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NewFest · 2023

NewFest 2023

Narrative Features

Programme

28 films · 17 reviews

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All Of Us Strangers

Review preview for All Of Us Strangers

Protagonist Adam (Andrew Scott) lives in a neatly furnished home, no longer feels the need to hide his sexuality, and tells himself he’s fine, but the music says otherwise.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A screenwriter embarks on a relationship with a neighbour at the same time as making a journey into his troubled past.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Andrew Haigh; Writer: Andrew Haigh, Taichi Yamada; Stars: Jamie Bell, Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Claire Foy, Cameron Ashplant, Guy Robbins, Zachary Timmis, Jack Cronin, Christian Di Sciullo, Jack Pallister, Victoria Walker, Oliver Franks, Carolina Van Wyhe, Lincoln R. Beckett, Gsus Lopez)

Full review

All the Colours Of The World Are Between Black And White

Bambino and Bawa meet in Lagos and hit it off immediately. During their long trips around the city, they develop a deep affection for each other. But in a society which considers homosexuality taboo, they feel the pressure of social norms.

(Country: Nigeria; Year: 2023; Director: Babatunde Apalowo; Stars: Tope Tedela, Riyo David, Martha Ehinome Orhiere, Uchechika Elumelu, Floyd Anekwe)

All The Fires (Todos los incendios)

Review preview for All The Fires

All The Fires is a film built out of contradictions from which meaning gradually emerges.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Conflicted by his mother's new relationship and his best friend's crush on him, Bruno, a pyromaniac teenager, escapes from the city. He sets off on a journey in search of a girl he met online who will push him to confront his father's death and the doubts about his sexuality, but not before leaving all his fires behind.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2023; Director: Mauricio Calderón Rico; Writer: Mauricio Calderón Rico; Stars: Ximena Ayala, Antonio Fortier, Iliana Donatlán, Natalia Quiroz, Hector Illanes, Sebastian Rojano, Ari Lopez, Hannah Romen)

Full review

Almamula

Review preview for Almamula

A semi-autobiographical film with a potent sense of place, Almamula alternates between realism and fantasy, its camerawork reflecting the conflicting ways of thinking at its core.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
12-year-old Nino is assaulted for being homosexual. In an effort to protect the boy, his parents move the family to a small rural village.

(Country: France, Argentina, Italy; Year: 2023; Director: Juan Sebastián Torales; Writer: Juan Sebastián Torales; Stars: Nicolás Díaz, Martina Grimaldi, María Soldi, Cali Coronel)

Full review See: Interview with Juan Sebastián Torales about Almamula

Anhell69

Review preview for Anhell69

The film immerses us in the life of the city.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A funeral car cruises the streets of Medellin, while a young director tells the story of his past in this violent and conservative city.

(Country: Colombia, Romania, France, Germany; Year: 2022; Director: Theo Montoya; Writer: Theo Montoya; Stars: Camilo Najar, Sergio Pérez, Juan Pérez, Alejandro Hincapié, Julian David Moncada, Camilo Machado, Víctor Gaviria, Alejandro Mendigana)

Full review

Big Boys

Jamie’s dream camping trip is ruined before it even begins when he finds out that his beloved cousin is bringing her new boyfriend. However, Jamie’s initial jealousy of the competent and confident Dan quickly turns into a friendship as they bond over cooking, games and both being ‘big boys’ - and Jamie gradually realises that he has other feelings for Dan too.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Corin Sherman; Writer: Corin Sherman; Stars: Isaac Krasner, David Johnson III, Emily Deschanel)

Chestnut

A recent graduate becomes entangled in a relationship with a man and a woman during her summer after college.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jac Cron; Writer: Jac Cron; Stars: Natalia DyerRachel KellerDanny Ramirez, Chella Mn, Caleb Eberhardt)

Chocolate Babies

A group of New Yorkers fights for AIDS rights by any means necessary.

(Country: US; Year: 1996; Director: Stephen Winter; Writer: Stephen Winter; Stars: Dudley Findlay Jr, Bryan Webster, Gregg Ferguson, Claude E Sloan, Jon Kit Lee, Michael Lynch, Sean Barr)

Clashing Differences

Review preview for Clashing Differences

Spiky, insightful and joyously unapologetic.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Trying to satisfy a diversity checklist, a group of women of colour and queer women discover the real intention behind their workshop retreat.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Merle Grimme; Writer: Merle Grimme; Stars: Inka Friedrich, Anna Stieblich, Eva Bay, Rabea Lüthi, Jane Chirwa, Lisa Hrdina, Thelma Buabeng, Minh-Khai Phan Thi, Christine Wilhelmni, Safak Sengül, Tucké Royal)

Full review

Cora Bora

Cora senses her open relationship is on the rocks. When the struggling musician and messy millennial goes home to Portland to win her girlfriend back, she realizes it’s much more than her love life that needs salvaging.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Hannah Pearl Utt; Writer: Rhianon Jones; Stars: Megan Stalter, Jojo T Gibbs, Manny Jacinto, Ayden Mayeri, Thomas Mann, Chrissie Fit, Andre Hyland, Chelsea Peretti, Margaret Cho, Darrell Hammond)

Eileen

Review preview for Eileen

There are so many shots through things, boundaries, borders, thresholds, that we are primed for other barriers crossed. Those transgressions are not light ones, but in them is an abject honesty.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counsellor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: William Oldroyd; Writer: Luke Goebel, Ottessa Moshfegh, based on the novel by Ottessa Moshfegh; Stars: Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway, Shea Whigham, Marin Ireland, Owen Teague)

Full review

Fancy Dance

Review preview for Fancy Dance

An emotionally engaging portrait of the struggles of life on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Following her sister's disappearance, a Native American hustler kidnaps her niece from the child's white grandparents and sets out for the state powwow in hopes of keeping what is left of their family intact.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Erica Tremblay; Writer: Erica Tremblay; Stars: Lily Gladstone, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay, Shea Whigham, Audrey Wasilewski)

Full review

Gods And Monsters

In his old age, film director James Whale, a man with a long history, begins to develop unexpectedly deep feelings for his gardener.

(Country: US; Year: 1998; Director: Bill Condon; Writer: Bill Condon; Stars: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser)

Golden Delicious

Review preview for Golden Delicious

Much messier and more like real life than the average coming-of-age film.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
An Asian Canadian teenager grapples with his identity when he falls for the boy next door. What will his family think? And how will he tell his girlfriend?

(Country: Canada; Year: 2022; Director: Jason Karman; Writer: Gorrman Lee; Stars: Cardi Wong, Chris Carson, Parmiss Sehat)

Full review

Housekeeping For Beginners (Domakinstvo za Pocetnici)

Review preview for Housekeeping For Beginners

For all the apparent chaos, this is a tightly controlled piece of work which fully delivers on the promise of Stolevski’s earlier films.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A lesbian suddenly finds herself responsible for her partner’s two daughters.

(Country: North Macedonia, Sweden, Kosovo, Poland, Serbia, Croatia; Year: 2023; Director: Goran Stolevski; Writer: Goran Stolevski; Stars: Rozafa Celaj, Sara Klimoska, Anamaria Marinca, Mia Mustafi, Aleksandra Pesevska, Samson Selim, Alina Serban, Vladimir Tintor, Ajse Useini)

Full review

Lie With Me (Arrête Avec Tes Mensonges)

Review preview for Lie With Me

Despite the powerful allure of the romance in the film there is a lot more going on. An equal amount of attention is paid to the importance of identity.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When a novelist has an unexpected encounter in his professional life, he recalls falling in love with the young man's father.

(Country: France; Year: 2022; Director: Olivier Peyon; Writer: Olivier Peyon, Vincent Poymiro, Arthur Cahn, Cécilia Rouaud; Stars: Guillaume de Tonquédec, Victor Belmondo, Guilaine Londez, Jérémy Gillet)

Full review See: Interview with Olivier Peyon about Lie With Me

The Lost Boys (Le Paradis)

Two young men find love in a hopeless place – a youth correctional facility.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2023; Director: Zeno Graton; Writer: Zeno Graton, Clara Bourreau, Maarten Loix; Stars: Khalil Ben Gharbia, Julien De Saint Jean, Eye Haidara, Jonathan Couzinié, Matéo Bastien, Samuel Di Napoli, Amine Hamidou, Nlandu Lubansu, Terry Ngoga, Audrey D'Hulstère, Laurence Oltuski, David Leclercq, Noémie Van Cauwelaert, Marc-Elie Piedagnel, Marc Gallo)

The Mattachine Family

Review preview for The Mattachine Family

This is one of those very Californian tales in which the problems that most people in the world have to deal with simply don’t exist.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Thomas and Oscar have spent a year as foster parents to a wonderful child, a calling that's shown them new dimensions of what 'family' can mean. However, when the young boy is reunited with his birth mother, the couple's differing views on what the experience meant come into focus.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Andy Vallentine; Writer: Danny Vallentine; Stars: Nico Tortorella, Juan Pablo Di Pace, Emily Hampshire, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Heather Matarazzo, Cloie Wyatt Taylor, Jake Choi, Garrett Clayton, Annie Funke, Colleen Foy)

Full review

May December

Review preview for May December

The balance held between creepiness and fascination, sheer fun and lingering disturbance is held throughout.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
20 years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Todd Haynes; Writer: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik; Stars: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Cory Michael Smith, Charles Melton, Piper Curda, Drew Scheid, Kelvin Han Lee)

Full review See: Todd Haynes at the 61st New York Film Festival press conference for May December

Monster (Kaibutsu)

Review preview for Monster

A beautifully constructed piece of work in which every detail serves the whole, putting the tools of the epic at the disposal of a story which is intimate and delicately realised.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A mother is shocked when she learns what a teacher has said to her son, but the truth is more complicated.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Yûji Sakamoto; Stars: Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiragi)

Full review

National Anthem

Dylan lives an isolated life of routine in rural New Mexico, working odd construction jobs to help support his little brother and alcoholic mother. He accepts a gig working at the House of Splendor, a homestead built by a community of queer rodeo performers and ranchers, and soon the indefinable magic of an untamed America unfolds before him.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Luke Gilford; Writer: David Largman Murray, Kevin Best, Luke Gilford; Stars: Charlie Plummer, Eve Lindley, Mason Alexander Park, Rene Rosado, Robyn Lively)

Nyad

Review preview for Nyad

The film undercuts the pop psychology associated with sporting success, clearing the space in which to attempt a more honest account.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The remarkable true story of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, who, at the age of 60, set out to become the first person to complete the 'Everest of swims', a 53-hour, 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida through dangerous open ocean without a shark cage.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi; Writer: Julia Cox; Stars: Jodie Foster, Annette Bening, Rhys Ifans, Ethan Jones Romero, Johnny Solo)

Full review

A Place Of Our Own (Ek Jagah Apni)

Two trans women fight to find a place to live in Bhopal after the sudden eviction from their home by a prejudiced landlord.

(Country: India; Year: 2022; Director: Ektara Collective; Writer: Rinchin, Maheen Mirza, Manisha Soni, Muskan)

Rustin

Review preview for Rustin

It’s difficult to imagine the famously shrewd yet antagonistic Rustin being better cast.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
The story of gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who organised the 1963 March on Washington.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: George C Wolfe; Writer: Julian Breece, Dustin Lance Black; Stars: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, CCH Pounder, Da'Vine Joy Randolph)

Full review

Something You Said Last Night

Review preview for Something You Said Last Night

De Filippis understands the value of the small stuff.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
After being fired from her job, Ren, an aspiring writer and mid-twenty-something, accompanies her Canadian-Italian family on vacation.

(Country: Canada, Switzerland; Year: 2022; Director: Luis De Filippis; Writer: Luis De Filippis; Stars: Carmen Madonia, Ramona Milano, Paige Evans, Joe Parro, Xxavier Woon-A-Tai, Augustus Oicle, Drew Catherine, Mark Winnick, Nate Colitto, Mark Soltermann, Anna Starnino, Lorcan DaSilva Déiseach, Jennifer Balen, Michelle Gidari, Carmelo Nelson)

Full review See: Director Luis De Filippis and star Carmen Madonia talk about family, identity and authenticity in Something You Said Last Night

Summer Solstice

A trans man and his cis, straight friend take a weekend trip which pushes the limits of their longstanding relationship

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Noah Schamus; Writer: Noah Schamus; Stars: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Marianne Rendón)

This Place

A coming-of-age story about two women falling in love for the first time. As they grow closer, each is forced to confront their family histories in unexpected ways, while navigating multiple legacies of grief and love.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2022; Director: VT Nayani; Writer: Golshan Abdmoulaie, Devery Jacobs, VT Nayani; Stars: Devery Jacobs, Priya Guns, Janïsa Weekes, Alex Joseph, Britanny LaBorgne, Ali Momen)