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Sands Film Festival · 2024

Sands Film Festival 2024

Full line-up

Programme

10 films · 7 reviews

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Achilles

A young filmmaker who currently works in a hospital takes a mental patient out for a short ride to find out who she really is. Now he has to decide whether to run away with her or take her back to the hospital.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2023; Director: Farhad Delaram; Writer: Farhad Delaram; Stars: Mirsaeed Molavian, Behdokht Valian, Roya Afshar, Neda Aghighi, Firouz Agheli)

Maestra

Documentary follows women from different backgrounds as they compete in the first all-women competition for conducting.

(Country: US, France, Poland, Greece; Year: 2023; Director: Maggie Contreras)

Mami Wata

Review preview for Mami Wata

Using very simple props, Obasi constructs a whole world in this small coastal location.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
When the harmony in a village is threatened by outside elements, two sisters must fight to save their people and restore the glory of a mermaid goddess to the land.

(Country: Nigeria; Year: 2023; Director: CJ "Fiery" Obasi; Writer: CJ "Fiery" Obasi; Stars: Evelyne Ily, Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Kelechi Udegbe, Emeka Amakeze, Rita Edochie, Tough Bone)

Full review

Orlando, My Political Biography (Orlando, ma biographie politique)

Review preview for Orlando, My Political Biography

Capturing the experience of living in a world where one’s gender doesn’t fit better than almost any other film to date, Preciado’s work is all about claiming space and present day narrative.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Docufiction interpretation of Virginia Woolf's novel.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Paul B Preciado; Writer: Paul B Preciado; Stars: Paul B Preciado)

Full review

Silent Roar

A young surfer struggles to accept his father's disappearance at sea.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Johnny Barrington; Writer: Johnny Barrington; Stars: Louis McCartney, Ella Lily Hyland, Mark Lockyer, Fiona Bell)

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Review preview for Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

This is a place of cleansing, not just of the body but so much more as this non-intrusive but immersive film gradually reveals.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
In the darkness of a smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences, washing off the shame trapped in their bodies and regaining their strength through a sense of communion.

(Country: Estonia, France, Iceland; Year: 2023; Director: Anna Hints)

Full review See: Anna Hints on building trust and the importance of the elements to Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Sometimes I Think About Dying

Review preview for Sometimes I Think About Dying

The film wonderfully captures the dynamics of workplace small talk.

Jeremy Mathews · 4 out of 5
Fran likes to think about dying. It brings sensation to her quiet life. When she makes the new guy at work laugh, it leads to more: a date, a slice of pie, a conversation, a spark. The only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Rachel Lambert; Writer: Kevin Armento, Stefanie Abel Horowitz, Katy Wright-Mead; Stars: Daisy Ridley, Dave Merheje, Parvesh Cheena, Marcia DeBonis, Meg Stalter, Brittany O'Grady)

Full review

Welcome To Collinwood

Review preview for Welcome To Collinwood

Does not live up to its promise, but is worthy of encouragement, nevertheless.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
A group of hapless crooks attempt to pull off the perfect heist in Cleveland.

(Country: US; Year: 2002; Director: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo; Writer: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo; Stars: Sam Rockwell, Luis Guzman, William H Macy, George Clooney, Patricia Clarkson, Jennifer Esposito, Isaiah Washington, Gabrielle Union, Michael Jeter)

Full review

Wolfwalkers

Review preview for Wolfwalkers

The seamless, flowing quality of the animation is what will capture older viewers' attention first - and hold it.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Animation set in the Ireland of the Cromwell period, when a young apprentice hunter comes to Ireland to wipe out the last pack... only to discover the magical world of the wolfwalkers.

(Country: Luxembourg, Ireland, US; Year: 2020; Director: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart; Writer: Will Collins, Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart; Stars: Sean Bean, Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker, Simon McBurney, Tommy Tiernan, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jon Kenny, John Morton, Nora Twomey, Paul Young, Niamh Moyles, Oliver McGrath, Sean Bean, Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker)

Full review See: Interview with Svend Rothmann Bonde and Maria Pareja about Wolfwalkers