VENICE 2024: Aïcha (2024)
★★★☆☆
Aïcha, directed by Mehdi Barsaoui, is a thrilling study of a young woman’s life amid endemic corruption in Tunisia, as she tries to find a new life and new identity.
Still in cinemas
Venice 2024: The Witness (2024) (Shahed)
★★★★☆
The Witness, directed by Nader Saeivar and co-written with Jafar Panahi, uses women and dance to tell the story of contemporary Iran.
VENICE 2024: TWST (2024)
★★★★☆
Romanian director Andrei Ujica’s documentary is a snapshot of America in a hot August 1965, the year The Beatles arrived.
Venice and Toronto 2024: Mistress Dispeller (2024)
★★★☆☆
Mistress Dispeller, an intimate documentary by Elizabeth Lo, shows a unique Chinese practice.
VENICE 2024: Manas (2024)
★★★☆☆
Manas by Marianna Brennand takes us into turmoil in a closed Amazonian community.
Firebrand (2023)
★★★★☆
Firebrand directed by Karim Aïnouz is an entertaining slice of simplified English history starring Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan and Simon Russell Beale.
Film reviews
Mandoob (Night Courier) (2023)
★★★☆☆
Mehdoob (Night Courier) directed by Ali Kalthami is a sophisticated thriller about a hapless delivery driver caught in societal change in Saudi Arabia.
About Dry Grasses (2023) (Kuru Otlar Üstüne)
★★★★★
About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan is another masterpiece from the Turkish auteur.
The Small Back Room (1948)
★★★★☆
Vintage classic The Small Back Room, Powell and Pressburger’s must-see 1948 noir masterpiece, has been restored and released in new 4K.
Two Tickets To Greece (2022) (Les Cyclades)
★★★☆☆
Two Tickets To Greece, directed by Marc Fitoussi with French stars, is an odd-couple comedy that looks beautiful and is rather predictable.
Bleeding Love (2023)
★★☆☆☆
An estranged father and daughter gradually reconnect during a cross-country journey following her overdose in director Emma Westenberg’s feature debut Bleeding Love.
The Trouble With Jessica (2023)
★★★☆☆
The Trouble with Jessica directed by Matt Winn is a north London-set black comedy.
Oscars Awards 2024
★★★★☆
Oscars 2024 Awards
Driving Mum (2022) (Á Ferð með Mömmu)
★★★☆☆
Driving Mum by Icelandic director Hilmar Oddsson is darkly strange, absurd and poignant.
Bafta Awards 2024
★★★★☆
Bafta Awards 2024
Your Fat Friend (2023)
★★★☆☆
Your Fat Friend, a documentary directed by Jeanie Finlay, is the touching story of obesity rights campaigner Aubrey Gordon.
