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London Film Festival · 2014

London Film Festival 2014

Journey

Also showing are short films showcases London Calling and Summer Days Drifting Away.

Programme

27 films · 6 reviews

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6 Desires: DH Lawrence and Sardinia

Mark Cousins follows in the footsteps of the author.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Mark Cousins; Writer: Mark Cousins, Laura Marcellino)

African Metropolis

Portmanteau of six short films.

(Country: South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Ivory Coast; Year: 2013; Director: Jim Chuchu, Ahmed Ghoneimy, Folasakin Iwajomo, Marie Ka, Philippe Lacôte, Vincent Moloi; Writer: Kemi Adesoye, Jim Chuchu, Ahmed Ghoneimy, Marie Ka, Philippe Lacôte, Makgano Mamabolo, Lodi Matsetela)

Charlie's Country

An aboriginal elder who takes a stand on behalf of his community.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2013; Director: Rolf de Heer; Writer: Rolf de Heer, David Gulpilil; Stars: Peter Djigirr, Luke Ford, Jennifer Budukpuduk Gaykamangu, David Gulpilil, Peter Minygululu, Ritchie Singer)

The Cut

A man survives the Armenian genocide and goes in search of his lost daughters.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Fatih Akin; Writer: Fatih Akin, Mardik Martin; Stars: Tahar Rahim, George Georgiou, Makram Khoury, Akin Gazi, Lara Heller, Numan Acar, Alejandro Rae, Dustin MacDougall, Shubham Saraf, Joel Jackshaw, Anna Savva, Korkmaz Arslan, Sesede Terziyan, Aida Adele Golghazi, Arevik Martirosyan)

Dukhtar

A mother takes the potentially deadly decision to save her 10-year-old daughter from an arranged marriage.

(Country: Pakistan; Year: 2014; Director: Afia Nathaniel; Writer: Afia Nathaniel; Stars: Samiya Mumtaz, Mohib Mirza, Saleha Aref, Asif Khan, Ajab Gul, Adnan Shah, Abdullah Jan, Samina Ahmad, Omair Rana, Zeeshan Shafa)

Electricity

A journey seen through the eyes of a young woman with epilepsy.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Bryn Higgins; Writer: Joe Fisher, Ray Robinson; Stars: Agyness Deyn, Lenora Crichlow, Christian Cooke, Paul Anderson, Tom Georgeson, Alice Lowe, Ben Batt, Saffron Coomber, Millie Taylforth, Jake Gibbons, Peter-Hugo Daly, Julian Firth, Seamus O'Neill, Jimmy Roussounis, Dean Bone)

Fair Play

Review preview for Fair Play

The atmosphere of the drab Czechoslovakia at the time has been captured with uncompromising realism.

Richard Mowe · 3.5 out of 5
Teenage Anna’s background may be altogether unsuitable for the communist regime, but her talent as a sprinter will help her into the state-run doping program regardless.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Andrea Sedláčková; Stars: Judit Bárdos, Anna Geislerová, Eva Josefíková, Roman Luknár, Roman Zach)

Full review

Far From Men (Loin des hommes)

Two men batle to survive against the backdrop of the Algerian War.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: David Oelhoffen; Writer: David Oelhoffen; Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Reda Kateb, Jérémie Vigot)

Flowers (Loreak)

The tale of three women - three lives changed by nothing but a few bunches of flowers.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2014; Director: Jon Garaño, Jose Mari Goenaga )

The Furthest End Awaits

Story of the transformational friendship that grows between two women.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2014; Director: Chiang Hsiu Chiung; Writer: Nako Kakinoki; Stars: Hiromi Nagasaku, Nozomi Sasaki, Hiyori Sakurada, Masatoshi Nagase)

Germany, Pale Mother (Deutschland bleiche Mutter)

Story of a couple who marry on the day before war breaks out.

(Country: West Germany; Year: 1980; Director: Helma Sanders-Brahms; Writer: Helma Sanders-Brahms; Stars: Hanne Hiob, Eva Mattes, Ernst Jacobi, Elisabeth Stepanek, Angelika Thomas, Rainer Friedrichsen, Gisela Stein, Fritz Lichtenhahn, Anna Sanders, Sonja Lauer, Miriam Lauer, Gabriele John, Johanna Karl-Lory, Ursula Ludwig, Lisa Örter)

Güeros

Coming of age comedy.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2014; Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios; Writer: Alonso Ruizpalacios, Gibrán Portela; Stars: Tenoch Huerta, Sebastián Aguirre, Ilse Salas, Leonardo Ortizgris, Raúl Briones, Laura Almela, Adrian Ladron, Camila Lora, Alfonso Charpener)

Jauja (Land Of Plenty)

Review preview for Jauja

Stunningly shot by cinematographer Timo Salminen, who illuminated landscapes as if they were Eckersberg paintings, the film is framed in 4:3 aspect ratio, creating the sense that there's always something just out of sight.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A dad and daughter's odyssey into a desert.

(Country: Argentina, Denmark, US, Mexico, Netherlands, Germany, France; Year: 2014; Director: Lisandro Alonso; Writer: Lisandro Alonso, Fabian Casas; Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Ghita Nørby)

Full review

The Lost Aviator

The true-life story of pioneering aviator Bill Lancaster.

(Country: Australia, UK, US, France; Year: 2014; Director: Andrew Lancaster; Writer: Andrew Lancaster; Stars: Ewen Leslie, Kipan Rothbury)

L For Leisure

Arthouse comedy set in the Nineties following graduates on vacation.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Whitney Horn, Lev Kalman; Writer: Whitney Horn, Lev Kalman; Stars: Gabriel Abrantes, Melissa Barrera, Bene Coopersmith, Benjamin Crotty, Mati Diop, Bro Estes, Libby Gery, Trevor Haav, Marianna McClellan, Kyle Williams)

Marc Quinn - Making Waves

Fly-on-the-wall documentary about the artist.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Gerry Fox)

My Darling Clementine

Review preview for My Darling Clementine

This is prime Ford, a perfect example of his understated humanity.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
The story of Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the OK Corral.

(Country: US; Year: 1946; Director: John Ford; Writer: Samuel G Engel, Winston Miller; Stars: Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan, Cathy Downs, Tim Holt, Ward Bond, Alan Mowbray, John Ireland, Jane Darwell)

Full review

My Friend Victoria (Mon amie Victoria)

Review preview for My Friend Victoria

Only in France can a film of such delicate sensibility be made

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
The story of two young Parisiennes and their different destinies

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Jean-Paul Civeyrac; Writer: Jean-Paul Civeyrac, based on the novel by Doris Lessing; Stars: Guslagie Malanga, Nadia Moussa, Keylia Achie Beguie, Keemyah Omolongo, Catherine Mouchet, Pascal Greggory, Pierre Andrau, Alexis Loret, Tony Harrisson, Moussa Sylla, Aurore Broutin)

Full review

My Old Lady

An American inherits an apartment... and an unexpected resident.

(Country: US, France; Year: 2014; Director: Israel Horovitz; Writer: Israel Horovitz, Israel Horovitz; Stars: Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Kevin Kline, Dominique Pinon, Francis Dumaurier, Anouk Dutruit)

The Narrow Frame Of Midnight

An orphaned girl in Morocco finds herself at the mercy of a criminal and his girlfriend.

(Country: Morocco, UK, US, Qatar, France; Year: 2014; Director: Tala Hadid; Writer: Tala Hadid; Stars: Khalid Abdalla, Marie-Josée Croze, Hocine Choutri, Majdouline Idrissi, Hindi Zahra, Fadwa Boujouane)

Return To Ithaca (Retour à Ithaque)

A terrace overlooking Havana, the sunset. Five friends gather to celebrate the return of Amadeo after 16 years of exile. From dusk to dawn, they reminisce about their youth, the group they used to form, the faith they had in the future... but also their disillusionment.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Laurent Cantet; Stars: Jorge Perugorría, Pedro Julio Díaz Ferran, Fernando Hechevarria, Alberto Pujols, Isabel Santos)

The Turning

A collection of short films based on stories by Tim Winton.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2013; Director: Jonathan auf der Heide, Tony Ayres, Jub Clerc, Robert Connolly, Shaun Gladwell, Rhys Graham, Justin Kurzel, Yaron Lifschitz, Anthony Lucas, Claire McCarthy, Ian Meadows, Ashlee Page, Stephen Page, Simon Stone, Warwick Thornton, Marieka Walsh, Mia Wasikowska, David Wenham; Writer: Tim Winton; Stars: Rose Byrne, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh, Matt Nable, Callan Mulvey, Harrison Gilbertson, Myles Pollard, Dan Wyllie, Colin Friels, Brenna Harding, Susie Porter, Mirrah Foulkes, Kate Mulvany)

The Vanquishing Of The Witch Baba Yaga

Combines animation, traditional storytelling, and contemporary nonfiction filmmaking styles to recount the Slavic folktale of the frightful Baba Yaga, a witch said to live in a woodland hut perched on chicken legs who roasts her guests for dinner.

(Country: US, Ukraine, Russia, Poland; Year: 2013; Director: Jessica Oreck; Writer: Jessica Oreck)

Villa Touma

An orphaned teenager goes to stay with her three spinster aunts, who embark on an obsessive quest to find her a husband.

(Country: Occupied Palestinian Territory; Year: 2014; Director: Suha Arraf; Writer: Suha Arraf; Stars: Nisreen Faour, Ula Tabari, Cherien Dabis, Maria Zreik, Nicholas Jacob, Hussein Yassin Mahajne, Evelyn Kaplun, Eli Rezik, Doraid Liddawi, Diana Zreik, Jawaher Shoufani, Oriette Zaknun, Maria Zriek)

Walking Under Water

Documentary about the last compressor divers from the Badjao tribe in the Borneo sea.

(Country: Poland, UK, Germany, Indonesia; Year: 2014; Director: Eliza Kubarska; Writer: Eliza Kubarska, Eliza Kubarska)

Winter Sleep (Kis Uykusu)

Review preview for Winter Sleep

Ceylan explores such themes as moral responsibility, class and altruism with rigour.

Richard Mowe · 3.5 out of 5
A hotel owner gradually has his delusions stripped away from him.

(Country: Turkey, France, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Writer: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Stars: Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbag)

Full review

Journey gala

The Wonders (Le meraviglie)

Review preview for The Wonders

Wisdom is quiet and the future a mystery

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
Nothing will be the same at the end of this summer for Gelsomina and her three younger sisters.

(Country: Italy, Switzerland, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Alice Rohrwacher; Writer: Alice Rohrwacher; Stars: Maria Alexandra Lungu, Sam Louwyck, Alba Rohrwacher, Sabine Timoteo, Agnese Graziani, Monica Bellucci, )

Full review