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London Film Festival · 2012

London Film Festival 2012

Debate

Programme

18 films · 7 reviews

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Children Of Sarajevo

A devout young woman discovers that her younger brother is keeping worrying secrets in a country where neither have experienced any stability in their upbringing.

(Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Turkey; Year: 2012; Director: Aida Begić; Writer: Aida Begić; Stars: Marija Pikić, Ismir Gagula, Nikola Đuričko)

The Delay (La demora)

An overworked and underpaid, a forty-something mother of three is driven to abandon her senile father so she can take better care of her children.

(Country: Uruguay, Mexico, France; Year: 2012; Director: Rodrigo Plá; Writer: Laura Santullo; Stars: Carlos Vallarino, Roxana Blanco)

Dormant Beauty (Bella Addormentata)

Review preview for Dormant Beauty

Dormant Beauty expands beyond the central case to look at myriad issues around coma, caring, bereavement, euthanasia, suicide and choice.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Three stories explore Italian concerns in the context of a famous euthanasia case.

(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2012; Director: Marco Bellocchio; Writer: Marco Bellocchio, Veronica Raimo, Stefano Rulli; Stars: Toni Servillo, Isabelle Huppert, Alba Rohrwacher)

Full review See: Marco Bellocchio interview about Dormant Beauty

The Hunt

Review preview for The Hunt

An intense performance from Mads Mikkelsen, who is an actor rarely bettered when it comes to playing men in savage situations.

Owen Van Spall · 3.5 out of 5
A much loved teacher's world is shattered when a pupil accuses him of sexual molestation.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2012; Director: Thomas Vinterberg; Writer: Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm; Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp)

Full review

Hold Back

Family tensions flare when an Arab Muslim woman falls in love with a black Christian man.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Rachid Djaïdani; Writer: Rachid Djaïdani; Stars: Slimane Dazi, Stéphane Soo Mongo, Sabrina Hamida)

Made In Ash (Až Do Města Aš)

Following redundancy, a young woman is forced to accept whatever she can get - even in her love life.

(Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic; Year: 2012; Director: Iveta Grófová; Writer: Iveta Grófová, Marek Leščák; Stars: Dorota Bíllá, Silvia Halušicová, Robin Horký)

Normal School (Escuela normal)

Documentary tracking student council elections at a school in Parana, Argentina.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Celina Murga)

The Pervert's Guide To Ideology

Review preview for The Pervert's Guide To Ideology

From Coca Cola as the perfect commodity, full of metaphysical reality ("The real thing!"), to the Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs with the toy inside... Fiennes and Zizek do their best to make theoretical concepts understandable.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A documentary exploring the film criticism and philosophy of Slavoj Žižek.

(Country: UK, Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Sophie Fiennes; Stars: Slavoj Žižek)

Full review

Pilgrim Hill

A quiet, uneducated man who cares for the family farm and his ailing father is unprepared when his life undergoes a dramatic change.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Gerard Barrett; Writer: Gerard Barrett; Stars: Joe Mullins, Muiris Crowley, Corina Gough)

The Pirogue

A retired fisherman is persuaded to captain a wooden boat carrying 30 people across the Atlantic to Europe.

(Country: Senegal, France; Year: 2012; Director: Moussa Touré; Writer: Eric Névé, David Bouchet; Stars: Souleymane Seye Ndiaye, Laïty Fall, Malamine Dramé 'Yalenguen')

Reality

Review preview for Reality

A strictly one-note parable.

Anton Bitel · 2.5 out of 5
A fishmonger's fantasies of appearing on Big Brother threaten to ruin his life and that of his family.

(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2012; Director: Matteo Garrone; Writer: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso; Stars: Aniello Arena, Loredana Simioli, Nando Paone, Nello Iono, Nunzia Schione, Rosaria D'Urso, Giuseppina Cervizzi, Claudia Gerini, Raffaele Ferrante)

Full review

The Repentant (Le Repenti)

A former jihadist offered amnesty tries to reintegrate into society but finds that some secrets are impossible to hide forever.

(Country: Algeria, France; Year: 2012; Director: Merzak Allouache; Writer: Merzak Allouache; Stars: Adila Bendimerad, Khaled Benaissa, Nabil Asli)

A Respectable Family (Yek Khanévadéh-e Mohtaram)

A college professor returns to his troubled family after two decades abroad.

(Country: Iran, France; Year: 2012; Director: Massoud Bakhshi; Writer: Massoud Bakhshi; Stars: Babak Hamidian, Mehrdad Sedighian, Mehran Ahmadi)

Solar Eclipse (Pod Sluncem Tma)

A documentary examining the culture clash when two Czech engineers are sent to Zambia to fix a solar electric system.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2011; Director: Martin Mareček; Writer: Martin Mareček)

Virgin Margarida (Virgem Margarida)

A group of women suspected of being sex workers are rounded up at the end of colonial rule in Mozambique.

(Country: Mozambique, Portugal, France, Angola; Year: 2012; Director: Licínio Azevedo; Writer: Licínio Azevedo, Jacques Akchoti; Stars: Sumeia Maculuva, Iva Mugalela, Hermelinda Cimela)

What Richard Did

Review preview for What Richard Did

Subtle and powerful, Abrahmson shows how easy it is for things to turn sour even in the most privileged and upstanding environments.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When a teenager does something shockingly out of character, his future is threatened.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Lenny Abrahamson; Writer: Malcolm Campbell; Stars: Jack Reynor, Róisín Murphy, Sam Keeley, Lars Mikkelsen)

Full review

White Elephant (Elefante blanco)

Review preview for White Elephant

An immersive dive into an offbeat and murky corner of modern Argentine life.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
The story of the friendship between two priests who settle in a Buenos Aires slum area to carry out their ministry and social work.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2012; Director: Pablo Trapero; Writer: Alejandro Fadel, Martín Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Pablo Trapero; Stars: Ricardo Darín, Jérémie Renier, Martina Gusman, Miguel Arancibia, Federico Barga, Esteban Díaz, Pablo Gatti, Walter Jacob, Raul Ramos, Susana Varela, Julio Zarza)

Full review

Zaytoun

Review preview for Zaytoun

Abdallah El Akal channels an unsettling amount of loathing.

Sophie Monks Kaufman · 4 out of 5
An Israeli hostage and a Palestinian orphan form an uneasy bond as they flee Beirut militias.

(Country: UK, Israel; Year: 2012; Director: Eran Riklis; Writer: Nader Rizq; Stars: Stephen Dorff, Abdallah El Akal, Ali Suliman)

Full review