aleksandr Domogarov, Yefim Shifrin, Aleksei Serebryakov, Gennady Smirnov, Ilya Isaev, Olga Arntgolts, Andrei Noskov, Aleksandr Ilyin, Artemi Troitsky)
UK Premiere
You feel your will to live give a whimper, make its excuses and start heading for the bar.
(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: José Luis Guerín; Writer: José Luis Guerín; Stars: Xavier Lafitte, Pilar López de Ayalam, Michaël Balerdi, Laurence Cordier, Tanja Czichy, Gladys Deussner, Eric Dietrich, Charlotte Dupont, Philippe Ohrel)
UK Premiere
As the film progresses the voice-over - and, indeed, the music - begin to compete far too much with the action.
(Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: Bernard Rose; Writer: Lisa Enos, Bernard Rose, Leo Tolstoy; Stars: Danny Huston, Elisabeth Röhm, Matthew Yang King, Anjelica Huston, Julia Sandberg Hansson, Kinsey Packard)
World Premiere
Riklis has made a wise choice in turning real life political drama into a simple human interest story.
(Country: Israel, Germany, France; Year: 2008; Director: Eran Riklis; Writer: Eran Riklis; Stars: Hiam Abbass, Doron Tavory, Ali Suliman, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Tarik Kopty, Amos Lavi, Amnon Wolf, Smadar Jaaron, Danny Leshman, Hili Yalon, Linon Banares)
UK Premiere
It is frequently not what you see but what you hear which holds the horror.
(Country: Sweden; Year: 2008; Director: Tomas Alfredson; Writer: John Ajvide Lindqvist, based on his novel of the same name.; Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, Peter Carlberg, Ika Nord, Mikael Rahm, Karl-Robert Lindgren, Anders T. Peedu, Pale Olofsson)
UK Premiere
(Country: Hungary; Year: 2007; Director: Szabolcs Hajdu; Writer: László Garaczi, Szabolcs Hajdu; Stars: Orsolya Török-Illyés, Domokos Szabó, Tibor Mészáros, Marcell Miklós, József Vásári, Lehel Kovács, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Zoltán Seress, László Katona, Illés Nyitrai, Imre Gelányi)
International Premiere
A film you'll never forget.
(Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Cédric Klapisch; Writer: Cédric Klapisch; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Albert Dupontel, François Cluzet, Karin Viard, Gilles Lellouche, Mélanie Laurent, Zinedine Soualem, Julie Ferrier, Olivia Bonamy) , Trailer
UK Premiere
(Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: Wayne Wang; Writer: Yiyun Li, Michael Ray; Stars: Patrice Banaïas, Patrice Binaisa, Pamelyn Chee, Brian Danforth, Li Ling, Qing Lin)
UK Premiere
Cox delivers the best onscreen monologue seen outside of a Shakespeare adaptation for years.
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Trygve Allister Diesen, Lucky McKee; Writer: Stephen Susco; Stars: Brian Cox, Noel Fisher, Tom Sizemore, Kyle Gallner, Shiloh Fernandez, Marcia Bennett, Lauren Birkell, Keith Buterbaugh, Kim Dickens, Robert Englund, Ashley Laurence)
International Premiere
The technical expertise and fast turnaround in this movie is stunning.
(Country: Philippines; Year: 2007; Director: Brillante Mendoza; Writer: Ralston Jover; Stars: Coco Martin, Nathan Lopez, Kristoffer King, Jiro Manio, Jacklyn Jose, Jean Andrews, Julio Diaz, Harold Montano, Angela Ruiz)
UK Premiere
As usual, Majidi’s characters speak much more through the environments they inhabit than through dialogue, allowing his films to be easily understood worldwide.
(Country: Iran; Year: 2008; Director: Majid Majidi; Writer: Mehran Kashani, Majid Majidi; Stars: Mohammad Amir Naji, Hossein Aghazi, Maryam Akbari, Kamran Dehghan)
UK Premiere
Superficially Summer Hours is an examination of the emotional fallout from the death of a loved mother, but digging deeper reveals insightful comment on nostalgia, mortality, property and family.
(Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Olivier Assayas; Writer: Olivier Assayas; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jérémie Renier, Edith Scob, Dominique Reymond, Valérie Bonneton, Isabelle Sadoyan, Kyle Eastwood, Alice de Lencquesaing, Emile Berling, Jean-Baptiste Malartre) , Official site , Trailer
UK Premiere
While the lighter sections are wonderful to watch, the film doesn't fare as well when dealing with more serious portions of the story.
(Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: Wayne Wang; Writer: Yiyun Li, Yiyun Li, Michael Ray; Stars: Henry O, Pavel Lychnikoff, Feihong Yu, Vida Ghahremani, Wes Deitrick, Angela Dierdorff Petro, Liz Mathews, Ryan Sanson, Trent Sweeney, Patrick Treadway, Lonny W. Waddle)
UK Premiere
Theatre groupies will adore the incestuous ambience, while those in outer darkness won’t be changing their prejudices about arts and farts in a hurry.
(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2007; Director: Paula van der Oest; Writer: Paula van der Oest; Stars: Anneke Blok, Jacob Derwig, Olga Zuiderhoek, Rifka Lodeizen, Thomas Cammaet, Gits Scholten van Aschat, Waldemar Torenstra, Jara Lucieer, Ria Marks)
McCarthy’s script is spot-on, enchanting us with its characters and giving us food for thought with its wry comment on our world of immigrants and neighbour-strangers.
(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Thomas McCarthy; Writer: Thomas McCarthy; Stars: Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbas, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira) , Official site , Trailer
UK Premiere
The problem is one of shifting tone - and one alarming change of character - which mean that despite the central tenet you can't help feeling that you are watching films about different men.
(Country: Latvia; Year: 2007; Director: Janis Kalejs, Janis Putnins, Gatis Smits, Anna Viduleja; Writer: Janis Kalejs, Gatis Smits, Janis Putnins, Anna Viduleja, Jurgis Liepnieks, Kaspars Rolsteins; Stars: Igors Suhoverhovs, Karlis Spravniks, Ints Teterovskis, Liubomiras Lauciavicius, Tatjana Jansone-Nazarova, Girts Krumins, Emilija Leiskalne, Jurgis Liepnieks, Armands Reinfelds, Kaspars Rolsteins, Irena Tjunina)
UK Premiere
The message is clear and the message is strong: How To Build A Fascist Movement works.
(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Dennis Gansel; Writer: Dennis Gansel, Peter Thorwarth, based on the novel by Todd Strasser; Stars: Juergen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich, Christiane Paul, Elyas M'Barek, Christina do Rego, Jacob Matschenz, Amelie Kiefer) , Official site , Trailer
Drawing pathos from an audience for what is an inescapable plight for the family, there is little to do but feel for the young girl whose precociousness and indomitable spirit keep things watchable
(Country: France, South Korea; Year: 2007; Director: Jeon Soo-il; Writer: Jeon Soo-il; Stars: Yu Yun-mi, Jo Yung-jin, Hyun-woo Park)
UK Premiere
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
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