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Glasgow Film Festival · 2015

Glasgow Film Festival 2015

Pioneer

Programme

20 films · 15 reviews

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10,000 Km (10,000 Kilometres)

Review preview for 10,000 Km

A warm romantic drama with a real emotional punch.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
Technology rather than love threatens a long-distance relationship.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Carlos Marques-Marcet; Writer: Carlos Marques-Marcet, Clara Roquet, Natalia Tena, David Verdaguer; Stars: Natalia Tena, David Verdaguer)

Full review

Appropriate Behavior (Appropriate Behaviour)

Review preview for Appropriate Behavior

A solid, grounded piece of work that approaches its subject with a maturity remarkable for a first feature from a young director.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young New Yorker struggles to understand herself in the aftermath of a break-up.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2014; Director: Desiree Akhavan; Writer: Desiree Akhavan; Stars: Desiree Akhavan, Rebecca Henderson, Scott Adsit, Halley Feiffer, Anh Duong, Hooman Majd, Arian Moayed, Aimee Mullins, Christopher Baker, Robyn Rikoon, Justine Cotsonas, Jake Katzman, Maryann Urbano, Daniella Rabbani, James Claude Bristow)

Full review See: Interview with Desiree Akhavan about Appropriate Behaviour

Blind

Having recently lost her sight, Ingrid retreats to the safety of her home - a place she can feel in control, alone with her husband and her thoughts. But Ingrid's real problems lie within, not beyond the walls of her apartment, and her deepest fears and repressed fantasies soon take over.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2014; Director: Eskil Vogt; Writer: Eskil Vogt; Stars: Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Vera Vitali, Henrik Rafaelsen)

The Dark Horse

Review preview for The Dark Horse

To be a winner you must believe

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
A biopic about Genesis 'Gen' Potini, a chess champion who struggled with severe bipolar disorder.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2014; Director: James Napier Robertson; Writer: James Napier Robertson; Stars: Cliff Curtis, James Rolleston, Kirk Torrance, Miriama McDowell, Barry Te Hira, Xavier Horan, Wayne Hapi, James Napier Robertson, Lyel Timu, Te Ahorangi Retimana-Martin, Calae Hignett-Morgan, Te Rua Rehu-Martin, Niwa Whatuira, Lionel Wellington, Wesley Broadfoot)

Full review See: Interview with Cliff Curtis about The Dark Horse

Elle l'Adore (She Adores Him)

Review preview for Elle l'Adore

The two leads of Kiberlain and Lafitte spark off each as a pair of highly unlikely yet strangely engaging partners in crime.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A divorced mother agrees to do a mysterious favour for a singer she has adored from afar throughout her life.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Jeanne Herry; Writer: Jeanne Herry, Gaëlle Macé; Stars: Sandrine Kiberlain, Laurent Lafitte, Olivia Côte)

Full review

Gente De Bien

Communication founders between a father and his nine-year-old son.

(Country: Colombia; Year: 2014; Director: Franco Lolli)

A Girl At My Door (Dohee-ya)

Review preview for A Girl At My Door

This film includes a lot of material that will make viewers uncomfortable, but never gratuitously.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A policewoman tries to help a young girl who is being abused by her violent stepdad.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2014; Director: July Jung; Writer: July Jung; Stars: Bae Doona, Jang Hie-jin, Kim Sae-ron, Mun Seong-kun, Song Sae-Byeok)

Full review See: Interview with Bae Doona about A Girl At My Door

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

Review preview for A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

An astonishing début that marks out Ana Lily Amirpour as an extraordinary directorial talent.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A lonely vampire and a young man exhausted by caring for his father come together in a nightmare city.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Ana Lily Amirpour; Writer: Ana Lily Amirpour; Stars: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Marnò, Dominic Rains, Rome Shadanloo, Milad Eghbali, Reza Sixo Safai, Pej Vahdat)

Full review

It Follows

Review preview for It Follows

A simple but compelling dynamic... the execution is superb.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
A teenager finds herself having strange visions and becomes convinced that something dangerous is following her.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: David Robert Mitchell; Writer: David Robert Mitchell; Stars: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Jake Weary, Daniel Zovatto, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe)

Full review

I Can Quit Whenever I Want

Review preview for I Can Quit Whenever I Want

A fast paced, witty comedy that sweetens its bitter social comment with an optimistic outlook.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A bunch of broke academics decide to enter the drug manufacture and dealing business.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2014; Director: Sydney Sibilia; Writer: Valerio Attanasio, Andrea Garello, Sydney Sibilia; Stars: Edoardo Leo, Valeria Solarino, Valerio Aprea, Paolo Calabresi, Libero De Rienzo, Stefano Fresi, Lorenzo Lavia, Pietro Sermonti, Sergio Solli, Majlinda Agaj, Neri Marcorè, Guglielmo Poggi, Katsiaryna Shulha, Nadir Caselli, Luca Vecchi)

Full review

Life In A Fishbowl (Vonarstræti)

Review preview for Life In A Fishbowl

An intelligent script and strong acting bring life and depth to the characters.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Three different lives interweave to tell the story of the impact of Iceland's economic collapse.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2014; Director: Baldvin Zophoníasson; Writer: Birgir Örn Steinarsson, Baldvin Zophoníasson; Stars: Hera Hilmarsdottir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Thor Kristjansso)

Full review

Mardan

Review preview for Mardan

Relying a lot on this brooding darkness and on symbolism, Ghobadi doesn't develop his characters as well as he might and at times this unbalances the film.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Investigating the disappearance of a construction worker brings a detective face to face with the tragic history of his country and with his own past.

(Country: Kurdistan; Year: 2014; Director: Batin Ghobadi )

Full review

The Samurai

Review preview for The Samurai

Considerably more enjoyable than it ought to be.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A young police officer is drawn into a mysterious maniac's murderous plans.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Till Kleinert; Writer: Till Kleinert; Stars: Michel Diercks, Pit Bukowski)

Full review See: Interview with Till Kleinert about The Samurai

Short Skin

A boy who faces a medical malformation that prevents him from experiencing sexual satisfaction finds himself becoming isolated.

(Country: Italy, Iran, UK; Year: 2014; Director: Duccio Chiarini; Writer: Duccio Chiarini, Ottavia Madeddu, Marco Pettenello, Miroslav Mandic; Stars: Matteo Creatini, Franscesca Agostini, Nicola Nocchi, Mariana Raschillà, Bianca Ceravolo, Michele Crestacci, Bianca Nappi, Crisula Stafida, Francesco Acquaroli, Lisa Granuzza Di Vita)

Theeb

Review preview for Theeb

This is a well structured and affecting piece of film-making.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A Bedouin boy experiences a desert adventure when he joins a British officer searching for a well on the eve of the 1916 Arab Revolt.

(Country: United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, UK; Year: 2014; Director: Naji Abu Nowar; Writer: Naji Abu Nowar, Bassel Ghandour; Stars: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen, Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh, Jack Fox)

Full review

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Review preview for The Town That Dreaded Sundown

A frequently impressive but occasionally problematic experience.

David Graham · 3 out of 5
Sixty-five years after a serial killer terrorised a small town... the murders begin again.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon; Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; Stars: Addison Timlin, Gary Cole, Joshua Leonard, Spencer Treat Clark, Denis O'Hare, Veronica Cartwright, Edward Herrmann, Ed Lauter, Wes Chatham, Starlette Miariaunii, Gracie Whitton, Arabella Field, Lance E. Nichols, Morganna May, Ricky Wayne)

Full review

When Animals Dream (Når Dyrene Drømmer)

The appearance of dead bodies troubles an adolescent girl living on an island who can feel herself beginning to change.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2014; Director: Jonas Alexander Arnby; Writer: Rasmus Birch; Stars: Lars Mikkelsen, Jakob Oftebro, Sonja Richter, Gustav Dyekjær Giese, Mads Riisom, Stig Hoffmeyer, Tina Gylling Mortensen)

White God (Fehér isten)

A girl goes in search of her pet dog.

(Country: Hungary, Germany, Sweden; Year: 2014; Director: Kornél Mundruczó; Writer: Kornél Mundruczó, Viktória Petrányi, Kata Wéber; Stars: Zsófia Psotta, Sándor Zsótér, Lili Horváth, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Lili Monori, Gergely Bánki, Tamás Polgár, Orsolya Tóth, Kornél Mundruczó, Natasa Stork, János Derzsi, Péter Gothár, Ervin Nagy, Alexandra Gallusz, László Gálffi)

Wild Tales

Review preview for Wild Tales

Ferociously funny.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Vulnerable before a reality that can suddenly be modified and become unpredictable, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line that divides civilization from brutality.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Damián Szifron; Writer: Damián Szifron; Stars: Rita Cortese, Ricardo Darín, Nancy Dupláa, Darío Grandinetti, Oscar Martínez, Osmar Núñez, María Onetto, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg)

Full review

The Wonders (Le meraviglie)

Review preview for The Wonders

Wisdom is quiet and the future a mystery

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
Nothing will be the same at the end of this summer for Gelsomina and her three younger sisters.

(Country: Italy, Switzerland, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Alice Rohrwacher; Writer: Alice Rohrwacher; Stars: Maria Alexandra Lungu, Sam Louwyck, Alba Rohrwacher, Sabine Timoteo, Agnese Graziani, Monica Bellucci, )

Full review