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Sands Film Festival · 2023

Sands Film Festival 2023

Full line-up

In addition to these film screenings, the festival will also host a number of events.

Programme

10 films · 8 reviews

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Big Night

Two brothers try to save their restaurant.

(Country: US; Year: 1996; Director: Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci; Writer: Stanley Tucci, Joseph Tropiano; Stars: Marc Anthony, Tony Shaloub, Stanley Tucci, Minnie Driver, Isabella Rosselini, Liev Schreiber)

Calendar Girls

Review preview for Calendar Girls

Without the soft focus common in representations of female subjects, we get to see their faces in all their lived-in three dimensionality.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A coming-of-golden-age look at Florida's most dedicated dance team for women over 60, shaking up the outdated image of "the little old lady," and calling for everyone to dance their hearts out, while they still can.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2022; Director: Maria Loohufvud, Love Martinsen; Writer: Maria Loohufvud, Love Martinsen)

Full review

Hidden Letters

Review preview for Hidden Letters

A timely, moving, frequently beautiful multi-layered portrait.

Sunil Chauhan · 4 out of 5
In modern-day China, two women strive to preserve Nushu, an ancient secret language that bonded generations of Chinese women together through centuries of oppression in a clandestine support system of sisterhood and survival.

(Country: China; Year: 2022; Director: Violet Du Feng, Qing Zhao; Writer: Violet Du Feng, John Farbrother; Stars: Simu Wu, He Yanxin, Xin Hu)

Full review

How To Save A Dead Friend

Together, two young lovers create an unbreakable bond within a destructive world.

(Country: Sweden, Norway, France, Germany; Year: 2022; Director: Marusya Syroechkovskaya)

Klondike

Review preview for Klondike

Gorbach presents war as an insidious and dangerous beast, prowling about the edges of people's lives, swiping at those who aren't directly involved just as easily as those who are.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of a Ukrainian family living on the border of Russia - Ukraine during the start of war. Irka refuses to leave her house even as the village gets captured by armed forces. Shortly after, they find themselves at the center of an air crash catastrophe on July 17, 2014.

(Country: Ukraine, Turkey; Year: 2022; Director: Maryna Er Gorbach; Writer: Maryna Er Gorbach; Stars: Evgeniy Efremov, Oleg Shcherbina, Oksana Cherkashyna, Oleg Shevchuk, Artur Aramyan)

Full review

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Review preview for Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

The puppetry here is brilliantly done.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Marcel, a one-inch-tall shell, lives a miniature life with his grandma Connie and their pet lint, Alan. When the trio goes viral, they get millions of fans and new hope for finding their long-lost family.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Dean Fleischer-Camp; Writer: Dean Fleischer-Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley; Stars: Jenny Slate, Isabella Rossellini, Dean Fleischer-Camp)

Full review

Monsters And Men

Review preview for Monsters And Men

Green isn't interested in demonising individuals but rather in considering the pressure points that can motivate violence and the code of silence it is easier for everyone to adopt rather than speaking out.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
This interwoven narrative explores the aftermath of a police killing of a black man. The film is told through the eyes of the bystander who filmed the act, an African-American police officer and a high-school baseball player.

(Year: 2018; Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green; Writer: Reinaldo Marcus Green; Stars: John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chanté Adams, Nicole Beharie, Rob Morgan)

Full review

My Love Affair With Marriage

Review preview for My Love Affair With Marriage

If there’s a single word to describe the latest film from Signe Baumane, it’s vibrancy.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Some people spend their lives wondering why a marriage didn’t last. Signe Baumane set out to get some answers. The result is this animated film, which combines ancient mythology and contemporary neuroscience.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Signe Baumane; Writer: Signe Baumane; Stars: Dagmara Dominczyk, Michele Pawk, Matthew Modine, Cameron Monaghan, Stephen Lang, Erica Schroeder, Emma Kenney, Anna O'Donoghue, Tanya Franks, Clyde Baldo, Najla Said, Keith Randolph Smith, Dan Domingues, Florencia Lozano, Ruby Modine)

Full review

Rye Lane

Review preview for Rye Lane

Rye Lane has a sustained energy that makes it a joyous experience to watch.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Two twenty-somethings reeling from bad break-ups deal with their nightmare exes and connect over the course of an eventful day in south London.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Raine Allen-Miller; Writer: Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia; Stars: David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah)

Full review

Soft & Quiet

Review preview for Soft & Quiet

The easy flow of de Araújo’s film and the intensity of its characters makes it easy to miss just what an impressive achievement it is at a technical level.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
An afternoon in the life of Emily, a female white supremacist and elementary school teacher.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Beth de Araújo; Writer: Beth de Araújo; Stars: Stefanie Estes, Olivia Luccardi, Eleanore Pienta, Dana Millican, Melissa Paulo, Jon Beavers, Cissy Ly)

Full review