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Seville Film Festival · 2018

Seville Film Festival 2018

Official Section

Programme

23 films · 10 reviews

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Adam And Evelyn (Adam Und Evelyn)

Potential romance blossoms against the backdrop of summer 1990 and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Andreas Goldstein; Writer: Andreas Goldstein, Jakobine Motz, Ingo Schulze; Stars: Christin Alexandrow, Susanne Bredehöft, Anne Kanis, Lena Lauzemis, Markus Lerch, Florian Teichtmeister, Milian Zerzawy, Christin Alexandrow, Susanne Bredehöft, Anne Kanis, Lena Lauzemis, Markus Lerch, Florian Teichtmeister, Milian Zerzawy)

All Is Well (Alles Ist Gut, All Good)

Review preview for All Is Well

Trobisch lets the normality bite.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman keeps silent after a rape.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Eva Trobisch; Writer: Eva Trobisch; Stars: Aenne Schwarz, Andreas Döhler, Hans Löw, Tilo Nest, Lina Wendel, Lisa Hagmeister, Dagny Dewath, Thomas Gräßle, Annika Blendl, Doris Buchrucker, Hildegard Faust-Albrecht, Vera Flück, Marc-Philipp Kochendörfer, Valentina Kühnel, Hermann Linnenbrink)

Full review

At War

Two years ago, the Perrin Industry Factory, 1100 employees, automotive supplier well known, affiliate to the German group Schäfer, signed an agreement asking to senior-managers and workers to accept a pay cut, in order to save the company in exchange of the promise to protect their jobs on at least the next five years. Today, the company takes the decision to close.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Stéphane Brizé; Writer: Stéphane Brizé; Stars: Vincent Lindon)

Out of competition

Close Enemies (Freres Ennemis)

Two brothers inseparable in childhood find themselves on either side of the law as adults - and on a collision course.

(Country: Belgium, France; Year: 2018; Director: David Oelhoffen; Writer: Jeanne Aptekman, David Oelhoffen; Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Sabrina Ouazani, Reda Kateb, Nicolas Giraud, Gwendolyn Gourvenec, Adel Bencherif, Marc Barbé, Astrid Whettnall, Yann Goven, Omar Salim, Djamel Lazaar, Ahmed Benaissa, Fianso, Raphaël Magnabosco, John Sehil)

Out of competition

Donbass

Review preview for Donbass

Each successive scene hits you over the head with the ferocity of the action.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
In the Donbass, a region of Eastern Ukraine, a hybrid war takes place, involving an open armed conflict alongside killings and robberies on a mass scale perpetrated by separatist gangs.

(Country: Germany, Ukraine, France, Netherlands, Romania; Year: 2018; Director: Sergei Loznitsa; Writer: Sergei Loznitsa; Stars: Valeriu Andriutã, Boris Kamorzin, Sergey Kolesov, Georgiy Deliev, Sergey Russkin, Alexander Zamuraev, Konstantin Itunin, Irina Plesnyayeva, Vadim Dubovsky, Svetlana Kolesova, Evgeny Chistyakov, Valeriu Andriutã, Boris Kamorzin, Sergey Kolesov, Georgiy Deliev)

Full review

Dovlatov

A few days in the life of the Russian-Jewish writer Sergei Dovlatov, whose brilliantly ironic texts were forbidden from being printed in the Soviet Union under Brezhnev, provide a portrait of an era of stagnation and its destructive effects.

(Country: Russia, Poland, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Aleksey German; Writer: Aleksey German; Stars: Milan Marić, Danila Kozlovsky, Helena Sujecka, Artur Beschastny, Elena Lyadova)

The Hidden City (La Ciudad Oculta)

Review preview for The Hidden City

Moreno's travels give us a sense of the enormity of what lies beneath, unhurried but curious in his progress, even homing in to look at the microscopic monsters we might not realise also make these caverns their home.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Beneath the modern city, there lies a vast labyrinth, which the filmmaker explores.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Víctor Moreno)

Full review

Idrissa, Crónica De Una Muerte Cualquiera

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Xavier Artigas, Xapo Ortega)

Joy

Drama about a woman caught up in the world of sex trafficking.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2018; Director: Sudabeh Mortezai; Stars: Joy Alphonsus, Mariam Precious Sanusi, Angela Ekeleme)

M

Documentary investigation into an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

(Year: 2018; Director: Yolande Zauberman)

Maya

A war reporter with PTSD heads home to India in a bid to find peace.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Mia Hansen-Løve; Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve; Stars: Suzan Anbeh, Judith Chemla, Roman Kolinka, Alex Descas, Aarshi Banerjee, Pascal Hintablian, Pathy Aiyar)

Never Look Away (Werk Ohne Autor)

Review preview for Never Look Away

The blurring of fictionalisation is just one of the layers that encourages contemplation almost deep enough to justify the film's expansive canvas.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A tormented young German artist who has fled to the west becomes convinced he has met the love of his life.

(Country: Germany, Italy; Year: 2018; Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; Writer: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; Stars: Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl, Oliver Masucci, Cai Cohrs, Ina Weisse, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Mark Zak, Ulrike C. Tscharre, Bastian Trost, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Hanno Koffler, David Schütter, Franz Pätzold)

Full review See: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck ‪in conversation on‬ his editor Patricia Rommel, the use of Händel in Never Look Away (Werk Ohne Autor), his family, and a Milan Kundera essay , Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck ‪in conversation on‬ Germany's Oscar submission Never Look Away (Werk Ohne Autor)

Non-Fiction (Doubles vies)

Review preview for Non-Fiction

In Assayas's smashingly sad comedy of manners, shoes drop left and right.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
A drama about the hopelessly intertwined world of publishing.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Olivier Assayas; Writer: Olivier Assayas; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Juliette Binoche, Vincent Macaigne, Christa Théret, Nora Hamzawi, Pascal Greggory, Laurent Poitrenaux, Sigrid Bouaziz, Lionel Dray, Nicolas Bouchaud, Antoine Reinartz, Aurélia Petit, Thierry de Peretti, Violaine Gillibert, Jean-Luc Vincent)

Full review See: Venice 2018: The Sisters Brothers, Sunset, Non-Fiction, The Mountain, Dragged Across Concrete, Charlie Say and Vox Lux

Pearl

Drama set in the world of female bodybuilding.

(Country: Switzerland, France; Year: 2018; Director: Elsa Amiel; Writer: Elsa Amiel, Laurent Larivière; Stars: Julia Föry, Peter Mullan, Vidal Arzoni, Arieh Worthalter, Agata Buzek, Julia Föry, Peter Mullan, Vidal Arzoni, Arieh Worthalter, Agata Buzek)

Pity

Review preview for Pity

Yannis Drakopoulos is on fine form in the central role and there are some great supporting performances.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The story of a man who feels happy only when he is unhappy: addicted to sadness, with such need for pity, that he’s willing to do everything to evoke it from others. This is the life of a man in a world not cruel enough for him.

(Country: Greece, Poland; Year: 2018; Director: Babis Makridis; Writer: Efthymis Filippou, Babis Makridis; Stars: Yannis Drakopoulos, Evi Saoulidou, Nota Tserniafski, Makis Papadimitriou, Georgina Chryskioti, Evdoxia Androulidaki)

Full review See: Efthymis Filippou talks about his career in Valencia

Ray & Liz (Ray And Liz)

Review preview for Ray & Liz

Billingham's consideration calls for empathy rather than condemnation.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Drama about a dysfunctional family.

(Country: UK; Year: 2018; Director: Richard Billingham; Writer: Richard Billingham; Stars: Michelle Bonnard, Tony Way, Ella Smith, Justin Salinger, Sam Gittins, James Eeles, Andrew Jefferson-Tierney, James Hinton, Michelle Bonnard, Tony Way, Ella Smith, Justin Salinger, Sam Gittins, James Eeles, Andrew Jefferson-Tierney)

Full review

Ruben Brandt, Collector

A psychotherapist suffers violent nightmares inspired by legendary works of art. Four of his patients, expert thieves, offer to steal the works.

(Country: Hungary; Year: 2018; Director: Milorad Krstic; Writer: Milorad Krstic, Radmila Roczkov; Stars: Paul Bellantoni, Gabriella Hámori, Iván Kamarás, Zalán Makranczi, Paul Bellantoni, Gabriella Hámori, Iván Kamarás, Zalán Makranczi)

Sorry Angel (Plaire, Aimer Et Courir Vite)

Review preview for Sorry Angel

Honoré handles the strands with considerable agility and admirable lack of cliché or sentimentality employing camerawork that is clean and uncluttered.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
Two gay men struggle with love in the shadow of mortality.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Christophe Honore; Writer: Christophe Honore; Stars: Pierre Deladonchamps, Vincent Lacoste, Denis Podalydès)

Full review See: Christophe Honoré on sex in the Nineties, nudity, seduction and desire in Sorry Angel

The Summer House (Les Estivants)

A woman coping with a recent break up goes on holiday with her daughter.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 2018; Director: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi; Writer: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Noémie Lvovsky, Agnès de Sacy; Stars: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Yolande Moreau, Noémie Lvovsky, Pierre Arditi, Valeria Golino, Laurent Stocker, Bruno Raffaelli, Marisa Borini, Stefano Cassetti, Riccardo Scamarcio, Anthony Ursin, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Yolande Moreau, Noémie Lvovsky, Pierre Arditi)

Sunset (Napszállta)

Review preview for Sunset

Sunset while resisting the digital, flings us into a dreamworld where nostalgia for the past is twin to premonition of our future.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A young wannabe milliner in Budapest meets a man connected to her past and begins to uncover family secrets.

(Country: Hungary, France; Year: 2018; Director: László Nemes; Writer: László Nemes, Clara Royer, Matthieu Taponier; Stars: Vlad Ivanov, Susanne Wuest, Juli Jakab, Judit Bárdos, Levente Molnár, Evelin Dobos, Urs Rechn, Mónika Balsai, Björn Freiberg, Uwe Lauer, János Kulka, Sándor Zsótér, Mihály Kormos, Dusán Vitanovics, Laurent Winkler)

Full review See: ‪László Nemes in conversation on fairy tales, Murnau's Sunrise, archaic imagery, and resonances beyond Sunset (Napszállta) , László Nemes in conversation on TS Eliot, caves of darkness, the innocent and ominous in Sunset (Napszállta) , Venice 2018: The Sisters Brothers, Sunset, Non-Fiction, The Mountain, Dragged Across Concrete, Charlie Say and Vox Lux

Touch Me Not

Laura doesn’t want to be touched. Christian, who lives with physical impairments, talks candidly about his sexuality. This film explores our ideas of intimacy.

(Country: Romania, Germany, Czech Republic, France; Year: 2018; Director: Adina Pintilie; Writer: Adina Pintilie; Stars: Laura Benson, Tómas Lemarquis, Christian Bayerlein, Grit Uhlemann, Hanna Hofmann)

What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire?

Review preview for What You Gonna Do When The World's On Fire?

While content is important, it is context that is king in a documentary, and this film could do with a lot more of it to orient viewers, especially those who don't have a full working knowledge of the American South.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
The story of a community of black people in the American South during the summer 2017, when a string of brutal killings of black men sent shockwaves throughout the country.

(Country: Italy, US; Year: 2018; Director: Roberto Minervini; Writer: Roberto Minervini; Stars: Dorothy Hill, Kevin Goodman, Judy Hill, Ronaldo King, Michael Nelson, Ashlei King, Titus Turner)

Full review

The Wild Pear Tree (Ahlat Agaci)

Sinan is passionate about literature and has always wanted to be a writer. Returning to the village where he was born, he pours his heart and soul into scraping together the money he needs to be published, but his father’s debts catch up with him...

(Country: Turkey, Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Sweden; Year: 2018; Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Writer: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Stars: Serkan Keskin, Hazar Ergüçlü, Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Dogu Demirkol, Murat Cemcir, Ercüment Balakoglu, Tamer Levent, Öner Erkan, Bennu Yildirimlar, Kadir Çermik, Özay Fecht, Asena Keskinci, Kubilay Tunçer, Sencar Sagdic, Serkan Keskin)