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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2017

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2017

World Perspectives

Programme

12 films · 5 reviews

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Emo The Musical

Ethan embarks on a new journey as he tries to fit in at his new school.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2016; Director: Neil Triffett; Writer: Neil Triffett; Stars: Benson Jack Anthony, Jordan Hare, Rahart Adams, Jon Prasida, Lucy Barrett, Ben Bennett, Craig Hyde-Smith, Geraldine Viswanathan, Kevin Clayette, Bridie Carter, Natasha Herbert, Dylan Lewis, Adam Zwar, Heidi Arena, Brianna Bishop)

UK premiere

Godspeed (Yi lu shun feng)

A drug run goes awry when a smuggler catches the wrong cab.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2016; Director: Mong-Hong Chung; Writer: Mong-Hong Chung; Stars: Michael Hui, Na-Dou Lin, Leon Dai, Chung-Hua Tou, Matt Chung-tien Wu, Vincent Liang, Yi-wen Chen, Vithaya Pansringarm)

UK premiere

In This Corner Of The World (Kono sekai no katasumi ni)

Review preview for In This Corner Of The World

Stay with it, allow it to draw you in and in the end you will have your reward.

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
Animated story of a young woman, set against the backdrop of Second World War Hiroshima.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Sunao Katabuchi; Writer: Sunao Katabuchi, Fumiyo Kono; Stars: Non, Megumi Han, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Natsuki Inaba, Nanase Iwai, Minori Omi, Daisuke Ono, Tengai Shibuya, Mayumi Shintani, Shigeru Ushiyama)

Full review

UK premiere

I Dream In Another Language (Sueño en otro idioma)

The last two speakers of a millennia-old language haven’t spoken in 50 years, when a young linguist tries to bring them together. Yet hidden in the past, in the heart of the jungle, lies a secret concerning the fate of the Zikril language.

(Country: Netherlands, Mexico; Year: 2017; Director: Ernesto Contreras; Writer: Carlos Contreras; Stars: Fernando Álvarez Rebeil, José Manuel Poncelis, Eligio Meléndez, Fátima Molina, Juan Pablo de Santiago, Hoze Meléndez, Norma Angélica, Monica Miguel, Nicolasa Ortíz Monasterio, Héctor Jiménez, José Concepción Macías, Gabriela Cartol, Juan Antonio Llanes, Mardonio Carballo)

European premiere

Maudie

Review preview for Maudie

The performances under Walsh's direction capture the fine splinters of motivation and the mystery that we all are to each other.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Story of folk artist Maud Lewis.

(Country: Ireland, Canada; Year: 2016; Director: Aisling Walsh; Writer: Sherry White; Stars: Ethan Hawke, Sally Hawkins, Kari Matchett, Gabrielle Rose, Zachary Bennett, Billy MacLellan, Marthe Bernard, Lawrence Barry, Mike Daly, Nik Sexton, David Feehan, Greg Malone, Brian Marler, Judy Hancock, Denise Sinnott)

Full review See: Aisling Walsh in conversation on Maudie

UK premiere

Newton

Review preview for Newton

Even though Newton is a stickler, there's an appealing purity to his views and he remains likeable almost despite himself.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A young bureaucrat named Newton is sent to the jungle to monitor an election there. But Maoist blockades, forced police protection and indifferent voters make defending democracy no easy task.

(Country: India; Year: 2017; Director: Amit Masurkar; Writer: Amit Masurkar, Mayank Tewari; Stars: Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathy, Anjali Patil, Raghuvir Yadav, Mukesh Prajapati)

Full review

UK premiere

Okja

Review preview for Okja

Bong keeps it all on the move with immense visual flair, innumerable chases and excellent effects.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
Young girl Mija must risk everything to prevent a powerful, multi-national company from kidnapping her best friend - a massive animal named Okja.

(Country: US, South Korea; Year: 2017; Director: Bong Joon Ho; Writer: Bong Joon Ho, Jon Ronson; Stars: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-Hyun, Byun Hee-Bong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yun Je-mun, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Choi Woo-sik, Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lynn Marocola, Myles Humphus)

Full review

Scottish premiere

A Quiet Heart (Lev shaket meod)

Review preview for A Quiet Heart

It's an amazing piece of work from writer/director Eitan Anner.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A secular young woman takes an apartment in an Orthodox part of Jerusalem, sparking religious tension.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2016; Director: Eitan Anner; Writer: Eitan Anner; Stars: Ania Bukstein, Rona-Lee Shim'on, Giorgio Lupano, Uri Gottlieb, Yoav Levi, Irit Kaplan, Lior Lifshitz, Ludi Boken)

Full review

UK premiere

Rage (Ikari)

A murder case erodes trust in a small fishing village.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Lee Sang-il ; Writer: Shûichi Yoshida, Lee Sang-il , Shûichi Yoshida; Stars: Ken Watanabe, Hikari Mitsushima, Mirai Moriyama, Aoi Miyazaki, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Gô Ayano, Suzu Hirose, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Kirin Kiki, Masaki Okada, Eri Fukatsu, Takahiro Miura, Pierre Taki, Chizuru Ikewaki, Akira Emoto)

UK premiere

Sexy Durga

Thriller, chronicling a long, bad trip taken by a young couple on the run.

(Country: India; Year: 2017; Director: Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan; Writer: Sanal Kumar Sasidharan; Stars: Rajshri Deshpande, Bilas Nair, Vedh, Arun Sol, Sujish)

UK premiere

Snow Woman (Yuki onna)

The scars of the past haunt a small Nepali village.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Kiki Sugino; Writer: Lafcadio Hearn, Mitsuo Shigeta, Kiki Sugino, Seigan Tominomori; Stars: Kiki Sugino, Munetaka Aoki, Kumi Mizuno, Shirô Sano, Mayu Yamaguchi)

UK premiere

White Sun (Seto Surya)

On the occasion of his father’s funeral, Chandra returns to the village he left years earlier to join the Maoists, and finds himself united with the daughter he never met and revisiting uneasy relations with family members and neighbours.

(Country: Nepal, US, Qatar, Netherlands; Year: 2016; Director: Deepak Rauniyar; Writer: Deepak Rauniyar, David Barker; Stars: Dayahang Rai, Asha Maya Magrati, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Sumi Malla, Amrit Pariyar)