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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2018

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2018

World Perspectives

Programme

15 films · 8 reviews

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An Elephant Sitting Still (Da xiang xi di er zuo)

Review preview for An Elephant Sitting Still

Despite its grey, flat light and general melancholy punctured by menace, An Elephant Sitting Still is, by the end considerably more optimistic than it first appears about humanity.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The lives of four people cross over the course of a day in China.

(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Hu Bo; Writer: Hu Bo; Stars: Yu Zhang, Yuchang Peng, Uvin Wang, Congxi Li, Yu Zhang, Yuchang Peng, Uvin Wang, Congxi Li)

Full review

UK premiere

Azougue Nazaré

Falstaffian character Tiao, Valmir do Coco leads a nonprofessional cast of authentic Maracatu practitioners in a tale told through dance, music, and the supernatural.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2017; Director: Tiago Melo; Writer: Tiago Melo)

UK premiere

The Butterfly Tree

Review preview for The Butterfly Tree

Although the storyline here doesn't offer much that's new, the character work and visual design enable this modest little film to punch above its weight.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A man and his son compete for the affections of the same woman.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2017; Director: Priscilla Cameron; Writer: Priscilla Cameron; Stars: Melissa George, Ewen Leslie, Ed Oxenbould, Sophie Lowe, Ella Jaz Macrokanis, Lauren Dillon, Paula Nazarski, Steve Nation, Liam Hop Yek Dodds, Tammy Sarah Linde, Sam Cotton, Kristy Brooks)

Full review

UK premiere

Flammable Children (Swinging Safari)

Review preview for Flammable Children (Swinging Safari)

While it's got some sections that are striking, it's a swing and a miss.

Andrew Robertson · 2.5 out of 5
Story of teens in a Seventies beach resort that hits the headlines when a whale washes ashore, and their eccentric parents.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2018; Director: Stephan Elliott; Writer: Stephan Elliott; Stars: Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue, Radha Mitchell, Julian McMahon, Asher Keddie, Jeremy Sims, Atticus Robb, Darcey Wilson, Jack Thompson, Oscar Bailey, Hunter Stratton Boland, Scott Arderne, Travis Corbett, Oliver Bailey, Orlando Bailey)

Full review

International premiere

Girls Always Happy

Darkly comic tale of a mother and daughter relationship.

(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Yang Mingming; Stars: Nai An, Yang Mingming, Xianmin Zhang, Qinqin Li, Li Yuan, Nai An, Yang Mingming, Xianmin Zhang, Qinqin Li, Li Yuan)

UK premiere

The Great Buddha +

A night security guard and his colleague get more than they bargained for when they start watching the car dash camera of one of their bosses.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2017; Director: Huang Hsin-yao ; Writer: Huang Hsin-yao; Stars: Cres Chuang, Bamboo Chu-Sheng Chen, Leon Dai, Shao-Huai Chang, Kuo-Lin Ting, Na-Dou Lin, Yi-wen Chen, Mei-Hsiu Lin, Evelyn Yu-Tong Cheng)

UK premiere

The Heiresses (Las Herederas)

Review preview for The Heiresses

This film displays a deftness of touch.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
When Chiquita is sent to prison for debt, her introverted girlfriend Chela is left to her own devices. Chela offers rich women a taxi service in her old car. As she explores the outside world she also starts to focus on her own desires.

(Country: Paraguay, Uruguay, Germany, Brazil, Norway; Year: 2018; Director: Marcelo Martinessi; Writer: Marcelo Martinessi; Stars: Ana Brun, Margarita Irún, Ana Ivanova, Nilda Gonzalez, María Martins)

Full review See: Marcello Martinessi on cultural conservatism and filmmaking honesty in The Heiresses

UK premiere

Loveling (Benzinho)

Review preview for Loveling

Teles runs the gamut of emotions. We don't need to hear her discuss how she is feeling, we can see it written on her face

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Snapshot of a Brazilian family as their son prepares to leave for Germany.

(Country: Brazil, Uruguay, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Gustavo Pizzi; Writer: Gustavo Pizzi, Karine Teles; Stars: Karine Teles, Otávio Müller, Adriana Esteves, Konstantinos Sarris, César Troncoso, Mateus Solano, Camilo Pellegrini, Ariclenes Barroso, Pablo Riera, Lucas Gouvêa)

Full review See: Interview with Gustavo Pizzi and Karine Teles about Loveling

UK premiere

Moko Jumbie

Magic realist coming of age story about a young woman returning to Trinidad.

(Country: US, Trinidad and Tobago; Year: 2017; Director: Vashti Anderson; Writer: Vashti Anderson; Stars: Anthony Blackburn, Keston Dick, Vanna Girod, Melvina Hazard, Marianna Kulukundis, Dinesh Maharaj, Sharda Maharaj, Aryana Mohammed, Nickolai Salcedo, Jeremy Thomas, Anthony Blackburn, Keston Dick, Vanna Girod, Melvina Hazard, Marianna Kulukundis)

European premiere

No. 1 Chung Ying Street

Political drama about two protest movements and the link between them.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2017; Director: Derek Chiu; Stars: Fish Liew, Yau Hawk Sau, Le Chun Yip)

UK premiere

Party 'Round The Globe

Two factory workers take a road trip to a Paul McCartney concert.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2017; Director: Hirobumi Watanabe; Writer: Hirobumi Watanabe; Stars: Misao Hirayama, Gaku Imamura, Takanori Kurosaki, Hirobumi Watanabe, Yuji Watanabe, Misao Hirayama, Gaku Imamura, Takanori Kurosaki, Hirobumi Watanabe, Yuji Watanabe)

UK premiere

Radiance (Hikari)

Review preview for Radiance

It’s a love story of sorts, but one which demands a lot more of its protagonists – and its audience – than most of its ilk.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A writer of film versions for the visually impaired falls for a photographer who is losing his eyesight, together they learn to see the radiant world.

(Country: Japan, France; Year: 2017; Director: Naomi Kawase; Writer: Naomi Kawase; Stars: Masatoshi Nagase, Noémie Nakai, Tatsuya Fuji, Ayame Misaki, Chihiro Ohtsuka, Kazuko Shirakawa, Mantarô Koichi, Saori, Nobumitsu Ônishi)

Full review

UK premiere

Supa Modo

Review preview for Supa Modo

This is a film that flourishes because of the strength and depth of the relationships it depicts and the strength and depth of those depictions.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A young girl escapes real life through a superhero fantasy world.

(Country: Germany, Kenya; Year: 2018; Director: Likarion Wainaina; Writer: Wanjeri Gakuru, Gathoni Kamau, Ian Masters, Silas Miami, Kamau Wa Ndung'u, Mugambi Nthiga, Likarion Wainaina; Stars: Stycie Waweru, Marrianne Nungo, Nyawara Ndambia, Johnson Gitau Chege, Humphrey Maina, Joseph Omari, Rita Njenga, Dinah Githinji, Nellex Nderitu, Ednah Daisy, Peris Wambui, Mercy Kariuki, Cindy Kahura, Nick Mwathi, Muriithi Mwangi)

Full review

UK premiere

Three Summers

Story of will-they/won't-they relationships across three years of a folk festival.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2017; Director: Ben Elton; Writer: Ben Elton; Stars: Robert Sheehan, Rebecca Breeds, Michael Caton, Magda Szubanski, John Waters, Deborah Mailman, Kelton Pell, Jacqueline McKenzie, Kate Box, Caroline Brazier, Peter Rowsthorn, Mahesh Jadu, Christiaan Van Vuuren, Nicholas Boshier, Joseph Pedley)

International premiere

Waru

Review preview for Waru

This is powerful and painful, striking.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Omnibus film about the loss of a young boy in a small town.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2017; Director: Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe, Paula Jones; Writer: Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Chelsea Cohen, Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, Katie Wolfe, Paula Jones; Stars: Miriama McDowell, Tanea Heke, Roimata Fox, Maria Walker, Acacia Hapi)

Full review

UK premiere