This part fiction, part documentary film captures the spontaneity of young friends Leonel and AntuànDirected by Pablo Briones, Sean Clark, and Jace Freeman, here is a film that blurs the lines between fiction and documentary as it accentuates bitterswe…
Angeliena review – car park worker dreams of getaway in shallow South African drama
Thin characterisation and a superficial critique of wealth inequality post-apartheid keep Uga Carlini’s fiction in first gearThe colourful opening of Uga Carlini’s Angeliena suggests a giddy ride awaits: the camera follows a suitcase plastered with tra…
The East review – war is hell … for the bloodthirsty imperialists
Jim Taihuttu’s story of Dutch soldiers in Indonesia is as short-sighted as the old-fashioned colonialists it is trying to criticiseThe canonisation of Apocalypse Now has resulted in a cinematic template for the psychological war epic where the battlefi…
Balloon review – playfulness and melancholy in Tibet’s sheep-herding life
Writer-director Pema Tseden tells this story of a clash between modernity and tradition as a woman is dismayed to find she is pregnantThe latest of Pema Tseden’s empathic and intimate portraits of Tibetan pastoral life begins with an intriguing cloudin…
My Name Is Pauli Murray review – the legacy of a fearless campaigner
Having made pivotal early contributions to civil rights and women’s liberation, the activist gets a blander documentary than they deserveThe new film from Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the directors of RBG, is about Pauli Murray (1910-1985), a Black acti…
Mission: Galaxy review – kids’ eco space odyssey lacks energy
While its goals are noble, uninspiring animation fails to ignite this sci-fi questMission: Galaxy opens on Planet Kepler, once a vibrant and fecund home for its inhabitants. A solemn voiceover recalls the tragic day when Earthers trespassed on this bea…