Skip to main content

London Film Festival · 2012

London Film Festival 2012

Dare

Programme

25 films · 10 reviews

Jump to a film

3

As a rebellious girl faces expulsion from school, her father, since remarried, is trying to worm his way back into her mother's affections.

(Country: Uruguay, Argentina, Germany, Chile; Year: 2012; Director: Pablo Stoll Ward; Writer: Gonzalo Delgado Galiana, Pablo Stoll Ward; Stars: Humberto de Vargas, Sara Bessio, Anaclara Ferreyra Palfy)

Accession

An angry young man with HIV believes he can cure himself by having sex with a virgin.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2012; Director: Michael J Rix; Writer: Michael J Rix; Stars: Pethro Themba Mbole, Vusumuzi Ndumo, Nomsa Msiza)

Bayou Blue

A documentary about serial rapist and murderer Ronald Dominique, focusing on the way he affected relative, investigators and the Louisiana community.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Alix Lambert, David McMahon)

Boy Eating The Bird's Food (To Agori Troi To Fagito Tou Pouliou)

A desperately poor boy in modern Athens resorts to eating birdseed and scavenging for scraps.

(Country: Greece; Year: 2012; Director: Ektoras Lygizos; Writer: Ektoras Lygizos; Stars: Yannis Papadopoulos, Lila Baklesi, Kleopatra Peraki)

The Dead Man And Being Happy (El muerto y ser feliz)

Review preview for The Dead Man And Being Happy

Rebollo, reinvents the Road Movie, just as Leos Carax does in Holy Motors.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
An ageing hitman goes on a darkly comic journey to nowhere.

(Country: Spain, France, Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Javier Rebollo; Writer: Lola Mayo, Javier Rebollo, Salvador Roselli; Stars: José Sacristán, Valeria Alonso, Vicky Peña, Fermí Reixach, Roxana Blanco, Jorge Jellinek, Lisa Caligaris, Carlos Lecuona)

Full review See: Javier Rebollo interview about The Dead Man And Being Happy

Francine

After serving time in prison, Francine settles down in small-town North America, trying to regain a foothold in society.

(Country: USA / Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky; Writer: Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky; Stars: Melissa Leo, Victoria Charkut, Keith Leonard)

Helter Skelter (Herutâ Sukerutâ)

A melodramatic journey into the disintegrating world of a teen idol supermodel with a secret.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Mika Ninagawa; Writer: Arisa Kaneko; Stars: Erika Sawajiri, Nao Omori, Kaori Momoi)

A Hijacking (Kapringen)

Review preview for A Hijacking

Stark, beautifully observed, genuinely captivating, A Hijacking grabs its audience and does not let go.

Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5
A brutal drama about a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean and the subsequent struggles for survival and freedom.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2012; Director: Tobias Lindholm; Writer: Tobias Lindholm; Stars: Pilou Asbæk, Søren Malling, Dar Salim)

Full review

In The Fog (V Tumane)

Two men in Nazi-occupied Belarus take a third off into the forest, believing he betrayed their murdered friends.

(Country: Germany, Russia, Latvia, Netherlands, Belarus; Year: 2012; Director: Sergei Loznitsa; Writer: Sergei Loznitsa; Stars: Vladimir Svirski, Vlad Abashin, Sergei Kolesov)

Just The Wind (Csak A Szél)

Drama inspired by real-life attacks against Roma communities.

(Country: Hungary, Germany, France; Year: 2012; Director: Benedek Fliegauf; Writer: Benedek Fliegauf; Stars: Lajos Sárkány, Katalin Toldi, Gyöngyi Lendvai, Géza Jungwirth)

Kelly And Victor (Kelly + Victor)

Review preview for Kelly And Victor

Evans coaxes excellent performances from a couple of very talented young actors.

Jeff Robson · 3 out of 5
Two people trying to survive in difficult circumstances embark on a passionate affair

(Country: UK, Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Kieran Evans; Writer: Kieran Evans, based on the book by Niall Griffiths.; Stars: Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Julian Morris, Stephen Walters)

Full review

Living (Zhit)

An exploration of reactions to ragedy in impoverished Yekaterinburg.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2011; Director: Vasili Sigarev; Writer: Vasili Sigarev; Stars: Yana Troyanova, Olga Lapshina, Alexei Filimonov)

Our Children (À Perdre La Raison)

Review preview for Our Children

Joachim LaFosse's film builds, inexorably, to an ending that we know from the start is coming.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
A couple's relationship becomes strained under pressure from one of their adoptive parents.

(Country: Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland; Year: 2012; Director: Joachim Lafosse; Writer: Thomas Bidegain, Joachim Lafosse, Matthieu Reynaert; Stars: Niels Arestrup, Tahar Rahim, Émilie Dequenne, Stéphane Bissot, Mounia Raoui, Redouane Behache, Baya Belal, Nathalie Boutefeu, Yannick Renier, Claire Bodson, Jean-Charles Hautera, Daniel Feis, Joé Michels, Eléa Gillard, Charlie Hoscheck)

Full review

Paradise: Love (Paradies: Liebe)

Review preview for Paradise: Love

As the film progresses, Seidl allows scenes to play out longer than expected, as they enter that uncomfortable territory (for protagonists, audiences and censor boards alike) of total unpredictability.

Michael Pattison · 3.5 out of 5
A cautionary tale about European female sex tourists on the beaches of Kenya.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2012; Director: Ulrich Seidl; Writer: Ulrich Seidl, Veronika Franz; Stars: Margarete Tiesel, Peter Kazungu, Inge Maux)

Full review

Peddlers

A troubled narcotics officer encounters a young woman desperate to make a big drugs score so she can afford cancer surgery.

(Country: India; Year: 2012; Director: Vasan Bala; Writer: Vasan Bala; Stars: Gulshan Devaiah, Siddharth Mennon)

Post Tenebras Lux

Review preview for Post Tenebras Lux

In some ways it brings to mind the psychopathological novels of new wave science fiction.

Donald Munro · 1 out of 5
Juan and his family live in a country house, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. No one knows if these two worlds are complementary or if they strive to eliminate one another.

(Country: Mexico, France, Netherlands, Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Carlos Reygadas; Writer: Carlos Reygadas; Stars: Adolfo Jiménez Castro, Nathalia Acevedo, Willebaldo Torres)

Full review See: San Sebastian Film Festival Diary: Episode 3

Punk

A troubled young man finds camaraderie and an outlet for his anger in the hardcore punk scene.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, based on the book by Boris Bergmann.; Writer: Camille Vizzavona, Georgina Tacou, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, Béatrice Dalle; Stars: Paul Bartel, Béatrice Dalle, Marie-Ange Casta)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Review preview for The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Through heartfelt and very conventional storytelling Nair simplifies, pleads, and misses the chances to shift the very current problematics into a new light.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 3 out of 5
A successful stockbroker finds his glittering career shattered after the Twin Towers fall, and is drawn back to the conflict in his homeland of Pakistan.

(Country: US, India, Pakistan; Year: 2012; Director: Mira Nair; Writer: William Wheeler, Mohsin Hamid, Ami Boghani; Stars: Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland)

Full review

Simon Killer

Review preview for Simon Killer

There’s no reassurance to be found in this cold world but Campos’s talent for getting mood whistling abominably through your ears is worthy of admiration.

Sophie Monks Kaufman · 4 out of 5
A recent college graduate goes to Paris after breaking up with his girlfriend of five years. Once there, he falls in love with a young prostitute and their fateful journey begins.

(Country: France, US; Year: 2011; Director: Antonio Campos; Writer: Antonio Campos; Stars: Brady Corbet, Mati Diop, Michaël Abiteboul, Alex Desjoux, Marc Gaviard, Alexandra Neil, Nicolas Ronchi, Etienne Rotha Moeng, Constance Rousseau, Lila Salet, Solo) , Trailer

Full review See: Keeping score: Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians talk about Last Days In The Desert, Enemy and Wolfpack

The Stoning Of Saint Stephen (La Lapidation De Saint Étienne)

A portrait of the broken relationship between an elderly furniture restorer and the daughter who is trying to get him evicted.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2012; Director: Pere Vilà Barceló; Writer: Pere Vilà Barceló, Laura Merino; Stars: Lou Castel, Marie Payen, Luis Rego)

Tall As The Baobab Tree (Grand Comme Le Baobab)

Review preview for Tall As The Baobab Tree

The authenticity of the characters and the issues they face feels unimpeachable; however the dialogue can, at times, verge into maddening exposition.

Sophie Monks Kaufman · 3 out of 5
After her brother has an accident, her father is forced to sell her younger sister into an arranged marriage, but Coumba hatches a plan to save her.

(Country: Senegal, US; Year: 2012; Director: Jeremy Teicher; Writer: Jeremy Teicher, Alexi Pappas; Stars: Dior Kâ, Oumoul Kâ, Cheikh Dia)

Full review

Tey

A man who is going to be killed at the end of the day visits the places he has known.

(Country: France, Senegal; Year: 2012; Director: Alain Gomis; Writer: Alain Gomis, Djolof Mbengue, Marc Wels; Stars: Saul Williams, Djolof Mbengue, Anisia Uzeyman)

The Wall (Die Wand)

Review preview for The Wall

The wall is an undeniable presence, both solidly tangible and, thanks to some stunning sound design, resonantly audible as it redefines and demarcates the Woman's newly cloistered life.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
A woman chronicles her time after becoming separated from the rest of humanity.

(Country: Austria / Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Julian Roman Pölsler; Stars: Martina Gedeck)

Full review

Winter Of Discontent (El Sheita Elli Fat)

A political thriller charting the experiences of an opposition activist in the run-up to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

(Country: Egypt; Year: 2012; Director: Ibrahim El Batout; Writer: Ibrahim El Batout, Habi Seoud, Yasser Naim, Ahmed Amer; Stars: Amr Waked, Farah Youssef, Salah Al Hanafy)

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (Vous N'Avez Encore Rien Vu)

A group of actors watch a recorded version of a play be a friend who has recently died.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Alain Resnais; Writer: Laurent Herbiet, Alex Réval)