Seduced And Abandoned (2013)
★★★★☆
A documentary shot at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, James Toback’s Seduced And Abandoned explores the unique aura of the festival itself, cinema art, money, glamour and death.
★★★★
Gloria (2013)
★★★★☆
Taking on the world one man at a time, Sebastián Lelio’s Gloria is a glorious look at a woman giving up on love.
The Selfish Giant (2013)
★★★★☆
Based on a children’s short story by Oscar Wilde, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant is a rag and bone tale of friendship de profundis.
Love, Marilyn (2012)
★★★★☆
A moving portrait of a model on the make and an actress facing her demons, Liz Garbus’s Love, Marilyn brings the Hollywood icon back to life.
Le Week-End (2013)
★★★★☆
Love, life and languor in the City of Lights, Roger Michell’s Le Week-End sees a couple renegotiating their marriage and giving it the ooh-la-la.
In The Name Of / W Imie (2013)
★★★★☆
Love in a dark time, Malgorzata Szumowska’s In The Name Of evokes the desolation of a gay man in conflict with God with summertime brilliance.
The Great Beauty / La Grande Bellezza (2013)
★★★★☆
A love poem to the Italian capital and a searing portrait of its glitterati, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty is a virtuoso vision of fiddling while Rome burns.
The Stuart Hall Project (2013)
★★★★☆
A study of the great British cultural theorist, John Akomfrah’s bio-doc The Stuart Hall Project is a patchwork of black identity exposing the empire state of mind.
Upstream Color (2013)
★★★★☆
A rhapsody in blue, Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color takes a trip through other worlds and interconnected lives.
Winter Of Discontent (2012)
★★★★☆
A timely revisit to Egypt’s democratic revolution, Ibrahim El-Batout’s Winter Of Discontent exposes the human side of the Arab Spring and the power of the image.
Call Girl (2012)
★★★★☆
With its corrupt politics and hustling broads, Mikael Marcimain’s Call Girl offers a pleasurably nostalgic vision of teenage girls living in a material world.
Kuma (2012)
★★★★☆
East meets West in Umut Dag’s Kuma when a Turkish girl, chosen as a second wife, sets an immigrant family living in Vienna awhirl.
Silence (2013)
★★★★☆
Part documentary and part fiction, Pat Collins’ Silence is an Irish evocation of one man’s long journey home.
Paradise Hope / Paradies Hoffnung (2013)
★★★★☆
With a teenager falling for an older man at fat camp, Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise Hope remains optimistic of a better life. All it needs is a little discipline.