Magical May Review: The Secret of Kells

Year: 2009 Runtime: 75 minutes Director: Tomm Moore Writers: Tomm Moore, Fabrice Ziolkowski Actors: Brendan Gleeson, Mick Lally, Evan McGuire, Christen Mooney, Liam Hourican, Paul Tylak, Paul Young By Joan Amenn Anyone who has taken drawing lessons knows that the first thing to master is basic shapes, like circles and triangles. “The Secret of Kells” (2009) is animated with that in mind as it tells … Continue reading Magical May Review: The Secret of Kells

SIFF 2022 Review: 2551.01

Year: 2022 Runtime: 65 minutes Director: Norbert Pfaffenbichler Writer: Norbert Pfaffenbichler Cast: Stefan Erber, David Ionescu By Joan Amenn This film is a strange amalgamation of dystopian horror, Grand Guignol and a homage to Charlie Chaplin. If experimental film is your thing, you may find “2551.01” (2022) a fascinatingly phantasmagoric ride. If not, the film may just frustrate with its hallucinatory images and lack of … Continue reading SIFF 2022 Review: 2551.01

I Lost My Body Review: Animated April

Even for their comparable centrality to daily life, hands are rarely granted the same artistic fascination as eyes in terms of metaphorical and poetic consideration. Proverbs and clichés alike lean on ideas of sight. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Literature and cinema follow the same path, whether it’s horror stories fixating on visions and illusions or the very idea of voyeurism as a touchpoint for artists from Alfred Hitchcock to Gillian Flynn. Sight dominates sensory storytelling, yet it is eschewed in favor of the tactile significance of hands and touches in “I Lost My Body” (2019). Jérémy Clapin’s film offers the parallel narratives of Naoufel (Hakim Faris) as he yearns for Gabrielle (Victoire du Bois), and Naoufel’s hand which embarks on a perilous journey to reunite with its body. Continue reading I Lost My Body Review: Animated April

GFF2022 Review: Where is Anne Frank

Year: 2021 Runtime: 99 minutes Director: Ari Folman Writer: Ari Folman Starring: Ruby Stokes, Emily Carey By Calum Cooper Anne Frank is a girl whose story everyone has heard; a Jewish teenager whose life was taken far too soon by the evils of the Holocaust. Yet her diary, published by her father, has ensured that her creative talent and emotional insights have lived on for … Continue reading GFF2022 Review: Where is Anne Frank

AlRawabi School For Girls: A Thrilling and Thought-Provoking Lambasting of Patriarchy

Film critic Calum Cooper writes about the power and themes of Netflix’s criminally underrated Arabic drama series, AlRawabi School For Girls. Continue reading AlRawabi School For Girls: A Thrilling and Thought-Provoking Lambasting of Patriarchy