Frances Ha (2012)
★★★★☆
Down and out in Paris and Brooklyn, Noah Baumbach’s playful comedy Frances Ha is a bittersweet romp through the earnest dreams of youth.
★★★★
Wadjda (2012)
★★★★☆
In Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda, an enterprising Saudi schoolgirl enters her school’s Koran recitation competition to raise money to buy a forbidden bicycle.
Blancanieves (2012)
★★★★☆
A very Spanish retelling of the Snow White fairytale, Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves is an enchanting, spellbinding homage to the silent age.
Les Invisibles (2012)
★★★★☆
Putting the stories of nine venerable gay men and women under the spotlight, Sébastien Lifshitz’s Les Invisibles pays homage to love, self-fulfilment and revolution.
Play (2011)
★★★★☆
Through teen scams, Native American song and an ownerless cradle, Ruben Östlund’s Play offers a long hard look at social discomfort at play.
We Steal Secrets The Story of WikiLeaks (2013)
★★★★☆
Removing the fog of war, Alex Gibney’s We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks exposes the truth behind whistleblowers and hackers on the digital stage.
The Wall / Die Wand (2012)
★★★★☆
An exploration of self beyond the lives of others, Julian Pölsler’s The Wall puts femininity and humanity on show in a glass cage.
Out In The Dark / Alata (2012)
★★★★☆
Defusing the Israeli–Palestinian conflict with a love that dares to cross borders, Michael Mayer’s Out In The Dark is a powerful and intensely moving tale of underground romance.
Renoir (2012)
★★★★☆
With a rich colour palette, Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir sees the worlds of both artist and filmmaker come to life at the hands of a dazzling muse.
Shun Li And The Poet / Io Sono Li (2011)
★★★★☆
Andrea Segre’s Shun Li And The Poet is a tender tale of friendship between a Chinese immigrant and a Venetian fisherman-cum-poet.
Before Midnight (2013)
★★★★☆
Relationships laid bare on a Greek island, Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight seduces with its beauty, intelligence and wit. But is this love?
Paradise Love / Paradies Liebe (2012)
★★★★☆
The first in Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise trilogy, Paradise: Love looks at holiday racism and fifty-something sex with the Viennese director’s familiar wry humour.
Come As You Are / Hasta La Vista (2011)
★★★★☆
Polemicising the sexless adolescence of disabled youth, Geoffrey Enthoven’s Come As You Are seeks salvation on the Spanish costa.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
★★★★☆
Caught between tradition and progress, Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist turns Mohsin Hamid’s bestselling novel into a cat and mouse thriller.