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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2013

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2013

World Perspectives

Programme

25 films · 17 reviews

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36

Review preview for 36

This photographic formula may sound as restrictive as it is perscriptive but Thamrongrattanarit has a light approach to his ideas of memory and recollection, weaving moments of comedy and poignancy into his sweet if slight drama.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A location scout who loses her digital library discovers she has also lost her memory of a young man she met one of her trips.

(Country: Thailand; Year: 2012; Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit; Writer: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit; Stars: Koramit Vajrasthira, Wanlop Rrungkamjad)

Full review

A.C.A.B. All Cats Are Brilliant

Review preview for A.C.A.B. All Cats Are Brilliant

As a snapshot of life at 30 in contemporary Athens, All Cats Are Brilliant (Sygharitiria Stous Esiodoxous?) is sensitive and sincere.

Michael Pattison · 3.5 out of 5
A young activist struggles to get by and to find her place in a troubled Greece.

(Country: Greece; Year: 2012; Director: Constantina Voulgaris; Writer: Constantina Voulgaris; Stars: Maria Georgiadou, Dimitris Xanthopoulos, Dimitris Piatas, Themis Bazaka, Kostas Ganotis, Alexis Charisis-Maerkl)

Full review

Avanti Popolo

Review preview for Avanti Popolo

As a kind of call to arms against nostalgia on the one hand but forgetfulness on the other, Uruguayan-born Michael Wahrmann charts ambitious terrain.

Michael Pattison · 3 out of 5
A son tries to reconnect with his father in a film that explores the nature of film.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2012; Director: Michael Wahrmann; Writer: Michael Wahrmann; Stars: André Gatti, Carlos Reichenbach, Eduardo Valente)

Full review

Big Boy

Review preview for Big Boy

Shino is interested in memory and experimentation, ditching traditional narrative in favour of a Super-8 stroll through the echoes of the past.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Little Julio's family try hard to make him grow bigger.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2012; Director: Shireen Seno; Stars: Ian Lomongo, Pam Miras, John Lloyd Evangelista)

Full review

Burned Wings

Four young gangsters decide to challenge the powers that be.

(Country: Hong Kong, China; Year: 2013; Director: Zheng Kuo, Sun Yang; Stars: Yang Shicong, Li Haoyu, Wang Hongwei, Lipstick Chan, Tong Tong, Hu Yi)

A Coffee In Berlin (Oh Boy)

Review preview for A Coffee In Berlin

A gently-paced comedy of errors and manners.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Niko's life is falling apart but all he really wants is a cup of coffee.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Jan-Ole Gerster; Writer: Jan-Ole Gerster; Stars: Tom Schilling, Marc Hosemann, Friederike Kempter, Andreas Schröders, Justus von Dohnányi)

Full review

The Color Of The Chameleon (The Colour Of The Chameleon)

Review preview for The Color Of The Chameleon

Will best reward those who are prepared to pay attention and stick with its twirls and pirouettes until the complex pay-off.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A young misfit is recruited to infiltrate a book club as a spy, with comic consequences.

(Country: Bulgaria; Year: 2012; Director: Emil Christov; Writer: Vladislav Todorov; Stars: Ruscen Vidinliev, Irena Milyankova, Rousy Chanev, Deyan Donkov, Samuel Finzi, Svetlana Yancheva)

Full review

Constructors (Stroiteli)

Review preview for Constructors

The actors sell it.

Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
Three bickering siblings are forced to work together to build a house quickly so that their family land won't be confiscated.

(Country: Kazakhstan; Year: 2012; Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Writer: Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Stars: Rauf Khabibulin, Yerbolat Yerzhanov, Aliya Zainalova)

Full review

Days Of Grace (Días De Gracia)

Review preview for Days Of Grace

Everardo Valerio Gout directs as though he may never get another chance, throwing just about everything he can at his first feature - and quite a lot of what he throws is impressive, even if he sometimes tries just a little too hard.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Kidnappings take place in Mexico during three World Cups.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2011; Director: Everardo Valerio Gout; Writer: Everardo Valerio Gout, David Rutsala; Stars: Tenoch Huerta, Kristian Ferrer, Dolores Heredia, Carlos Bardem, Eilen Yanez, Mario Zaragoza, José Sefami)

Full review

Die Welt

Fiction/documentary hybrid, depicting Tunisia shortly after the 2011 Jasmine revolution.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2013; Director: Alex Pitstra; Writer: Thijs Gloger, Alex Pitstra, Abdallah Rezgui; Stars: Abdelhamid Nawara, Ilse Heus, Judith Van der Meulen, Mohsen Ben Hassen, Rahma Ben Hassen, Marwa Agrebi, Slim Al Amiri, Houcem Al Bib, Brahim Ben Ammar, Mehdi Ben Amor, Ons Bahri, Mariem Bedoui, Mohammed Hassine Belkhala, Kamel Ben Khalfa, Abdelmajid Bibasse)

Emperor Vists The Hell (Tang Huang You Di Fu)

Review preview for Emperor Vists The Hell

Feels like an attempt to stretch out what should really exist as a short film.

Robert Munro · 2 out of 5
A powerful man who offends a divine messenger is condemned to an early death but told he can win a second chance if he can placate the ghosts of his enemies.

(Country: China, Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Li Lou; Stars: Li Wen, Wu Wei, Li Juchuan, Yang Xiao, Li Hao)

Full review

Everybody's Gone (Vse Ushli)

Review preview for Everybody's Gone

The film feels longer than its two-hour duration precisely because its tone seems so unsustainably whimsical.

Michael Pattison · 2.5 out of 5
Magical perspectives on life in a small Georgian town, as seen through the eyes of a small boy.

(Country: Russia, Georgia, Czech Republic; Year: 2012; Director: Georgy Paradzhanov; Writer: Georgy Parajanov; Stars: Zurab Kipchidze, Aram Makagyan, Natalia Kolyakanova)

Full review

The Future (Il Futuro)

The elder of two siblings who have lost their parents, enters the mansion of a retired Mr Universe looking for a future.

(Country: Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain ; Year: 2013; Director: Alicia Scherson; Writer: Alicia Scherson; Stars: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta)

I Catch A Terrible Cat (Koppidoi Neko)

An ageing novelist finds his head turned by a flirtatious waitress, but keeps getting tangled up in trying to sort out other people's love lives.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Rikiya Imaizumi; Stars: Moto Fuyuki, Kazuha Komiya)

Keep Smiling (Gaigimet)

Ten women compete in the increasingly demeaning beauty contest Georgia Mother 2010.

(Country: Georgia, France, Luxembourg; Year: 2012; Director: Rusudan Chkonia; Stars: Ia Sukhitashvili, Gia Roinishvili, Olga Babluani, Tamuna Bukhnikashvili, Nana Shonia, Shorena Begashvili, Maka Chichua, Lela Metreveli, Ia Ninidze, Eka Kartvelishvili, Beka Elbakidze, Tamar Bziava, Tornike Bziava, Avtandil Gogeshvili)

Lilou's Adventure (Lilou No Bouken)

A girl travels across Japan looking for her missing friend, using clues from a video game.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Izuru Kumasaka; Stars: Lilou Diabate, Saera Nakandakari, Lamine Youl Diabate, Lily)

Longing For The Rain (Chunmeng)

Review preview for Longing For The Rain

A strangely successful hybrid between erotic ghost story and social commentary, it’s one of this year’s more compelling features.

Michael Pattison · 3.5 out of 5
A lonely housewife embarks on an intense erotic relationship with a ghost.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2013; Director: Tian-yi Yang; Writer: Tian-yi Yang; Stars: Zhao Siyuan, Fu Jia, Dej Pongpazroj, Xue Hong, Xu Guiqin)

Full review

Mushrooming (Seenelkäik)

Review preview for Mushrooming

It's just not very funny.

Scott Macdonald · 2 out of 5
An under-pressure politician finds a day spent mushroom picking with his wife goes south after they get lost in the woods.

(Country: Estonia; Year: 2012; Director: Toomas Hussar; Writer: Toomas Hussar; Stars: Hendrik Toompere Jr. Jr., Volli Käro, Mari-Liis Lill, Markus Luik, Andres Maimik, Hilje Murel, Elmo Nüganen, Raimo Pass, Margus Pilt, Elina Reinold, Emil Rutiku, Üllar Saaremäe, Ott Sepp, Piret Simson, Raivo E. Tamm)

Full review

My Dog Killer (Môj Pes Killer)

Review preview for My Dog Killer

The film doesn’t seem to have much to say about racism, and even less about its potential links to family, class and gender – all of which hang in the background, threatening to force the filmmakers to make a more serious and challenging film.

Michael Pattison · 2.5 out of 5
A troubled teenager with violent friends discovers a secret about his absent mother than makes him contemplate a cruel act.

(Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic; Year: 2013; Director: Mira Fornay; Writer: Mira Fornay; Stars: Adam Mihál, Marián Kuruc, Libor Filo, Irena Bendová)

Full review

The Obscured Histories and Silent Longings of Daguluan's Children

Life is hard in a remote Filipino fishing village, and preserving the old ways is even harder.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2012; Director: Gutierrez Mangansakan II; Stars: Jelieta Mariveles, June Sanchez, Reymark Bendisula, Roy Cabonilas, Rey Cabonilas, Joel Geolamen, John Barredo, Elreen Bendisula, Marwila Supetran, Honey Grace Anova, Radzini Oledan)

Penumbra

Review preview for Penumbra

There’s something poetically haunting about the couple’s existence and the smallness of their world.

Robert Munro · 3 out of 5
An elderly couple living on the coast of Mexico remember their son, who was killed trying to cross the border into the US.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2013; Director: Eduardo Villanueva; Writer: Eduardo Villanueva; Stars: Adelelmo Jiménez, Carlota Rodriguez, Alfredo Llamas Herrera, Jesus Sernas)

Full review

Six Acts (Shesh Peamim, S#x Acts)

Review preview for Six Acts

Director Jonathan Gurfinkel's film rides a deeply uncomfortable societal line between misogynistic conservatism and liberation through feminism.

Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
A deep dive into the grey area of sexual abuse told through the story of Gili, a teenager who in order to improve her lame social status hooks up with several different boys, all from her new school.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2012; Director: Johnathan Gurfinkel; Writer: Rona Segal; Stars: Sivan Levy)

Full review

The Swimming Pool

Four young people spend time at the pool on a slow summer day.

(Country: Cuba, Venezuela; Year: 2012; Director: Carlos Machado Quintela; Stars: Raúl Capote, Mónica Molinet, Felipe García, Carlos Javier Martínez, Marcos Costa)

Taboor

Review preview for Taboor

If you persevere - and at the screening I attended many did not - the film finds its voice at about the same moment as we hear someone speak for the first time.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
In a near-future Iran, a man goes about his solitary life.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2012; Director: Vahid Vakilifar; Stars: Mohammad Rabbanipour)

Full review

The Way We Dance (Kwong Mo Pai)

Review preview for The Way We Dance

With candy colours and high energy blasting it along, director Adam Wong and writer Chan Tai Lee bring a sugar rush of enthusiasm to the teen dance genre.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A student joins a hip hop club. On finding that her moves are too hot for others to handle, she is encouraged to explore martial arts.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2013; Director: Adam Wong)

Full review