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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2022

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2022

The Chamber

Programme

14 films · 5 reviews

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Before, Now & Then (Nana)

Indonesia, the 1960s. After losing her family to the conflicts that shook the country, Nana has built a new life with a rich Sundanese man. In spite of the love she bears for her children, she still feels out of place.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2022; Director: Kamila Andini; Writer: Kamila Andini; Stars: Happy Salma, Laura Basuki, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, Arawinda Kirana, Arswendy Bening Swara, Ibnu Jamil)

A Bunch Of Amateurs

A group of ageing cinephiles attempt to save their film club.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Kim Hopkins; Writer: Kim Hopkins; Stars: Colin Egglestone, Harry Nicholls, Joe Ogden, Philip Wainman, Marie McCahery, Edmund Davies, Keith Wilcock, Ian Egglestone, Andrew Cockerill, Jeanette Wilson, David Marshall, Judith Simpson, Ian J. Simpson, Jim Walker)

A Clever Woman

Review preview for A Clever Woman

We spend most of our time inside the house in spaces which could as easily be rendered on a stage, but presenting it as film allows the actors to go deeper inside their characters, improvising the dialogue, with Sanders knitting together the best stuff.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Returning to their childhood home on the Isle of Wight, a house filled with art and the songs and poetry their mother once wrote, Dorothy and Phoebe deal with conflicting feelings about the difficult woman who raised them.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Jon Sanders; Writer: Jon Sanders; Stars: Bob Goody, Josie Lawrence, Anna Mottram, Tanya Myers)

Full review

Dùthchas (Home)

For the people of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides, life changed dramatically in the latter part of the last century. Traditional ways of life eroded, and many families were forced to move away. Drawing on rare 8mm colour film of Berneray, this film offers a bridge between the contemporary citizens and their not-so-distant past.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Andy Mackinnon, Kirsty MacDonald)

The Forgiven

Review preview for The Forgiven

Lorne Balfe’s magnificent, melodic score shapes our sense of time passing, just as shots of the open desert, of the emptiness around the palace, add to our sense that all that history is present and immediate.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A getaway for a couple visiting Morocco turns deadly after their car hits and kills a local boy, with consequences which spiral out of control.

(Country: UK; Year: 2021; Director: John Michael McDonagh; Writer: John Michael McDonagh, based on the book by, Lawrence Osborne; Stars: Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes, Matt Smith, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbey Lee, Christopher Abbott, Marie-Josée Croze, Alex Jennings, Saïd Taghmaoui, Mourad Zaoui, Anas El Baz, Imane El Mechrafi, Ismael Kanater, Ben Affan, David McSavage)

Full review

Heart Of Oak

Nature documentary that showcases the spectacular forest ecosystem supported by a majestic, 210-year-old French oak tree.

(Country: France; Year: 2022; Director: Laurent Charbonnier, Michel Seydoux; Writer: Laurent Charbonnier, Michel Fessler, Michel Seydoux)

Imagine (Tasavor)

A platonic relationship develops between a taxi driver and the lively passenger he is doomed to love from afar.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2022; Director: Ali Behrad; Writer: Ali Behrad; Stars: Leila Hatami, Mehrdad Sedighian)

Licht - Stockhausen's Legacy

Review preview for Licht - Stockhausen's Legacy

Licht is a document of brutal honesty.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
The story and work of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2022; Director: Oeke Hoogendijk; Stars: Pierre Audi, Mary Bauermeister, Pia Davila, Fee Suzanne de Ruiter, Wojciech Dziedzic, René Jonker, Kathinka Pasveer, Urs Schönebaum, Suzanne Stephens, Johanna Stephens-Janning, Doris Stockhausen, Julika Stockhausen, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Markus Stockhausen, Simon Stockhausen)

Full review

Official Competition (Competencia Oficial)

Review preview for Official Competition

These are easy targets although there’s a lot of enjoyment to be hand in seeing them hit so accurately.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
In search of significance and social prestige, a billionaire businessman decides to make a film to leave his mark. To do it, he hires the best: a stellar team... but they have egos to match.

(Country: Spain, Argentina; Year: 2021; Director: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat; Writer: Mariano Cohn, Andrés Duprat, Gastón Duprat; Stars: Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Irene Escolar, Melina Matthews, Oscar Martínez, Carlos Hipólito, Pilar Castro, Karina Kolokolchykova, Manolo Solo, José Luis Gómez, Juan Grandinetti, Koldo Olabarri, Ken Appledorn, Mónica Bardem, Nagore Aranburu)

Full review

The Score

Musical centring on preparations for a heist.

(Country: UK; Year: 2021; Director: Malachi Smyth; Writer: Malachi Smyth; Stars: Will Poulter, Johnny Flynn, Lydia Wilson, Naomi Ackie, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Lucian Msamati, Phillipa Flynn, Lillie Flynn, Orla Coverley, Song-Hung Chang)

Three Times Nothing

When three homeless friends win the lottery, they assume their lives are going to change for the better...

(Country: France, Canada; Year: 2022; Director: Nadège Loiseau; Writer: Nadège Loiseau, Niels Rahou; Stars: Antoine Bertrand, Philippe Rebbot, Côme Levin, Émilie Caen, Nadège Beausson-Diagne, Yves Yan, Yilin Yang, Atillahan Karagedik, Axelle Simon, Karin Viard, Cédric Martin)

Vera Dreams Of The Sea

Vera's serene life is disrupted by her husband’s suicide followed by an unwelcome, menacing parade of men who claim to have ownership over their village family house.

(Country: Kosovo; Year: 2021; Director: Kaltrina Krasniqi; Writer: Doruntina Basha; Stars: Teuta Ajdini, Alketa Sylaj, Refet Abazi, Astrit Kabashi, Ilire Vinca Celaj, Teuta Ajdini, Alketa Sylaj, Refet Abazi, Astrit Kabashi, Ilire Vinca Celaj)

Whina

Review preview for Whina

Whina is given very well-appointed and loving treatment in a story that’s so powerful it rises above the filmmakers’ more sentimental tendencies.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
The life story of Dame Whina Cooper, who in 1975 united her people to lead an epic march across Aotearoa (New Zealand) for Māori land rights.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2022; Director: James Napier Robertson, Paula Whetu Jones; Writer: James Lucas, James Napier Robertson, Paula Whetu Jones; Stars: Rena Owen, James Rolleston, Vinnie Bennett, Erroll Shand, Miriama McDowell, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Jayden Daniels, Sarah Valentine, Richard Te Are, Awa Puna, Kali Kopae, Briar Rose, Marshayla Christie, Wayne Hapi, James Tito)

Full review

Winners (Barandeha)

Nine-year-old Yahya finds an unclaimed Oscar statue, which leads the boy into an adventure.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2022; Director: Hassan Nazer; Writer: Hamed Emami, Hassan Nazer; Stars: Mohammad Amir Naji, Shahrzad Kamalzadeh, Hossein Abedini, Martine Malalai Zikria, Parsa Maghami, Mahmoud Jafari, Ezzatollah Ramazanifar, Asghar Semsarzade, Helia Mohammadkhani, Mahan Noormohammadi)