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Glasgow Film Festival · 2023

Glasgow Film Festival 2023

Galas

Programme

3 films · 3 reviews

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Girl

Review preview for Girl

Although the issues of trauma and recovery being dealt with here are not exactly easy watching, Onashile shoots the film with a fluidity and grace.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Eleven-year-old Ama and her mother, Grace, take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create. Ama’s growing up threatens the boundaries of their tenderness and forces Grace to reckon with a past she struggles to forget.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Adura Onashile; Writer: Adura Onashile; Stars: Déborah Lukumuena, Danny Sapani, Le'Shantey Bonsu, Liana Turner)

Full review See: Adura Onashile on colour and light in Girl , Adura Onashile on closeness and casting in her debut Girl

Polite Society

Review preview for Polite Society

Manzoor operates a controlled chaos that blends the colour and splendour of Bollywood with sly British satire reminiscent of early Edgar Wright.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Aspiring martial artist Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister, Lena, from her impending marriage. With the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Nida Manzoor; Writer: Nida Manzoor; Stars: Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Shobu Kapoor, Seraphina Beh, Ella Bruccoleri, Jeff Mirza, Nimra Bucha, Akshay Khanna)

Full review

War Pony

Review preview for War Pony

Everything here has a depth, a richness.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
The interlocking stories of two young Oglala Lakota men growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. At 23, Bill just wants to make something of himself. Whether it’s delivering goods or breeding poodles, he is determined to hustle his way to the American Dream. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Matho can’t wait to become a man.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Gina Gammell, Riley Keough; Writer: Franklin Sioux Bob, Bill Reddy, Riley Keough, Gina Gammell; Stars: Jojo Bapteise Whiting, Ladainian Crazy Thunder)

Full review