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London Film Festival · 2012

London Film Festival 2012

Documentary Competition

Films competing for The Grierson Award.

Programme

12 films · 7 reviews

Jump to a film

Beware Of Mr Baker

Review preview for Beware Of Mr Baker

What comes out in the film seems like the very essence of a rock life, though Baker demands to be called a jazz, as opposed to a rock, musician.

Owen Van Spall · 3.5 out of 5
Documentary about the flamboyant drummer.

(Country: US, South Africa; Year: 2012; Director: Jay Bulger; Writer: Jay Bulger)

Canned Dreams

Documentary which highlights the bizarre and complex journey of canned food production throughout Europe; from field to supermarket shelves.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2011; Director: Katja Gauriloff)

The Central Park Five

Review preview for The Central Park Five

A powerful, psychologically complex portrait of a community.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary dissecting the wrongful conviction of five teenagers for a violent assault.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon; Writer: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon; Stars: Angela Black, Calvin O. Butts III, Natalie Byfield, David Dinkins, Jim Dwyer, Ronald Gold, LynNell Hancock, Michael Joseph, Saul Kassin, Ed Koch, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana Sr., Raymond Santana)

The Ethnographer (El etnógrafo)

Film following English anthropologist John Hillary Palmer, who lives and works with the marginalised Wichi community in rural Argentina.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Ulises Rosell; Writer: Ulises Rosell; Stars: John Palmer)

Free Angela And All Political Prisoners

Documentary portrait of one of the most significant figures of the American civil rights movement.

(Year: 2012; Director: Shola Lynch; Stars: Angela Davis, Eisa Davis)

Les Invisibles

Review preview for Les Invisibles

One acquires a keen sense of the positive consciousness that might emerge through a struggle for organisation, acceptance and liberation.

Michael Pattison · 3.5 out of 5
Exploring the lives of 11 gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women over the age of 70.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Sébastien Lifshitz)

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House of God

Review preview for Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House of God

Gibney assembles interview subjects who offer a fascinating insight into how the Vatican functions behind its large exterior walls.

Owen Van Spall · 4.5 out of 5
Fresh scrutiny of child abuse in the Catholic Church, with deaf victims bearing witness.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Alex Gibney; Writer: Alex Gibney; Stars: Jamey Sheridan, John Slattery, Chris Cooper, Brady Bryson, Ethan Hawke, Larry Hunt)

The Summit

Those who want to know more about what really happened during the violent G8 anti-globalisation protests in Genoa in July 2001, and who want to find out what led to the brutal deployment of riot police and the effects of this operation will not be disappointed by this film.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2011; Director: Franco Fracassi, Massimo Lauria)

Turned Towards The Sun

The astonishing life story of British writer and poet Micky Burn MC.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Greg Olliver; Stars: Micky Burn)

Village At The End Of The World

Review preview for Village At The End Of The World

Intimate, engaging and appealingly optimistic, Village At The End Of The World does its simple job well.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A portrait of Niaqornat, a remote village in northern Greenland with a population of 59.

(Country: Denmark, UK, Greenland; Year: 2012; Director: Sarah Gavron)

West Of Memphis

Review preview for West Of Memphis

No fictionalised crime drama ever felt as thrilling.

Sophie Monks Kaufman · 5 out of 5
A documentary team sets out to challenge the conviction of three teenagers, labelled Satanists, for the murder of three boys.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Amy Berg; Writer: Amy Berg; Stars: Damien Wayne Echols, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Miskelly, Lorris Davis, Pam Hobbs) , Official site