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Festival coverage

Leeds International Film Festival

3 November – 17 November 2022

This Academy Award, BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying film festival is back for another year with a great line-up with includes some of the most talked-about titles from the international festival circuit.

The festival runs from 3 to 17 November.

We are still adding information to this page at present, so please be patient with us.

Other years (8)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Thunder
    Review preview for Thunder

    Writer/director Carmen Jacquier explores this ideological and psychological clash with confidence and visual flair.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    Summer 1900, Switzerland. The sudden death of her older sister forces Elisabeth to return home. Stiffled by the strict rules of the village, Elisabeth is slowly driven to rebel for her right to live her life.
  • Hello, Bookstore
    Review preview for Hello, Bookstore

    Told in an incidental, roundabout sort of way, a knitting together of assorted observations such as one might make whilst browsing, not yet certain what one wishes to buy.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    In the shadow of the pandemic, a small town rallies to protect a beloved local bookstore.
  • Medusa Deluxe
    Review preview for Medusa Deluxe

    While the choreography of all this is audacious, Hardiman is equally interested in dialogue. He loves an intricately worked sentence as much as a finely coiffed barnet.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing competition.
  • My Imaginary Country
    Review preview for My Imaginary Country

    Guzmán doesn’t need to hunt for symbolism as the protesters are often supplying their own.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Protests that exploded onto the streets of Chile's capital of Santiago in 2019 as the population demanded more democracy and social equality around education, healthcare and job opportunities.
  • Joyland
    Review preview for Joyland

    It is not so much individual people who cause the problems but rather the constricting cultural circumstances that dictate everyone must play their allocated role.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    As the Ranas, a happily patriarchal joint family, yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story illuminates the entire family's desire for a sexual rebellion.
  • Huesera
    Review preview for Huesera

    Wonderfully uncomfortable.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Valeria has long dreamed about becoming a mother. After learning that she’s pregnant, she expects to feel happy, yet something’s off. Nightmarish visions and an unshakeable paranoia have her questioning what she wants, and an ancient evil spirit may be the cause.
  • All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
    Review preview for All The Beauty And The Bloodshed

    The intimacies are staggering.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    The story of artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty often blamed for the US opioid epidemic.
  • The Blue Caftan
    Review preview for The Blue Caftan

    Covert glances and dauntless gestures between the three protagonists, that keep us guessing about who knows what, weave a web as diaphanous as the stitching on fine cloth.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    Halim and Mina own a small family tailor shop that specializes in sewing ceremonial caftans. Since traditional hand-crafted work is time-consuming, Halim decides to hire an assistant, Youssef. The presence of the attractive young man arouses long-suppressed feelings in Halim, something that does not go unnoticed by his wife Mina.
  • Holy Spider
    Review preview for Holy Spider

    This is less about the puzzle of who the murderer is... than about the way he slots into society and, after his arrest, is viewed by the public.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A journalist tries to track down a serial killer who is murdering sex workers.
  • Alcarràs
    Review preview for Alcarràs

    Simón takes a loose approach to the narrative, letting the small dramas of family play out alongside larger ones, giving as much value to the transient pleasures of fresh peach juice and cooked snails as the tensions between siblings.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    The Solé family spends the summer picking peaches - but this year’s crop may well be their last as new owners plan to replace the peach trees with solar panels and the family’s livelihood is threatened.

A–Z of Leeds International Film Festival 2022 reviews

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