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Leeds International Film Festival · 2025

Leeds International Film Festival 2025

Cinema Versa

Programme

8 films · 3 reviews

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Celtic Utopia (Útóipe Cheilteach)

Review preview for Celtic Utopia

Doesn’t just reflect the reality of modern Ireland but actively embraces it when it makes its presence felt.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Documentary considering Ireland's contemporary music scene, but also that of a postcolonial society wrestling with its heritage.

(Country: Ireland, Sweden; Year: 2025; Director: Dennis Harvey, Lars Lovén)

Full review See: Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén on language, music and community in Celtic Utopia

Ghost Elephants

A documentary following a mysterious herd of ghost elephants in the jungles of Angola.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Werner Herzog; Writer: Werner Herzog)

Middletown

Inspired by an unconventional teacher, a group of teenagers in upstate New York in the early 1990s made a student film that uncovered a vast conspiracy involving toxic waste that was poisoning their community. Thirty years later, they revisit their film and confront the legacy of this transformative experience.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss; Writer: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss; Stars: Varda Appleton, Jeffrey Dutemple, Rachel Raimist, Jack Stone, Amy Parra-Gonzalez, Grant S. Johnson, David Birmingham, Michael Regan, Fred Isseks)

Move Ya Body: The Birth Of House

Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Elegance Bratton; Writer: Elegance Bratton)

Our Land

A documentary interrogating the connections between land, power and a sense of belonging, following the Right to Roam movement in Engand and Wales now.

(Country: UK; Year: 2025; Director: Orban Wallace)

Trains

Archival documentary charting the cyclical nature of war.

(Country: Poland, Lithuania; Year: 2024; Director: Maciej J Drygas)

Yalla Parkour

Review preview for Yalla Parkour

A thoughtful consideration of not just physical prowess but the emotional agility and resilience demonstrated by those growing up in Gaza.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A documentarian revisits Gaza where she encounters a young athlete leading her to embark on a journey through Gaza's devastated landscape.

(Country: Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Palestine; Year: 2025; Director: Areeb Zuaiter; Writer: Areeb Zuaiter, Phil Jandaly, Johan Simonsson, Nino Kirtadze, Salwa Nakkara, Alex Szalat; Stars: Areeb Zuaiter, Ahmad Matar)

Full review