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Glasgow Film Festival · 2016

Glasgow Film Festival 2016

Pioneer

Programme

19 films · 12 reviews

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The Ardennes (D'Ardennes)

When a troubled man emerges from prison, the brother he kept quiet to protect tries to help him, but both have changed a lot.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2015; Director: Robin Pront; Writer: Jeroen Perceval, Robin Pront; Stars: Jan Bijvoet, Veerle Baetens, Eric Godon)

Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) (Bang Gang (une histoire d'amour moderne))

A group of 16-year-olds engage in a summer of sex.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Eva Husson; Writer: Eva Husson; Stars: Finnegan Oldfield, Daisy Broom, Marilyn Lima, Fred Hotier, Lorenzo Lefèbvre)

Bridgend

Review preview for Bridgend

Bridgend is a superb piece of work.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
As a policeman investigates a spate of suicides, his daughter is drawn into the youth culture from which they have emerged.

(Country: US, UK, Denmark; Year: 2015; Director: Jeppe Rønde; Writer: Peter Asmussen, Peter Asmussen, Torben Bech, Torben Bech, Jeppe Rønde, Jeppe Rønde; Stars: Scott Arthur, Adam Byard, Elinor Crawley, Natasha Denby, Josh Green, Ceri Mears, Hannah Murray, Josh Oconnor, Patricia Potter, Adrian Rawlins, Aled Llyr Thomas, Steven Waddington)

Full review

The Elite (Eliten)

Review preview for The Elite

Daneskov's remarkable debut film is evocatively shot.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A privileged young man invites his friends to his parents' lakeside mansion where the party doesn't stop, but what is the price of excess?

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2015; Director: Thomas Daneskov; Writer: Emil Nygaard Albertsen, Thomas Daneskov; Stars: Nikolaj Bæk, Ali Sivandi, Thomas Persson)

Full review

Evolution

Review preview for Evolution

This is a film of two halves, the first - and best - has the cold creeping dread of icy sea water slowly soaking into your swimming costume.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
On a remote island inhabited solely by women and young boys, Nicolas and the other boys are subjected to mysterious and sinister medical treatments.

(Country: Belgium, Spain, France; Year: 2015; Director: Lucile Hadzihalilovic; Writer: Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Alanté Kavaïté; Stars: Max Brebant, Roxane Duran, Julie-Marie Parmentier, Nissim Renard)

Full review

From Afar (Desde allá)

Armando, aged 50, looks for young men in the streets of Caracas and pays them to come back to his house with him. He also regularly spies on an older man with whom he seems to have ties from the past. One day he meets Elder, aged 17, leader of a small band of thugs...

(Country: Venezuela; Year: 2015; Director: Lorenzo Vigas; Writer: Guillermo Arriaga, Lorenzo Vigas, Lorenzo Vigas, Lorenzo Vigas; Stars: Alfredo Castro, Luis Silva, Jericó Montilla, Catherina Cardozo, Jorge Luis Bosque, Greymer Acosta, Auffer Camacho, Ivan Peña, Joretsis Ibarra, Yeimar Peralta, Scarlett Jaimes, Ernesto Campos, Marcos Moreno, Armando Volcanes, Jesús Las Rosas)

Goodnight Mommy (Ich Seh, Ich Seh)

Review preview for Goodnight Mommy

Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s film is one entirely about small details.

Luke Shaw · 3.5 out of 5
Twin boys suspect that their mum, who has just undergone reconstructive facial surgery, is an imposter and set out to discover the truth.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2014; Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz; Writer: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz; Stars: Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz)

Full review See: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala in conversation on Goodnight Mommy

The Grief Of Others

A pregnant daughter from a previous marriage arrives in her father's already strained new family, looking for help.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Patrick Wang; Stars: Rachel Dratch, Mike Faist, Sonya Harum)

Home Care (Domácí péce)

Review preview for Home Care

A thoughtful film which finds plenty of fresh dramatic potential in its subject.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Dedicated home care nurse Vlasta lives for her husband, her daughter, and her patients. But then one day things change and Vlasta is forced to react.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2015; Director: Slávek Horák; Writer: Slávek Horák; Stars: Zuzana Krónerová, Alena Mihulová, Bolek Polívka, Tatiana Vilhelmová)

Full review See: Made In Prague highlights

James White

Review preview for James White

This film feels fresh and real even to those of us who have been there.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behaviour in the face of momentous family challenges.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Josh Mond; Writer: Josh Mond; Stars: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call)

Full review

Labyrinth Of Lies (Im Labyrinth Des Schweigens)

Review preview for Labyrinth Of Lies

Labyrinth Of Lies is an interesting document of a very important piece of national history, but it fails to make it engaging.

Luke Shaw · 2.5 out of 5
An idealistic attorney in post-war Germany faces public hostility as he tries to prosecute former members of the SS.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Giulio Ricciarelli; Writer: Elisabeth Bartel, Giulio Ricciarelli, Amelie Syberberg; Stars: Alexander Fehling, André Szymanski, Friederike Becht)

Full review See: Giulio Ricciarelli in conversation about Labyrinth Of Lies , Interview with Giulio Ricciarelli about Labyrinth Of Lies

Land And Shade (La Tierra Y La Sombra)

Review preview for Land And Shade

From silence and small details, César Augusto Acevedo weaves a devastating tale.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A man returns home after a 17 year absence because his only son is gravely sick.

(Country: Colombia, France, Netherlands, Chile, Brazil; Year: 2015; Director: César Augusto Acevedo; Writer: César Augusto Acevedo; Stars: José Felipe Cárdenas, Haimer Leal, Edison Raigosa, Hilda Ruiz, Marleyda Soto)

Full review

Mustang

Review preview for Mustang

The director and her co-writer Alice Winocour side with their young protagonists, drawing on their boundless energy to tell their story in the spirit of a fable and in a way that makes it accessible to younger audiences.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Coming of age story about five Turkish girls.

(Country: Turkey, France, Qatar, Germany; Year: 2015; Director: Deniz Gamze Erguven; Writer: Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour; Stars: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Elit Iscan, Tugba Sunguroglu, Ilayda Akdogan, Nihal G. Koldas, Ayberk Pekcan, Bahar Kerimoglu, Burak Yigit, Erol Afsin, Suzanne Marrot, Serife Kara, Aynur Komecoglu, Serpil Reis, Rukiye Sariahmet)

Full review See: Interview with Deniz Gamze Ergüven about Mustang , Deniz Gamze Ergüven in conversation on Mustang, Offside, Escape From Alcatraz and family dynamics , Deniz Gamze Ergüven in conversation on Mustang

Rattle The Cage (Zinzana)

A former alcoholic wakes up in a jail cell with no ID and finds himself at the mercy of a homicidal killer masquerading as a sheriff.

(Country: United Arab Emirates, Jordan; Year: 2015; Director: Majid Al Ansari; Writer: Majid Alansari, Nidal Morra, Lane Skye, Ruckus Skye, Rami Yasin; Stars: Ali Suliman, Ahd, Saleh Bakri, Eyad Hourani, Ali Al-Jabri, Mansoor Alfeeli, Yasa, Omar Abdulhamid, Abdalla Bu Abed)

Suburra

Review preview for Suburra

Frequently dark, often stunning, and only morally murky.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
A careless politician struggles to stay out of the grip of a ruthless crime lord who knows a little too much about him for comfort.

(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2015; Director: Stefano Sollima; Writer: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli, Giancarlo De Cataldo, Carlo Bonini ; Stars: Pierfrancesco Favino, Elio Germano, Claudio Amendola)

Full review

These Daughters Of Mine (Moje Córki Krowy)

Review preview for These Daughters Of Mine

Family drama this may be, but it's far from the heartwarming cliché, and it's not clear that anyone will be redeemed.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Two very different sisters are forced to cooperate when their father becomes ill.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2015; Director: Kinga Debska; Writer: Kinga Debska; Stars: Agata Kulesza, Gabriela Muskala, Marian Dziedziel)

Full review

Traders

People who want to die because of their bleak financial situations arrange to meet and fight to the death, with the winner taking the loser's life savings.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2015; Director: Rachael Moriarty, Peter Murphy; Stars: Killian Scott, John Bradley, Nika McGuigan)

Weepah Way For Now

Review preview for Weepah Way For Now

Mimi Rogers is on the kind of form we haven't seen from her in over 20 years.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Two sisters face life's ups and downs as they prepare for their latest music tour.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Stephen Ringer; Writer: Stephen Ringer; Stars: Aly Michalka, AJ Michalka, Mimi Rogers, Saoirse Ronan)

Full review