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London Film Festival · 2021

London Film Festival 2021

Journey

Programme

15 films · 4 reviews

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Citizen Ashe

Documentary about tennis ace Arthur Ashe's life and career.

(Year: 2021; Director: Rex Miller, Sam Pollard; Writer: TJ Volgare; Stars: Johnnie Ashe, Stephanie Cookie Carson, Donald Dell, Harry Edwards, Victor Ellis, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Ej McGorda, Tiana Melvina, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Lenny Simpson)

The Crossing (La Traversee)

Fleeing their village, two children are separated from their parents and embark on a heroic journey.

(Country: France, Czech Republic, Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Florence Miailhe; Writer: Marie Desplechin, Florence Miailhe)

Fires

Drama miniseries set across the backdrop of Australia's Black Summer due to fires.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2021; Director: Michael Rymer, Ana Kokkinos, Kim Mordaunt; Writer: Tony Ayres, Belinda Chayko, Belinda Chayko; Stars: Hunter Page-Lochard, Shareena Clanton, Sotiris Tzelios, Ameshol Ajang, Steve Bastoni, Charlotte Best, Ian Bliss, Kate Box, Nyawuda Chuol, Stacy Clausen, Taylor Ferguson, Damien Fotiou, Josh Hayes, Noni Hazlehurst, Daniel Henshall)

Freda

A family running a street food shop in Haiti struggles with financial precarity and daily violence, prompting dreams of a better life elsewhere.

(Country: Haiti, Benin, France, Qatar; Year: 2021; Director: Gessica Geneus; Writer: Gessica Geneus)

Holgut

Hybrid film about Yakutia, the far Russian state where the Siberian permafrost is melting.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Liesbeth De Ceulaer; Writer: Liesbeth De Ceulaer; Stars: Semyon Grigoriev, Kyym Skrybykin, Roman Skrybykin)

Luzzu

Review preview for Luzzu

This is a clear-eyed view of the choices Jesmark and those like him are facing, showing just how complex the situation is, cutting beyond work to community and culture.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A struggling Maltese fisherman faces tough choices about the future.

(Country: Malta; Year: 2021; Director: Alex Camilleri; Writer: Alex Camilleri; Stars: Michaela Farrugia, Jesmark Scicluna, Michaela Farrugia, Jesmark Scicluna)

Full review See: Alex Camilleri on Luzzu

Mothers Of The Revolution

Documentary about the Greenham Common Peace Camp.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2021; Director: Briar March; Writer: Brendan Donovan, Bryn Evans, Briar March; Stars: Georgie Oulton, Amelia Reynolds, Jacque Drew, Jocelyn Christian, Bronwyn Ensor, Cameron Rhodes, Elizabeth McRae, Freya Finch, Donna Brookbanks, Kerynn Walsh, Charles Pierard, Kate Elliott, Glenda Jackson)

Mr Bachmann and His Class (Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse)

Documentary about a teacher and his pupils.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Maria Speth)

Nudo Mixteco

Triptych of stories centred on indigenous women in the fictional location of San Mateo, a small Mixtec town in the province of Oaxaca.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2021; Director: Ángeles Cruz; Writer: Ángeles Cruz; Stars: Sonia Couoh, Noé Hernández, Myriam Bravo, Eileen Yañez, Aida López, Jorge Doal)

Passing

Review preview for Passing

The role is a gift for Negga, who has always evinced considerable talent but has not previously had the chance to demonstrate her abilities to this extent.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Two African-American women who can "pass" as white choose to live on opposite sides of the colour line in 1929 New York in an exploration of racial and gender identity, performance, obsession and repression.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Rebecca Hall; Writer: Rebecca Hall, Nella Larsen; Stars: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp)

Full review

A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces

Review preview for A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces

Shengze Zhu mixes the past, present and vision of the future in a new, strange, anti-social, empty world.

Mateusz Tarwacki · 4 out of 5
A Wuhan-set documentary that focuses on the Yangtze River.

(Year: 2021; Director: Shengze Zhu)

Full review

The Sea Ahead

After a long time gone, Jana, a young woman, suddenly returns to Beirut. She finds herself reconnecting with the familiar yet strange life she once left.

(Country: France, Lebanon, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Ely Dagher)

Sediments

Review preview for Sediments

In its quiet, observational way, Sediments gets closer to the experience of what it means to be trans than any number of more direct interrogations.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Just as the Earth is, our inner selves are made up of many layers that make up our identity and tell the story of our existence.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2021; Director: Adrian Silvestre; Writer: Adrian Silvestre; Stars: Alicia de Benito, Lena Brasas, Cristina Millán)

Full review

The Wolf Suit

The filmmaker considers the act of remembering as she takes an emotional journey into her own past.

(Year: 2021; Director: Sam Firth)

Wood And Water

A German woman (played by the filmmaker’s own mother) dreams of spending time with her grown children, including her uncommunicative and elusive son.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Jonas Bak; Writer: Jonas Bak; Stars: Anke Bak, Theresa Bak, Ricky Yeung, Anke Bak, Theresa Bak, Ricky Yeung)