投稿者: Peter Bradshaw
Rotterdam film festivalA set of shorts by film-makers from Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Syria and Somalia are shocking, funny and mysterious in equal measureWith considerable chutzpah and elan, and in her capacity as producer and UNHCR Goodwill ambassad…
Film-maker Chloe Abrahams combines documentary and memory in candid conversations with the women in her familyThe mango taste is bittersweet in this documentary-memoir of family pain and secrets from film-maker Chloe Abrahams. Using a small digital vid…
Made under dangerous conditions, this documentary charts how the lives of three women were turned upside down by Afghanistan’s overthrow in 2021Afghan film-maker Sahra Mani, creator of the rape-survivor documentary A Thousand Girls Like Me from 2018, b…
Inspired by a true story, this feelgood Indian film is about some Bollywood superfans making their own movies with a cheeky but admirable DIY ethosHere is a thoroughly enjoyable, big-hearted movie about building a better life through showbusiness. It i…
Cannes film festivalPayal Kapadia’s glorious Cannes competition selection is an absorbing story of three nurses that is full of humanityThere is a freshness and emotional clarity in Payal Kapadia’s Cannes competition selection, an enriching humanity an…
Flickering Lights review – how the arrival of electricity heralded peace in a turbulent Indian state
Years in the making, this documentary shows preparations for the arrival of mains power in a village in Nagaland as part of a deal with the Indian governmentWith great patience over a period of years, Indian film-makers Anirban Dutta and Anupama Sriniv…
Director Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov’s debut feature about two young brothers attempting to find their errant father is a deeply humane story about family and responsibilityThere’s a marvellous freshness and gentleness to this 1991 movie, a little like earl…
Documentary follows Somi and her husband, who are struggling to live an ordinary life after their past as Naxalite guerrillasIf it’s the function of a documentary to open a window on the world – a part of the world that isn’t revealed by the nightly TV…
News anchor Kumar stays quietly courageous amid nationalist hysteria in Vinay Shukla’s tense documentary – but its final note of hope has been undermined by recent eventsEvents have overtaken this sombre documentary, which, though interesting and relev…
A trainee teacher’s dreams of becoming a singer are interrupted when he is posted to the world’s remotest school in Pawo Choyning Dorji’s gentle dramaThis gentle, sweet-natured movie is the debut feature from Bhutan-born and US-educated film-maker Pawo…
Saim Sadiq’s film explores the unsettled social and sexual identities of a widower and his children with delicacy and tendernessThe right way to feel love, and the right way to feel part of a family, are the insoluble difficulties at the heart of this …
Two Indian brothers dedicate themselves to rescuing birds that are being poisoned by pollution in this complex and quietly beautiful filmShaunak Sen’s documentary is a complex, thoughtful, quietly beautiful film about the ecosystem and human community….
Sombre documentary shot over five years follows two healthcare workers as they deliver babies in a brutally divided societySnow Hnin Ei Hlaing’s documentary is about two midwives – one Buddhist, one Muslim – in Rakhine state in western Myanmar, on the …
The struggles and triumphs of a 1950s Kolkata family whose highest earner is a woman is told with marvellous lucidity in an optimistic masterpieceSatyajit Ray’s magnificent movie from 1963 is now rereleased as part of a Ray retrospective at London’s BF…
There are hints of Sergio Leone and Cormac McCarthy in this Rajasthan-set mystery starring the actor and his sonRaj Singh Chaudhary is the Indian actor, screenwriter and now director who has developed his career under the mentorship of Anurag Kashyap, …