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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2008

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2008

Rosebud

Unlike Kane's sled and more like Orson Welles himself, the EIFF named Rosebud as "The place to discover our tips for the opt: first and second works from the directors to watch".






Programme

22 films · 18 reviews

Jump to a film

3 Women (3 zan, Three Women)

Gripping story of a single mother with difficulties in her job, and looking after the family.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2008; Director: Manijeh Hekmat; Writer: Naghmeh Samini, Manijeh Hekmat; Stars: Niki Karimi, Pegah Ahangarani, Babak Hamidian, Reza Kianian, Maryam Boubani, Atila Pesiani, Shahrokh Foroutanian, Saber Abbar, Mehran Rajabi)

UK Premiere

The Appeared (Aparecidos)

Review preview for The Appeared

The film is made with commitment, even passion, and the terror tactics are effective until the plot loses itself in a miasmic mist of incomprehension.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Siblings are terrified by tortured ghosts and a brain dead father's legacy in Argentina.

(Country: Spain/Argentina/Sweden; Year: 2007; Director: Paco Cabezas; Writer: Paco Cabezas; Stars: Ruth Díaz, Javier Pereira, Pablo Cedron, Leonora Balcarce, Luciano Caceres, Hector Bidonde, Isabela Ritto, Damasco Conde)

Full review

UK Premiere

The Black Balloon

Review preview for The Black Balloon

Fearlessly reaches outside the box.

Chris · 3.5 out of 5
An insightful family drama, about a young man who must deal with more than his fair share of troubles, like his autistic brother. Also, young love and being a new boy in school.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Elissa Down; Writer: Elissa Down, Jimmy Jack; Stars: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Toni Collette, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward, Lloyd Allison-Young, Nathin Butler, Lisa Kowalski, Firass Dirani, Aaron Glennane, Andy Meritakis)

Full review

UK Premiere

Captain Abu Raed

Review preview for Captain Abu Raed

Sawalha excels as the mouse who at least contemplates a roar as he tries to make a difference in the lives of his young audience.

Tony Sullivan · 4 out of 5
Uplifting tale about an airport janitor who spins stories for street kids after being mistaken by them for a pilot.

(Country: Jordan; Year: 2007; Director: Amin Matalq; Writer: Amin Matalq; Stars: Nadim Sawalha, Hussein Al-Sous, Rana Sultan, Uday Al-Qiddissi, Ghandi Saber)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day Eight

UK Premiere

Eden

Review preview for Eden

This film is adapted from a stage play by Eugene O'Brien and has made the transition to screen very smoothly.

George Williamson · 3.5 out of 5
The disintegration of a marriage.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2008; Director: Declan Recks; Writer: Eugene O'Brien; Stars: Aidan Kelly, Eileen Walsh,Padraic Delaney, Edna Oates, Lesley Conroy, Karl Shiels)

Full review

European Premiere

Enlightened Blood (La Sangre iluminada)

Review preview for Enlightened Blood

Every time you try stir up the mental agility to try get from A to B of this metaphysical conundrum, you reach: Why?

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A rupture in time and space unites six characters in huge life-altering ways.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Iván Ávila Dueñas; Writer: Iván Ávila Dueñas, José Ignacio Valenzuela; Stars: Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Joustein Roustand, Enoc Leaño, Flor Payán, Jorge Zárate, Joaquín Cosio, Leticia Gutiérrez, Pilar Padilla, Raúl Méndez, Ari Brickman, Octavio Castro)

Full review

UK Premiere

The Fall

Review preview for The Fall

To see it on any screen other than the biggest you can is to do yourself a disservice, and to miss it is to miss a masterpiece.

Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5
Tarsem Singh's visually opulent fantasy epic borrowing the narrative device of The Princess Bride to widen and scorch the eyes.

(Country: India, UK; Year: 2006; Director: Tarsem Singh; Writer: Dan Gilroy, Nico Soultanakis, Tarsem Singh, Valeri Petrov; Stars: Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell, Lee Pace, Kim Uylenbroek, Aiden Lithgow, Sean Gilder, Ronald France, Andrew Roussouw, Michael Huff, Grant Swanby, Emil Hostina)

Full review

UK Premiere

Fujian Blue (Jin Bi Hui Huang)

Review preview for Fujian Blue

This is not a film seeking resolution, but a snapshot of life, inviting scrutiny.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Dual stories analyse societal breakdown in modern China.

(Country: China; Year: 2007; Director: Robin Weng; Writer: Robin Weng; Stars: Luo Jin, Zhu Xiaopeng, Chen Shu, Wang Yinan, Lin Yile, Liu Haochen, Li Zhaolin)

Full review

UK Premiere

God Man Dog (Liu lang shen gao ren)

Review preview for God Man Dog

A charming and worthwhile festival film.

Chris · 2.5 out of 5
Multi-strand emotional drama.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2007; Director: Singing Chen; Writer: Singing Chen, Yi-an Lou; Stars: Tarcy Su, Jack Kao, Han Chang, Jonathan Chang, Ka-yi Mo, Hsiao-han Tu)

Full review

UK Premiere

Goodnight Irene

Two very different men join forces to find the object of both their obsessions, the beautiful young painter Irene. Despite their differences, they forge a deep friendship.

(Country: Portugal; Year: 2007; Director: Paolo Marinou-Blanco; Writer: Paolo Marinou-Blanco; Stars: Robert Pugh, Nuno Lopes, Rita Loureiro, Amadeu Caronho, Virgilio Gança)

UK Premiere

Good Dick

Review preview for Good Dick

Despite dealing with some very heavy issues Palka has a surprisingly light touch, levening the more bleak moments with some rich, dark comedy.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Offbeat romance between a damaged young woman and with Marianna Palka and Jason Ritter.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Marianna Palka; Stars: Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter, Eric Edelstein, Mark Webber, Martin Starr, Charles Durning, Tom Arnold, Jesse Garcia, Katherine Waterston, Elisabeth Waterston) , Trailer

Full review See: Interview with Marianna Palka about Good Dick , Sundance 2008: Day Three

International Premiere

The King Of Ping Pong (Ping-pongkingen, The King Of Ping-Pong)

Review preview for The King Of Ping Pong

What begins as an amusingly dysfunctional take on the coming-of-age drama... founders when the tone switches to something much darker.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Coming-of-age drama sees trouble brew between two siblings.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2008; Director: Jens Jonsson; Writer: Jens Jonsson, Hans Gunnarson; Stars: Jerry Johansson, Hampus Johansson, Ann-Sofie Nurmi, Frederik Nilsson, Georgi Staykov, Alicia Stewen, Carolina Westman, William Blomfeldt) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance 2008: Day Three

UK Premiere

Left Bank (Linkeroever)

Review preview for Left Bank

The filmmakers keep you wondering about the characters and their motives throughout.

Keith Hennessey Brown · 4 out of 5
Atmospheric horror film in the vein of Rosemary's Baby, with a descent into obsession and madness with the previous occupants of her boyfriend's flat.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2008; Director: Pieter Van Hees; Writer: Christophe Dirickx, Dimitri Karakatsanis, Pieter Van Hees; Stars: Eline Kuppens, Matthias Schoenaerts, Sien Eggers, Marilou Mermans, Frank Vercruyssen, Robbie Cleiren) , Official site

Full review

International Premiere

Life Track

Review preview for Life Track

The freak show element is never far from the surface of the plot, if, indeed, there is one.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
A disabled man allows a mute girl into his private space.

(Country: South Korea/China; Year: 2007; Director: Jin Guang-hao; Writer: Jin Guang-hao; Stars: Chui Jing-hu, Jang So-yeon)

Full review

UK Premiere

Love And Other Crimes (Ljubav i drugi zlocini, Liebe und Andere Verbrechen)

Review preview for Love And Other Crimes

Arsenijevic succeeds for the most part, by keeping the more whimsical moments tramelled in by a brassy soundtrack and careful editing, and use of colour that accentuates the bleak as well as the blossom.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
"What happens if you fall in love on the very day you intend to leave forever?"

(Country: Serbia, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Stefan Arsenijevic; Writer: Stefan Arsenijevic, Srdjan Koljevic, Bojan Vuletic, Bojan Vuletic; Stars: Anica Dobra, Vuk Kostic, Milena Dravic, Fedja Stojanovic, Hanna Schwamborn, Ljubomir Bandovic, Ana Markovic, Dusica Zegarac, Semka Sokolovic-Bertok, Josif Tatic, Anita Mancic)

Full review

International Premiere

Mermaid (Rusalka)

The fanciful tale of an introverted little girl who grows up believing she has the power to make wishes come true. She must reconcile this belief with reality when, as a young woman, she journeys to Moscow and grapples with love, modernity and materialism.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2007; Director: Anna Melikyan; Stars: Masha Shalaeva, Evgeniy Ciganov, Maria Sokolova, Nastya Doncova)

UK Premiere

Milky Way Liberation Front (Eunha-haebang-jeonseon)

Review preview for Milky Way Liberation Front

Its sense of humour and verve are enough to commend it to any viewer.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Black comedy adventure about a screenwriter whose personal and professional world is falling apart.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2007; Director: Yoon Seongho; Writer: Yoon Seongho; Stars: Ji-Gyu Lim, Young-ju Seo, Eun-Seong, Bo-kyeong Kim, Yukie Mori, Hyung-keun Yu)

Full review

European Premiere

Máncora

Review preview for Máncora

Problems that only seem like problems to folk under the age of 25 and the hint of forbidden sexual fruit are not enough to hold the interest.

Tony Sullivan · 2 out of 5
Grief and desire on a road trip.

(Country: Spain, Peru; Year: 2008; Director: Ricardo De Montreuil; Writer: Angel Ibarguren, Juan Luis Nugent, based on a story by Diego Ojeda and Ricardo De Montreuil; Stars: Jason Day, Elsa Pataky, Enrique Murciano, Phellipe Haagensen, Liz Gallardo)

Full review See: Sundance 2008: Day Four

International Premiere

Sleep Dealer

Review preview for Sleep Dealer

Made on a minuscule budget the feature took eight years to get from script to screen, one wonders how much more innovative it might have seemed back those eight years.

Tony Sullivan · 3 out of 5
Node Runner - if they catch you you're through!

(Country: US, Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Alex Rivera; Writer: Alex Rivera, David Riker; Stars: Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela, Jacob Vargas)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day Seven

UK Premiere

Son Of A Lion

Review preview for Son Of A Lion

Well made, given the circumstances, and well produced, given the inexperience of those involved.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
Father and son's ideologies clash in their Pashun tribe.

(Country: Australia, Pakistan; Year: 2007; Director: Benjamin Gilmour; Writer: Benjamin Gilmour; Stars: Niaz Khan Shinwari, Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad)

Full review

UK Premiere

Warsaw Dark (Izolator)

Review preview for Warsaw Dark

The bad guys act like good guys acting like bad guys, which means you don’t know who is good and who is bad and quite soon it doesn’t matter.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 2 out of 5
A night club dancer becomes embroiled in a political assassination.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2008; Director: Christopher Doyle; Writer: Maciej Pisarek; Stars: Anna Przybylska, Leslaw Zurek, Violetta Arlak, Jan Frycz, Adam Ferency, Jacek Poniedzialek, Lukasz Simlat, Jerzy Bonczak, Jan Frycz)

Full review

World Premiere

Wellness

Thomas, a salesman more like a modern day Willy Loman stakes the last of his cash on a wonder-drug in a savage deconstruction of the American Dream.

(Country: USA; Year: 2008; Director: Jake Mahaffy; Writer: Jake Mahaffy; Stars: Paul Mahaffy, Jeff Clark) , Official site

UK Premiere