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Festival coverage

NewFest

16 October – 27 October 2020

Kelet
Kelet

2020's Newfest was a blend of virtual and drive-in screenings. It opened with fossil-hunting romance Ammonite, which stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.

The festival ran from 16 to 27 October.

Other years (7)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Minyan
    Review preview for Minyan

    With a moody jazz score full of languorous clarinets, this is a long cool drink before the unseen war.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    New York in the 1980s. Seventeen-year-old David, who is tentatively beginning to express his homosexuality in the East Village gay scene, gradually starts to question the strict rules of his Jewish community.
  • Shiva Baby
    Review preview for Shiva Baby

    A little gem of a film.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A college student's day takes an unexpected turn when her sugar daddy arrives at the shiva she's attending with his accomplished wife and crying baby.
  • Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)
    Review preview for Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)

    A cheerful, messy kind of comedy which doesn't hit every beat but is easy to like.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    In this romcom, Ellie’s dead aunt has the perfect dating advice for her. But will she listen to it?
  • Two Of Us
    Review preview for Two Of Us

    Two of Us jolts the senses - you can smell when the hot pan stays on the stove too long and want to interfere.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
    Two retired women, who have been in a secret relationship for decades, find their relationship turned upside down when the truth begins to come out.
  • Ammonite
    Review preview for Ammonite

    The good work in Ammonite is so good that one longs for it to pick up the pace, to function more successfully overall.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    In 1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.
  • Rurangi
    Review preview for Rurangi

    The production values are modest, in accordance with the budget, but the actors acquit themselves well.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    Burnt-out trans activist Caz returns to the rural dairy community he fled before transition, to reconnect with his father. As father and son reconcile, Caz finds new purpose, spearheading the town's environmental fight against 'Big Dairy'.
  • Tahara
    Review preview for Tahara

    DeFreece is excellent and provides the backbone of the film.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A queer, coming of age drama set in Rochester, NY about an anxious teen girl who is manipulated into a romantic encounter with her best friend during the funeral service of their former Hebrew school classmate.
  • Kelet
    Review preview for Kelet

    Susani Mahadura's documentary tells a very personal story whilst teasing out related themes.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Kelet is a young Somali trans woman who dreams of becoming a Vogue model. Leaving her family in Manchester to return to her childhood home in Finland, she draws on the support of her friends in the Vogue community to immerse herself in Helsinki's glamour.
  • Forgotten Roads
    Review preview for Forgotten Roads

    Ríos is superb in the lead, revealing a natural sensuality that we rarely get to see in older actresses yet never allowing us to doubt the strength that lies behind it.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A lonely widow from the countryside moves in with her daughter in a small, conservative town, and falls in love with an independent married woman who sings in a bar.
  • Always Amber
    Review preview for Always Amber

    Conversations about internal and external experiences of gender provide structure, but there's much more to Amber as a person.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Documentary about youngsters with fluid identities.

A–Z of NewFest 2020 reviews

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