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Leeds International Film Festival · 2023

Leeds International Film Festival 2023

Official Selection

Programme

17 films · 14 reviews

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All Of Us Strangers

Review preview for All Of Us Strangers

Protagonist Adam (Andrew Scott) lives in a neatly furnished home, no longer feels the need to hide his sexuality, and tells himself he’s fine, but the music says otherwise.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A screenwriter embarks on a relationship with a neighbour at the same time as making a journey into his troubled past.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Andrew Haigh; Writer: Andrew Haigh, Taichi Yamada; Stars: Jamie Bell, Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Claire Foy, Cameron Ashplant, Guy Robbins, Zachary Timmis, Jack Cronin, Christian Di Sciullo, Jack Pallister, Victoria Walker, Oliver Franks, Carolina Van Wyhe, Lincoln R. Beckett, Gsus Lopez)

Full review

Anatomy Of A Fall (Anatomie D'une Chute)

Review preview for Anatomy Of A Fall

Hüller has always been an unfussy actress, who allows a character's flaws to shine out in interesting ways.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman is accused of her husband's murder.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Justine Triet; Writer: Arthur Harari, Justine Triet; Stars: Sandra Hüller, Samuel Theis, Swann Arlaud, Jehnny Beth, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz)

Full review

Chronicles Of A Wandering Saint

Review preview for Chronicles Of A Wandering Saint

Even if you might get a hint of the film’s final destination before it arrives, the way Bustillo achieves his aims will leave you with a warm glow.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When a devout elderly woman finds a statue she think is long lost, what she decides to do next upends her life.

(Country: Argentina, US; Year: 2023; Director: Tomas Gomez Bustillo; Writer: Tomas Gomez Bustillo; Stars: Monica Villa, Horacio Marassi, Pablo Moseinco, Silvia Mackenzie, Noemi Ron, Silvia Porro, Hernan Bustamante, Dahyana Turkie, Iair Said)

Full review See: Tomás Gómez Bustillo on faith, competitive piety and humour in Chronicles Of A Wandering Saint

Evil Does Not Exist

Review preview for Evil Does Not Exist

Hamaguchi isn’t scared to completely change the rhythm of his film on a dime, something that is likely to frustrate as many people as it delights.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A rural village faces disruption from the construction of a glamping site for Tokyo tourists.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi; Writer: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi; Stars: Hitoshi Omika, Ayaka Shibutani, Ryûji Kosaka, Rei Nishikawa)

Full review

Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet Lehdet)

Review preview for Fallen Leaves

An amuse-bouche of a film, Aki Kaurismäki’s latest comedy romance may leave you wanting more but it’s also a fully rounded, good looking experience packed with all the flavours we’ve come to expect from the master of deadpan down the years.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The course of potential love does not run smooth for a shelf-stacker and a metal worker.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2023; Director: Aki Kaurismäki; Writer: Aki Kaurismäki; Stars: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen)

Full review

The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed

A fragmented, experiential look at the life of a woman as time passes in her long-term casual BDSM relationship, low-level corporate job, and quarrelsome Jewish family.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Joanne Arnow; Writer: Joanne Arnow)

How To Have Sex

Review preview for How To Have Sex

A fresh spin on territory that has been frequently explored.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
Three friends contend with peer pressure in their decision to “do it”.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Molly Manning Walker; Writer: Molly Manning Walker; Stars: Mia McKenna Bruce, Lara Peake, Shaun Thomas, Sam Bottomley, Enva Lewis, Laura Ambler)

Full review

I Used To Be Funny

An aspiring stand-up comedian and au pair struggling with PTSD considers whether or not to join the search for a missing teenage girl she used to nanny.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Ally Pankiw; Writer: Ally Pankiw; Stars: Rachel Sennott, Olga Petsa, Jason Jones, Sabrina Jalees, Caleb Hearon, Ennis Esmer, Dani Kind)

Kidnapped (Rapito)

Review preview for Kidnapped

This cinematic exploration, a manifestation of Christian bigotry, speculates with cinematic icons and religious imagery, laying bare the power-hungry clergy.

Levan Tskhovrebadze · 4.5 out of 5
In 1858, a six-year-old Jewish boy is forcibly seized from his family by the Catholic church.

(Country: Italy, France, Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Marco Bellocchio; Writer: Marco Bellocchio, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Edoardo Albinati; Stars: Enea Sala, Leonardo Maltese, Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Filippo Timi)

Full review

Mutt

Review preview for Mutt

Confident enough in its characters to tell its story without sensationalism or stylistic overcompensation.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Over the course of a single hectic day in New York City, three people from Feña's past are thrust back into his life. Having lost touch since transitioning from female to male, he navigates the new dynamics of old relationships while tackling the day-to-day challenges of living life in between.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz; Writer: Vuk Lungulov-Klotz; Stars: Lío Mehiel, Cole Doman, MiMi Ryder, Alejandro Goic)

Full review

The Queen Of My Dreams

Review preview for The Queen Of My Dreams

Mirza may sometimes over-indulge in sentiment, but there’s a warmth to the film that makes it easy to like, and she handles its more chaotic scenes with flair.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Against the backdrop of a shared obsession with Bollywood fantasy, Mariam, a Pakistani Muslim woman, and her Canadian-born daughter Azra come of age in two different eras.

(Country: Canada, Pakistan; Year: 2023; Director: Fawzia Mirza; Writer: Fawzia Mirza; Stars: Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Charlie Boyle, Trina Corkum)

Full review See: Interview with Fawzia Mirza about The Queen Of My Dreams

Samsara

Review preview for Samsara

While attempting to describe the crux of Samsara is, essentially, as impossible as catching lightning in a jar, join me on a journey of imagination and we’ll give it a go.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Samsara is the Buddhist cycle of death and reincarnation. From the temples of Laos, alongside with teenage monks, we will accompany a soul in its transit from one body to another through the bardo.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2023; Director: Lois Patiño; Writer: Lois Patiño; Stars: Amid Keomany, Toumor Xiong, Simone Milavanh, Mariam Vuaa Mtego, Juwairiya Idrisa Uwesu)

Full review

The Taste Of Things (La Passion De Dodin Bouffant, The Pot-au-Feu)

Review preview for The Taste Of Things

While the end result is important, Hùng’s film is all about savouring the moment, something that becomes more urgent as it progresses - although talk of speed has little place in a film that unfolds with the pace and beauty of a flower.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
The story of Eugenie, an esteemed cook, and Dodin, the fine gourmet she has been working for over the last 20 years.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Trân Anh Hùng; Writer: Trần Anh Hùng; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Pierre Gagnaire)

Full review See: Director of The Taste of Things on Binoche, Magimel and the row around the Oscars , Juliette Binoche on being reunited with Benoît Magimel onscreen

Tiger Stripes

A carefree 11-year-old girl begins to experience horrifying physical changes to her body.

(Country: Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia, Qatar; Year: 2023; Director: Amanda Nell Eu)

Toll (Pedágio)

Review preview for Toll

At the heart of it is the complex relationship between mother and son.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Suellen, a toll booth attendant, realises she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally. But this is only for a noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.

(Country: Brazil, Portugal; Year: 2022; Director: Carolina Markowicz; Writer: Carolina Markowicz; Stars: Maeve Jinkings, Thomas Aquino, Isac Graça, Caio Macedo, Aline Marta Maia, Kauan Alvarenga)

Full review