23 Oct 2019 Director: Matt Tyrnauer USA 2016 92 mins Legendary writer and urban activist Jane Jacobs fought aDavid-and-Goliath battle against New York City ‘master builder’Robert Moses. Her quest was to preserve the historicneighbourhoods of Greenwich Village, Soho and Little Italy againstMoses’ plans to divide and destroy them with expressways. Herbook, The Death and Life… Continue reading Citizen Jane: Battle for the City
Tag: 2016
Alone in Berlin
20 Nov 2019 Director: Vincent Pérez France, Germany, UK 2016 101 mins Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson play an ordinary working-class German couple who quietly wage a personal campaign of anti-Nazi resistance. Uninterested in politics and content to keep to themselves, factory foreman Otto and his dutiful wife Anna are unlikely dissidents. When their son… Continue reading Alone in Berlin
Aquarius
06 Feb 2019 Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho Brazil, France 2016 146 min Neighbouring Sounds director Kleber Mendonça Filho returns with another intriguing insight into the state of modern Brazil that also provides a magnificent central role for Sonia Braga, so fondly remembered for Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Braga plays Clara, a retired music critic, who… Continue reading Aquarius
Clash
21 Mar 2018 Director: Mohamed Diab Egypt, France, Germany 2016 97 min Clash is a tense, harrowing, state-of-the-nation drama. Set in 2013, it pitches the audience into the turmoil of the mass protests in Egypt that toppled the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. In the crushing heat of an already fraught day, rival demonstrators, innocent bystanders, allies… Continue reading Clash
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
20 Sept 2017 Director: Taika Waititi New Zealand 2016 101 min Raised on hip-hop and in and out of foster homes, rebellious and defiant city kid Ricky gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. He quickly finds himself at home with a new foster family; the loving Aunt Bella, cantankerous Uncle Hec and… Continue reading Hunt for the Wilderpeople
I, Daniel Blake
29 Mar 2017 Director: Ken Loach UK 2016 100 min Daniel Blake is an older resident of Newcastle and, after suffering a heart attack, he can no longer do his job. However, a mobility test by the Department of Work and Pensions declares him fit for work and, while he waits for his appeal, Daniel… Continue reading I, Daniel Blake
Letters from Baghdad
18 Oct 2017 Directors: Sabine Krayenbühl & Zeva Oelbaum USA, UK, France 2016 95 min Voiced by Tilda Swinton, this fascinating documentary explores the remarkable life of English writer, archaeologist, diplomat and spy, Gertrude Bell. As a young woman, Bell travelled extensively throughout the Middle East producing maps and scholarly works. Eventually, her extraordinary talents… Continue reading Letters from Baghdad
Under the Shadow
15 Nov 2017 Director: Babak Anvari UK/Jordan/Qatar 2016 84 min Focusing on a mother and daughter besieged by forces both worldly and otherwise in a Tehran apartment block, Under the Shadow presents a gripping portrait of an independently spirited woman shackled by sharia law. She becomes more scared of the demonic forces tormenting her daughter… Continue reading Under the Shadow
Graduation
4 Oct 2017 Director: Cristian Mungiu Romania 2016 128 min The latest work from Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) deservedly won him Best Director at Cannes. Masterful in its construction, this is a gripping drama in which good intentions and guilty secrets gradually erode the moral certainties of a middle-class family.… Continue reading Graduation
The Other Side of Hope
1 Nov 2017 Director: Aki Kaurismäki Finland 2016 98 min Six years after the sublime, award-winning Le Havre, director Kaurismäki returns with his second film in a planned trilogy focusing on port cities. In this eccentric and cuttingly poignant comedy-drama, Wikstrom, a poker-playing restaurateur and former travelling salesman, crosses paths with Syrian stowaway Khaled who… Continue reading The Other Side of Hope