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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2012

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012

Directors Showcase

Programme

13 films · 12 reviews

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7 Days In Havana (7 dias en La Habana)

Review preview for 7 Days In Havana

The seven stories knit together well, and provide an engrossing and alternative view of a city whose image has long been absorbed into popular culture

Emma Slawinski · 3.5 out of 5
Seven short films show unseen sides to Havana through the eyes of locals and visitors.

(Country: France, Spain; Year: 2012; Director: Benicio Del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Gaspar Noé, Juan Carlos Tabío, Laurent Cantet; Writer: Laurent Cantet, Alejandro Fadel, Martín Mauregui, Julio Medem, Santiago Mitre, Gaspar Noé, Leonardo Padura, Elia Suleiman, Pablo Trapero; Stars: Daniel Brühl, Vladimir Cruz, Josh Hutcheson, Mirta Ibarra, Emir Kusturica, Jorge Perugorria, Elia Suleiman)

Full review

Bestiaire

Review preview for Bestiaire

This is a challenging and rewarding piece that reflects your own thoughts as much as those of the filmmaker.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary meditation on man's relationship with animals.

(Country: Canada, France; Year: 2012; Director: Denis Côté; Writer: Denis Côté)

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Demain?

Review preview for Demain?

We never fully empathise or understand Delmira's plight, or feel completely drawn into her world. However, that may just be the point.

Robert Munro · 3 out of 5
The short, passionate life of Uruguyan poet Delmira Agustini is stylishly evoked in this film by Christine Laurent, longtime script collaborator of Jacques Rivette.

(Country: France, Portugal; Year: 2011; Director: Christine Laurent; Writer: Christine Laurent, Georges Peltier; Stars: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Marc Ruchmann, Teresa Madruga, Adriano Luz, Beatriz Batarda, Diogo Dória, Vladimir Léon, Luís Miguel Cintra, Sofia Marques, Vladimir Consigny, Lolita Chammah, João Grosso, Bruno Nogueira, Carloto Cotta, Ricardo Aibéo)

Full review

Dragon (Wu xia)

Review preview for Dragon

This is dark, and sweet, and repeatedly inventive, but doesn't always feel coherent.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
A qi expert detective is suspicious when a seemingly ordinary paper maker fights off notorious bandits.

(Country: China; Year: 2011; Director: Peter Chan; Writer: Joyce Chan, Oi Wah Lam; Stars: Donnie Yen, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Wei Tang, Yu Wang, Kara Hui, Wu Jiang, Kang Yu, Kenji Tanigaki, Jia-Min Li, Wei Zheng, Xiaoran Li, Zun-Kui Chen, Qing-Hua Cun, Shou-Wei Cun, Shou-Ze Cun)

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God Bless America

Review preview for God Bless America

God Bless America is an uneven series of sketches.

Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
The anti-Ikiru. Terminal cancer patient tries to rid the world of as many morons as possible before he goes.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Bobcat Goldthwait; Writer: Bobcat Goldthwait; Stars: Joel Murray, Tara Lynne Barr, Mackenzie Brooke Smith, Melinda Page Hamilton, Rich McDonald, Guerrin Gardner, Kellie Ramdhanie, Andrea Harper, David Mendenhall, Juliana Acosta, Steve Agee, Iris Almario, Aris Alvarado, Carson Aune, Ellen Baker)

Full review

Him, Here After (Ini Avan)

Tamil rebel soldier is shunned after returning home.

(Country: Sri Lanka; Year: 2012; Director: Asoka Handagama)

Home For The Weekend (Was bleibt)

Review preview for Home For The Weekend

A haunting, well-directed piece of cinema.

Scott Macdonald · 3.5 out of 5
A family reunion becomes difficult as secrets are revealed and frustrations expressed.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Hans-Christian Schmid; Writer: Bernd Lange; Stars: Lars Eidinger, Corinna Harfouch, Sebastian Zimmler, Ernst Stötzner)

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Isn't Anyone Alive? (Ikiteru mono inai no ka)

Review preview for Isn't Anyone Alive?

A conflicting and frustrating experience, enlivened by enthusiastic performances and some delightfully deadpan moments of tragic hilarity.

David Graham · 2.5 out of 5
Multiple unexplained deaths inspire absurd comedy.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Gakuryu Ishii; Writer: Shirô Maeda, Shirô Maeda; Stars: Eri Aoki, Kôta Fudauchi, Keisuke Hasebe, Tatsuya Hasome, Asato Iida, Ami Ikenaga, Seiko Iwaidô, Hiroaki Morooka, Jun Murakami, Tateto Serizawa, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Hakka Shiraishi, Shôta Sometani, Chizuko Sugiura, Yumika Tajima)

Full review

Life Without Principle (Dyut meng gam)

Review preview for Life Without Principle

Enjoyable to a point but frustratingly convoluted at times

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
To narrates the intertwining fates of three people desperate to get their hands on money fast, all set around a robbery haul.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2011; Director: Johnnie To; Writer: Ka-kit Cheung, Nai-Hoi Yau, Tin-Shing Yip; Stars: Ching Wan Lau, Ken Lo, Richie Ren, Stephanie Che, Denise Ho, Myolie Wu, Patricia Tang, Hoi-Pang Lo, Hang Shuen So)

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Rent-A-Cat (Rentaneko)

Review preview for Rent-A-Cat

The characters' interplay, mutual respect and overwhelming joy at being accepted made my heart swell in delighted awe.

Scott Macdonald · 4 out of 5
A young woman rents out cats to lonely people.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Naoko Ogigami; Writer: Naoko Ogigami; Stars: Mikako Ichikawa, Reiko Kusamura, Ken Mitsuishi, Maho Yamada, Kei Tanaka)

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The Rest Of The World (Le Reste Du Monde)

Review preview for The Rest Of The World

Director Damien Odoul successfully blends a mixture of naturalistic and unobtrusive camerawork with occasional bursts of surreal imagery.

Robert Munro · 4 out of 5
A grieving woman finds no comfort in turning to her family, whose members all have their own dark secrets.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Damien Odoul; Writer: Tom Frank, Damien Odoul; Stars: Aurélie Mestres, Marie-Eve Nadeau, Judith Morisseau, Emmanuelle Béart, Mathieu Amalric, Charles Berling, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Pierre-Louis Bonnetblanc, Andrée Darmon, Damien Odoul, Marianne Costa, Catherine Klein, Jamie Young, Michel Archimbaud)

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Sexual Chronicles Of A French Family (Chroniques sexuelles d'une famille d'aujourd'hui)

Review preview for Sexual Chronicles Of A French Family

The film will resonate with some because of the believable sense of frustration and helplessness that the narrating Romain conveys.

David Graham · 3.5 out of 5
Three generations of a French family and their sex lives.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Pascal Arnold, Jean-Marc Barr; Writer: Lucy Allwood, Pascal Arnold; Stars: Mathias Melloul, Valérie Maës, Stephan Hersoen, Leïla Denio, Nathan Duval, Yan Brian, Adeline Rebeillard, Grégory Annoni, Laetitia Favart, Benjamin Houot, Maïlys Amrous, Pierre Perrier, Faustine Dubois, Stéphane Clerc, Philippe Duquesne)

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¡Vivan las Antipodas!

Review preview for ¡Vivan las Antipodas!

Kossakovsky takes his time to drink in the visuals and uses his camera creatively to transport us from place to place.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary looking at four pairs of countries exactly opposite one another: Argentina and China; Spain and New Zealand; Hawaii and Botswana; and Russia and Chile.

(Country: Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Chile; Year: 2011; Director: Victor Kossakovsky)

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