BFI LFF 2020: Mangrove (2020)
★★★★☆
Mangrove, part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe canon, is a grippingly acted reconstruction of police racism in 1970 Notting Hill, the iconic café and the courtroom sensation of the prosecution of the Mangrove Nine.
★★★★
Rocks (2019) and Q&A
★★★★☆
Rocks by Sarah Gavron is a sad and joyous film about the resilience and spirit of girlhood – sisterhood at its most powerful.
Les Misérables (2019)
★★★★☆
Les Misérables is an explosive first feature about simmering racial tensions in a Paris banlieu from Malian-French actor and director Ladj Ly.
The Brink (2019) – ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
Alison Klayman’s The Brink is a must-see documentary following dangerous eminence grise Steve Bannon over the crucial period of the US midterms and the EU elections.
Babyteeth (2019)
★★★★☆
Babyteeth is a vivid new take on coming-of-age directed by Shannon Murphy from a script that Rita Kalnejais adapted from her play of the same title.
Pinocchio (2020)
★★★★☆
Matteo Garrone’s surreal live-action fantasy takes the Italian classic Pinocchio disturbingly back to its original dark roots.
Papicha (2019) ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
Papicha is a stunning female-centred drama freely inspired, its director Mounia Meddour says, by real events in Algeria in the 1990s.
Make Up (2019) – in cinemas and on demand. Online Q&A 3 August
Make Up is an original coming-of-age horror/drama by first-time director Claire Oakley.
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Proxima (2019)
★★★★☆
The superbly focused French female astronaut in woman-centred Proxima directed by Anna Winocour is torn apart by the conflict between needing freedom to achieve and the pain of separation from her daughter.
Undocument (2017) – ON DEMAND NOW
★★★★☆
Undocument describes so much human misery that it’s hard to watch – but we must.
The Uncertain Kingdom (2019) – ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
The Uncertain Kingdom collection of short films is a powerfully diverse commentary on 21st century Britain.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
★★★★☆
Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an award-winning, realistic, forceful film about the difficulty of obtaining an abortion in the US, directed by Eliza Hittman.
The Lunchbox (2013) – ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
In Mumbai, in Ritesh Batria’s The Lunchbox, a typical lunchbox accidentally delivered to the wrong person leads to a touching romance by correspondence between two lonely people.
Calm With Horses (2019) – Q&A and ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
Calm With Horses is a stunning first feature by director Nick Rowland, adapted by screenwriter Joe Murtagh from a short story by Colin Barrett in his Young Skins collection, executive produced by actor Michael Fassbender.