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Leeds International Film Festival · 2023

Leeds International Film Festival 2023

Cinema Versa

Programme

10 films · 4 reviews

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Angel Applicant

Paul Klee, a Swiss-German painter, fled Germany in 1933 when he and other modern artists were vilified by the rising Nazi Party. Isolated in Switzerland, he developed a severe autoimmune disorder.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Ken August Meyer; Writer: Ken August Meyer)

Another Body

Review preview for Another Body

Most of the film has been assembled out of Zoom chats, but it’s so well done, and the story is so compelling, that it might take you a while to notice.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A documentary following a college student’s search for justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2023; Director: Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn; Writer: Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman)

Full review See: Interview with Reuben Hamlyn about Another Body

Break The Game

Eighteen minutes and ten seconds. That’s how long it took Narcissa Wright to complete The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time in a record-breaking speed run. Over 18,000 viewers tuned in to watch her make history, but after coming out as trans, the subscriber count slowly dwindled down and interview requests stopped. As she struggles to reclaim her digital throne, hope comes in the form of a blossoming romance.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jane M Wagner; Writer: Jane M Wagner; Stars: Narcissa Wright, Alex Eastly)

From Where We Stand

Stories of loss, migration, friendship, and mutual aid from Wakefield, Halifax and Middlesbrough.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Lucy Kaye)

Holding Up The Sky

The Yanomami of Brazil know that if shamans stop dancing and life in the rainforest loses its balance, the sky will fall and crush everything beneath it. But gold diggers pollute rivers, shamans die, the rainforest perishes and the earth warms up.

(Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil; Year: 2023; Director: Pieter Van Eecke; Stars: Davi Kopenawa)

The Hostage Takers

A close friend of the murdered American war correspondent James Foley tracks down two members of the group of Islamic State terrorists called The Beatles, who held him and others captive in Syria, and learns their stories.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2023; Director: Puk Damsgaard Andersen, Søren Klovborg; Writer: Sean Langan; Stars: Puk Damsgaard Andersen, Søren Klovborg, Sean Langan)

Orlando, My Political Biography (Orlando, ma biographie politique)

Review preview for Orlando, My Political Biography

Capturing the experience of living in a world where one’s gender doesn’t fit better than almost any other film to date, Preciado’s work is all about claiming space and present day narrative.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Docufiction interpretation of Virginia Woolf's novel.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Paul B Preciado; Writer: Paul B Preciado; Stars: Paul B Preciado)

Full review

Ramona

When Ramona meets the charismatic Bruno on one of her strolls through the city, it never occurs to her that she might encounter him again the following day. Will an innocent flirtation get in the way of her career dreams and the perfectly good relationship she has with her boyfriend?

(Country: Spain; Year: 2022; Director: Andrea Bagney; Writer: Andrea Bagney; Stars: Francesco Carril, Bruno Lastra, Lourdes Hernández)

Tish

Review preview for Tish

Details leap out from the photographs, not just the faces of those she captured, but the twist of cigarette smoke, metal ashtrays recalling the tang of wet ash, plasters on scrubbed knees.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A working-class photographer captures the impact of Thatcherism on the north of England but is unable to escape the poverty and inequality she exposed.

(Year: 2023; Director: Paul Sng; Stars: Trish Murtha)

Full review

Your Fat Friend

Review preview for Your Fat Friend

Viewers are likely to go away appreciating Aubrey’s frustrations and perhaps, if they share them, feeling validated, but without the tools to do anything about them.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
Popular anonymous blogger Aubrey Gordon spent five years writing about the realities of living as a self-described “very fat person.” Now, she is about to face the public for the very first time.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Jeanie Finlay; Stars: Aubrey Gordon)

Full review