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Istanbul Film Festival · 2018

Istanbul Film Festival 2018

Antidepressant

Programme

9 films · 5 reviews

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Abracadabra

A housewife struggles after her husband becomes possessed by a ghost.

(Country: Spain, France, Belgium; Year: 2017; Director: Pablo Berger; Writer: Pablo Berger; Stars: Maribel Verdú, Antonio de la Torre, Priscilla Delgado, Javier Antón, Bea de la Cruz, Rocío Calvo, José Mota, Nacho Marraco, Paco Churruca, Victoria Sáez, Fabia Castro, Mario Alonso, Josep Maria Pou, Malena Gutiérrez, Janfri Topera)

C'est La Vie! (Le sens de la fête)

Review preview for C'est La Vie!

So much is going on that Nakache and Toledano are able to slyly set-up jokes in such a way that we barely notice them, so that when they pay off their impact is greater.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A night of surprises unfolds at a wedding party in a chateau.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano; Writer: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano; Stars: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Eye Haidara, Gilles Lellouche, Suzanne Clément, Jean-Paul Rouve, Judith Chemla, Kévin Azaïs, Vincent Macaigne, Yves Heck, Hélène Vincent, Jackee Toto, Louis Quinn, Anthony Darche)

Full review See: Eye Haïdara on C'est La Vie, comedy, the #MeToo movement and fighting racial stereotypes

Claire's Camera

The story of two women who meet at the Cannes Film Festival.

(Country: France, South Korea; Year: 2017; Director: Hong Sang-soo; Writer: Hong Sang-soo; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Min-hee Kim, Mi-hee Chang, Jin-young Jung, Yoon Heesun, Wanmin Lee, Taewoo Kang, Shahira Fahmy, Mark Peranson, Isabelle Huppert, Min-hee Kim, Mi-hee Chang, Jin-young Jung, Yoon Heesun, Wanmin Lee)

July Tales (Contes de juillet)

Review preview for July Tales

The result is a slight but sweet evocation of a hazy day of summer when potential hangs like pollen in the air.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Two languorous summer days, two thorny tales of romantic misunderstanding.

(Year: 2017; Director: Guillaume Brac; Writer: Guillaume Brac; Stars: Hanne Mathisen Haga, Andrea Romano, Sipan Mouradian, Salomé Diénis Meulien, Roman Jean-Elie, Milena Csergo, Lucie Grunstein, Jean Joudé, Théo Chedeville, Kenza Lagnaoui, Hanne Mathisen Haga, Andrea Romano, Sipan Mouradian, Salomé Diénis Meulien, Roman Jean-Elie)

Full review

Love And Bullets

A Naples-set gripping mafia musical, an intense romance, and a tireless action comedy.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2017; Director: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti; Writer: Michelangelo La Neve, Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti; Stars: Claudia Gerini, Carlo Buccirosso, Serena Rossi, Giampaolo Morelli, Raiz, Tia Architto, Antonio Buonomo, Michele Cantalupo, Antonello Cossia, Andrea D'Alessio, King Danza, Luciana De Falco, Marco Mario de Notaris, Juliet Esey Joseph, Giovanni Esposito)

Pig (Khook)

Review preview for Pig

There is satire here but this the director takes a jokes first, social comment second approach.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Hasan, a blacklisted filmmaker, starts to sulk when he isn't bumped off by a serial killer.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2018; Director: Mani Haghighi; Writer: Mani Haghighi; Stars: Hasan Majuni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar, Mina Jafarzadeh)

Full review

The Prince Of Nothingwood

Review preview for The Prince Of Nothingwood

Even if the facts are fiction, you still get the sense of a man who is driven, at least in part, by an urge to bring some sort of happiness by shooting film rather than bullets.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of Salim Shaheen, the most prolific and popular actor-director-producer in Afghanistan.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2017; Director: Sonia Kronlund; Stars: Salim Shaheen)

Full review

Sergio And Sergei

Cuban Sergio is a young academic and amateur radio enthusiast who lives hand to mouth. One day, he makes an unexpected contact with Russian cosmonaut Sergei who is stranded on a space station and an unusual friendship ensues.

(Country: US, Cuba, Spain; Year: 2017; Director: Ernesto Daranas; Writer: Ernesto Daranas, Marta Daranas; Stars: Camila Arteche, A.J. Buckley, Ana Gloria Buduen, Tomás Cao, Yuliet Cruz, Idalmis Garcia, Mario Guerra, Armando Miguel Gómez, Héctor Noas, Ron Perlman, Dayna Posada, Rolando Raimjanov, Ailín de Rodriguez la Caridad, Luis Manuel Álvarez, Camila Arteche)

Under The Tree

Review preview for Under The Tree

The tone is deliberately odd blending the naturalism of the day-to-day emotions of relationships and grief, with the altogether more heightened tensions of a revenge thriller, while still keeping a cheeky eye on the absurdity of a mooning garden gnome.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A spat between neighbours over a garden tree spirals out of control.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2017; Director: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson; Writer: Huldar Breiðfjörð, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson; Stars: Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Selma Björnsdóttir, Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir)

Full review