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Leeds International Film Festival · 2023

Leeds International Film Festival 2023

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Programme

8 films · 8 reviews

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Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire Humaniste Cherche Suicidaire Consentant)

Review preview for Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

While Louis-Seize’s treatment of the night is atmospheric, the emphasis here is firmly on comedy rather on gore.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill. When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha’s life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Ariane Louis-Seize; Writer: Christine Doyon, Ariane Louis-Seize; Stars: Sara Montpetit, Félix-Antoine Bénard, Steve Laplante, Sophie Cadieux, Noémie O'Farrell, Lilas-Rose Cantin, Arnaud Vachon, Marie Brassard, Madeleine Péloquin, Gabriel-Antoine Roy, Isabella Villalba, Patrick Hivon, Marc Beaupré, Micheline Bernard, Sylvie Lemay)

Full review See: Ariane Louis-Seize on making a vampire film with comedic bite

Hundreds Of Beavers

Review preview for Hundreds Of Beavers

What’s remarkable is that director Mike Cheslik manages to sustain this for so long.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
In this 19th century, supernatural winter epic, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Mike Cheslik; Writer: Mike Cheslik, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews; Stars: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Doug Mancheski, Luis Rico, Jay Brown, Stephen Cervantes)

Full review See: Interview with Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews about Hundreds Of Beavers

Mad Cats

Review preview for Mad Cats

As engaging as it is ridiculous.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Taka, a shiftless young man, sets off on a quest to find his brother Mune. Teaming up with a quirky new friend and an edgy, mysterious young girl along the way, Taka finds himself taking on a pack of vicious monster cats determined to execute unscrupulous pet shop owners.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Reiki Tsuno; Writer: Reiki Tsuno; Stars: Hikari Aiko, Asachill, Amanda B, Maari Iwata, Chiyuki Kanazawa)

Full review

Raging Grace

Review preview for Raging Grace

Raging Grace is a Gothic thriller with the potential to appeal to a wide audience. It’s also a fierce critique of the racism embedded in a culture which still treats it as normal for some perfectly capable people to be waited on by others, and to treat them as less than human in the process.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An undocumented Filipina immigrant is struggling to do the best she can for her daughter when she secures the perfect job, taking care of an extremely wealthy but terminal old man. The new position pays well and guarantees a roof over their heads but very soon, she realise that something is amiss.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Paris Zarcilla; Writer: Paris Zarcilla; Stars: Max Eigenman, Leanne Best, David Hayman)

Full review See: Interview with Paris Zarcilla and Chi Thai about Raging Grace

Restore Point (Bod Obnovy)

Review preview for Restore Point

It’s nice to see a film which problematises familiar, overly comfortable assumptions about the sociological response to new technologies, and which doesn’t insist that babies need to be thrown out with bathwater.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
It’s the year 2041, and humanity has reached the point where it can cheat death. Anyone who dies an unnatural death has the right to be brought back to life. All you have to do is to create a backup of your personality – a restore point – at least every 48 hours. But a movement of people try to sabotage this concept.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland, Serbia; Year: 2023; Director: Robert Hloz; Writer: Tomislav Čečka, Robert Hloz, Zdeněk Jecelín; Stars: Andrea Mohylová, Matěj Hádek, Václav Neužil, Milan Ondrík, Karel Dobrý, Agáta Kryštůfková, Katarzyna Zawadzka, Jan Vlasák, Iveta Dušková, Richard Stanke)

Full review

River

Review preview for River

Yamaguchi and his regular writer, Makoto Ueda, have such a deep understanding of their characters that it’s the emotional timeline, rather than the physical one, that becomes the subject of real concern.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
One winter in Kibune, Kyoto, people find themselves stuck in a two minute time loop. As others try to work together to find out what's going on, one woman finds herself increasingly isolated.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Junta Yamaguchi; Writer: Makoto Ueda; Stars: Saori, Riko Fujitani, Shiori Kubo, Kazunari Tosa, Yoshimasa Kondô)

Full review

Shadow Of The Vampire

Review preview for Shadow Of The Vampire

A true original.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
Gothic comedy that revises the story of the making of silent film classic Nosferatu.

(Country: US; Year: 2000; Director: E Elias Merhige; Writer: Steven Katz; Stars: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes, Catherine McCormack, Eddie Izzard, Aden Gillett, Nicholas Elliott, Ronan Vibert, Sophie Langevin, Myriam Muller)

Full review