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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2014

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2014

New Perspectives

Work from emerging directors.

Programme

36 films · 16 reviews

Jump to a film

40 Days Of Silence (Chilla)

A coming-of-age story set in rural Tajikistan.

(Country: Netherlands, Uzbekistan, Germany, France; Year: 2014; Director: Saodat Ismailova; Writer: Saodat Ismailova, Saodat Ismailova, Ulughbek Sadikov; Stars: Rushana Sadikova, Saodat Rahminova, Barohad Shukurova, Farida Olimova)

UK premiere

Au Revoir L'Été (Hotori no sakuko)

Review preview for Au Revoir L'Été

The abiding sense is one of a gentle progress, an unfolding as of leaves, shadows dappled sliding slowly afternoonwards.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Rites of passage drama about a youngster on a summer break with her family.

(Country: US, Japan; Year: 2013; Director: Koji Fukada; Writer: Koji Fukada; Stars: Fumi Nikaidô, Mayu Tsuruta, Taiga, Kanji Furutachi, Kiki Sugino, Takashi Ohtake, Ena Koshino, Kôtarô Shiga, Kazuhiro Sôda, Makiko Watanabe)

Full review

UK premiere

Anatomy Of A Paperclip (Yamamori clip koujyo no atari)

Fantasy comedy sees the world of a lonely factory worker transformed.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2013; Director: Akira Ikeda; Writer: Akira Ikeda; Stars: Kazutoshi Kato, Toshiyuki Takahashi, Sakae Tomomatsu)

UK premiere

Be My Baby (Koi no uzu)

The twists and turns of the sex lives of rootless 20-somethings adrift in Tokyo.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2013; Director: Hitoshi One; Stars: Kenta Niikura, Naoko Wakai, Chihiro Shibata, Yumi Goto, Hiroki Ueda, Daisuke Sawamura, Kenta Enya, Aya Kunitake, Sadaharu Matsushita)

Scottish premiere

Blind Dates (Shemtkhveviti paemnebi)

Melancholic comedy about a middle-aged teacher who falls for a hairdresser.

(Country: Georgia; Year: 2013; Director: Levan Koguashvili; Writer: Boris Frumin, Levan Koguashvili; Stars: Kakhi Kavsadze, Archil Kikodze, Andro Sakhvarelidze, Ia Sukhitashvili)

UK premiere

Castanha

Story of a world weary actor.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2014; Director: Davi Pretto; Writer: Davi Pretto, Davi Pretto; Stars: João Carlos Castanha, Celina Castanha)

UK premiere

Chantier A

This is the journey of Karim was not returned home for ten years... an account of the reshaping of Algeria.

(Country: Algeria, France; Year: 2013; Director: Lucie Dèche, Karim Loualiche, Tarek Sami; Writer: Lucie Dèche, Karim Loualiche, Tarek Sami)

UK premiere

Club Sandwich

Review preview for Club Sandwich

As Hector, Lucio Gimenez Cacho embodies the three primary desires of any teenage boy: getting one's way, getting one's end away, and potato chips.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
A teenage boy experiences first love while holidaying with his mother.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2013; Director: Fernando Eimbcke; Writer: Fernando Eimbcke; Stars: Lucio Giménez Cacho, María Renée Prudencio, Danae Reynaud)

Full review

UK premiere

Concrete Clouds (Pavang rak)

After a businessman commits suicide in the middle of the economic crisis, his sons come home.

(Country: Thailand, Hong Kong; Year: 2013; Director: Lee Chatametikool; Stars: Ananda Everingham, Janesuda Parnto, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Katherine Reilly)

UK premiere

Displaced Perssons (Familjen Persson i främmande land)

A Swede who moved to Pakistan and had a family returns to his homeland with his daughters.

(Country: Sweden, Pakistan; Year: 2013; Director: Åsa Blanck, Johan Palmgren; Writer: Åsa Blanck)

UK premiere

Falling Star (Stella Cadente)

Review preview for Falling Star

There is plenty to admire here, including some clever juxtaposition of audio and image.

Rebecca Naughten · 3 out of 5
A hallucinatory look into the brief reign of the Spanish King Amadeo I of Savoy in the early 1870s.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Leo Casamitjana, Luis Miñarro; Writer: Sergi Belbel, Leo Casamitjana, Luis Miñarro, Luis Miñarro; Stars: Lorenzo Balducci, Àlex Batllori, Àlex Brendemühl, Gonzalo Cunill, Lola Dueñas, Francesc Garrido, Jimmy Gimferrer, Bárbara Lennie, Rosa Novell, Francesc Orella)

Full review See: London Spanish Film Festival preview

UK premiere

The Fat And The Angry (Ettor och Nollor)

Based on actual events, this gritty Nordic thriller is a violent tale of fraud, corruption, deception, racism and murder.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2014; Director: Johan Renck; Writer: Oskar Söderlund; Stars: Jonathan Andersson, Liv Mjönes, Gustaf Skarsgård, Aliette Opheim, Måns Herngren, Elliott Hasselberg, Said William Legue, Matias Varela, Ove Wolf, Miodrag Stojanovic, Timo Nieminen, Tobias Jonasson, Kjell Wilhelmsen, Krister Kern, Lars Väringer)

UK premiere

Garnet's Gold

Review preview for Garnet's Gold

By the time Frost heads north, Perkins has ensured we are fully invested in his quest and carefully chooses his shots to suggest an opening out of the Londoner's understanding.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary about a man's quest for treasure and spirituality.

(Year: 2014; Director: Ed Perkins)

Full review See: Garnet Frost and Ed Perkins talk about Garnet's Gold

European premiere

Greyhawk

A withdrawn, blind ex-soldier loses his beloved guide dog on an infamous housing estate.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Guy Pitt; Writer: Matt Pitt; Stars: Alec Newman, Zoe Telford, Juliet Oldfield, Jack Shepherd, Michael Fox, Phil Deguara, Anna Ray, Manisha Hirani, Harry Sadeghi, Mal Soor, Manjit Sanghera, Julia Westrup, Danny Williams, Amy Gallagher, Kelly Russell)

UK premiere

Han Gong-Ju

Story of a high school student who is gang-raped.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2013; Director: Lee Su-jin ; Writer: Lee Su-jin; Stars: Chun Woo-hee, In-sun Jung, Kim So-Young, Lee Young-lan )

UK premiere

Hardkor Disko

A stranger with a mystery grudge and murderous intent.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2014; Director: Krzysztof Skonieczny; Writer: Robert Bolesto, Krzysztof Skonieczny; Stars: Janusz Chabior, Marcin Kowalczyk, Jasmine Polak, Ewa Skonieczna, Agnieszka Wosinska)

UK premiere

Hassan's Way: El Rayo (El Rayo)

The odyssey of Hassan, a Moroccan immigrant who can no longer find work in Spain after thirteen years in the country and decides to go home. He puts all his savings into a second-hand tractor to secure a living in Morocco and sets out to drive it back. When he came to Spain he had nothing, now he's returning with his only belonging: el Rayo.

(Director: Fran Araújo, Ernesto De nova )

UK premiere

Hide And Seek

Review preview for Hide And Seek

Joanna Coates' Hide And Seek comes as a breath of fresh air.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Four young people move into a remote house together to experiment with non-monogamy.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2013; Director: Joanna Coates; Writer: Joanna Coates, Daniel Metz; Stars: Hannah Arterton, Josh O'Connor, Daniel Metz, Rea Mole, Joe Banks)

Full review See: Interview with Joanna Coates abut Hide And Seek

World premiere

Home (Hemma)

Review preview for Home

For Hult, home is a place where you can be yourself and where you'll always be welcome, no change required.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
The discovery of a grandmother she never knew she had prompts a life-change for a twentysomething.

(Country: Sweden, Iceland; Year: 2013; Director: Maximilian Hult; Writer: Maximilian Hult; Stars: Lia Boysen, Simon J. Berger, Anita Wall, Moa Gammel, Elin Petersdottir, Lars Lind, Erik Lundqvist)

Full review

UK premiere

Intruders (Jo nan-ja-deul)

A screenwriter runs into trouble at a cabin in the woods.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2013; Director: Noh Young-Seok; Writer: Noh Young-Seok; Stars: Jun Suk-ho, Oh Tae-kyung)

UK premiere

The Japanese Dog (Câinele Japonez)

What does it take to change a solitary life? After twenty years, an old man, widowed by the recent floods, and his son, who has been living in Japan, see each other again for the first time. Their expectations run high and during this brief reencounter, both try to overcome the distance that has grown between them.

(Year: 2013; Director: Tudor Cristian Jurgiu )

UK premiere

Letters From The South (Nan Fang Lai Xin)

Review preview for Letters From The South

Like many a portmanteau film Letters From The South is an uneven collection, with some films enchanting while others frustrate in equal measure.

Robert Munro · 3 out of 5
A portmanteau film about six cross-cultural encounters.

(Country: Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, China; Year: 2013; Director: Aditya Assarat, Sun Koh, Chui Mui Tan, Royston Tan, Ming-liang Tsai, Midi Z; Stars: Lu Huang, Kang-sheng Lee)

Full review

UK premiere

Letter To The King (Brev til Kongen, Letter Til Kongen)

Drama about refugees and asylum seekers on a day trip to Oslo.

(Country: Norway, United Arab Emirates; Year: 2014; Director: Hisham Zaman; Writer: Mehmet Aktas, Kjell Ola Dahl, Hisham Zaman; Stars: Ali Bag Salimi, Zheer Durhan, Nazmi Kirik, Hassan Dimirci, Ivan Anderson, Derin Kader, Raouf Saraj, Amin Senatorzade, Catherine Elisabeth Howells, Iselin Doret Brandt Bestvold)

UK premiere

Liar's Dice

Review preview for Liar's Dice

Thapa, Siddiqui and Gupta - not to mention the goat - are all eminently watchable but Mohandas' pacing leaves much to be desired.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A woman goes in search of her missing husband.

(Country: India; Year: 2013; Director: Geethu Mohandas; Writer: Geethu Mohandas; Stars: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta, Murari Kumar, Vikram Bhagra)

Full review

UK premiere

Medeas

Review preview for Medeas

Characters grapple with the sorts of conflict and antagonism that can crop up in any family but which here gather to a thunder-head intensity.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Tensions rise in the family of a dairy farmer.

(Country: Italy, Mexico, US; Year: 2013; Director: Andrea Pallaoro; Writer: Andrea Pallaoro, Andrea Pallaoro, Andrea Pallaoro, Orlando Tirado, Orlando Tirado, Orlando Tirado; Stars: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Brían F. O'Byrne, Mary Mouser, Ian Nelson, Maxim Knight, Jake Vaughn, Kevin Alejandro, Patrick Birkett, Angel Amaral, Tara Buck, Granville Ames)

Full review

UK premiere

My Accomplice

Review preview for My Accomplice

My Accomplice is an enjoyable little story that bimbles along quite pleasantly and leaves one generally pleased for having watched it.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
Boy meets girl on a rail replacement bus.

(Country: UK; Year: 2013; Director: Charlie Weaver Rolfe; Writer: Charlie Weaver Rolfe; Stars: Dimitrina Elliott, John Fitzmaurice, Alan Gilchrist, Martyn Holmes, Alexandra Kalweit, Phelim Kelly, Stuart Martin, Sandy, Amanda Smith, Angelique Smith, Veronica Jean Trickett, Kevin Wooley)

Full review

World premiere

My Name Is Salt

Review preview for My Name Is Salt

A lyrical celebration of human endeavour in challenging circumstances.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
Documentary about salt production.

(Country: Switzerland, India; Year: 2013; Director: Farida Pacha; Writer: Farida Pacha)

Full review

UK premiere

Night Flight (Ya Gan Bi Haeng)

A man bumps into an old friend on the night-time streets of Seoul and they try to rekindle their old friendship.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2014; Director: LeeSong Hee-il; Stars: Lee Jae-joon, Kwak Si-yang)

UK premiere

The Owners

John, 25, his teenage brother Erbol, and their sickly 12-year-old sister Aliya, are forced to leave their house in the Kazakh city of Almaty. By luck their mother left them a house in a remote village, where they plan to prepare their comeback.

(Country: Kazakhstan; Year: 2014; Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov)

UK premiere

Patrick's Day

Drama charting the problems of a young man with mental health issues after he falls in love.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2014; Director: Terry McMahon; Writer: Terry McMahon; Stars: Kerry Fox, Moe Dunford, Philip Jackson, Catherine Walker, Aaron Monaghan, Conor Mullen, David Herlihy, Tommy O'Neill, Terence Orr, Donna Dent, Valeria Bandino, Ciaran Bermingham, Joanne Crawford, Hanan Dirya, Johnny Elliott)

UK premiere

A Practical Guide To A Spectacular Suicide

Comedy telling the story of a young man who wants to kill himself.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Graham Hughes; Writer: Keith Grantham, Graham Hughes, Graeme McGeagh; Stars: Mandy Bhari, Ray Crofter, Scott Cunningham, Keith Grantham, Annabel Logan, Amanda Marment, Graeme McGeagh, Patrick O'Brien, Tragic O'Hara, Alan Robertson)

UK premiere

September

Review preview for September

The performances of Kora Karvouni as Anna and Maria Skoula as Sophia are captivating.

Robert Munro · 4.5 out of 5
Anna, a taciturn 30-something, lives in a small flat with her dog Manu, who means everything to her. After a distressing incident which disrupts her life, Anna attaches herself to the family of Sofia, a happily married woman and mother of two children.

(Country: Greece, Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Penny Panayotopoulou; Writer: Penny Panayotopoulou, Kallia Papadaki; Stars: Nikos Diamandis, Kora Karvouni, Youlika Skafida, Maria Skoula, Christos Stergioglou)

Full review

UK premiere

Set Fire To The Stars

Review preview for Set Fire To The Stars

Set Fire To The Stars never quite catches, but that's not to deny the chemistry between its leads or the artistry of its approach.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
A semi-biographical drama depicting the life of Dylan Thomas.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Andy Goddard; Writer: Andy Goddard, Celyn Jones; Stars: Kelly Reilly, Elijah Wood, Shirley Henderson, Richard Brake, Maimie McCoy, Steven Mackintosh, Steve Speirs, Kevin Eldon, Celyn Jones, Adam Gillen, Andrew Bicknell, Ken Drury, Polly Hemingway, Nicola Duffett, Weston Gavin)

Full review

World premiere

Still Life

Review preview for Still Life

Not still, but gently moving.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A council worker looks for the next of kin of those found dead and alone.

(Country: UK, Italy; Year: 2013; Director: Uberto Pasolini; Writer: Uberto Pasolini; Stars: Eddie Marsan, Joanne Froggatt, Karen Drury, Andrew Buchan, Neil D'Souza, David Shaw Parker, Michael Elkin, Ciaran McIntyre, Tim Potter, Paul Anderson, Bronson Webb, Leon Silver, Lloyd McGuire, Wayne Foskett, Hebe Beardsall)

Full review

UK premiere

Virunga

Review preview for Virunga

What makes von Einsiedel's film work so well is the human - and gorilla - face that he gives to the problem.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary charting the dangers that threaten the last home of the mountain gorillas... and those who look after them.

(Country: UK, Congo; Year: 2014; Director: Orlando von Einsiedel; Writer: Orlando von Einsiedel)

Full review See: Orlando von Einsiedel in conversation on Virunga

UK premiere

We Are Monster

Review preview for We Are Monster

The exposition tends to be laboured; what few gestures towards subtlety are made are lost in repetition.

Andrew Robertson · 2 out of 5
Drama based on the tragic real-life case of an Asian teenager brutally murdered at a UK young offenders institution.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Antony Petrou; Writer: Leeshon Alexander; Stars: Leeshon Alexander, Aymen Hamdouchi, Gethin Anthony, Justin Salinger, Doug Allen, Shazad Latif, Drew Edwards, Sean Sagar, James Hyland, Jennifer Aries, Niall Hayes, Faye Billing, Rob Swinton, Faraz Ayub, Aiyaz Ahmed)

Full review

World premiere