★★★★★ Directed by: #UsherMorgan Written by: #UsherMorgan Starring: #KatieVincent, #SebastianArcelus Short Film Review by: Emily Davison When a young woman suffering from severe agoraphobia loses her beloved therapy dog, she must find the courage to not only find her pet, but also face her own demons and find herself. HomeBound (2021), directed and written by Usher Morgan, is a short drama focusing on Jamie (Katie Vincent), who has an extreme fear of leaving her New York apartment and being amongst crowds. After being advised by her therapist to get a dog, her gorgeous King Charlies puppy Bailey, becomes the catalyst to coaxing her to venture outside onto the loud, busy streets outside her apartment. This is a very impressive film with an enthralling character study, depicting the great lengths one can take to overcome their personal demons and come out as a better version of themselves on the other side. It is an intimate and personal story, with an intense claustrophobic atmosphere presented throughout, as Morgan quite often implements extreme close ups on the lead and deeply immerse his audience in Jamie’s distressed headspace. We really feel the emotional trauma of her losing her dog, emphasised by quick flashbacks demonstrating the unconditional love and dedication they have for one another; it feels a great loss when we discover Bailey is missing. The film orchestrates captivating visual metaphors for Jamie’s severe isolation and anxiety through a black empty space which surrounds her when she attempts to leave the front door of her apartment, or the hallway outside suddenly full of missing posters for her and Bailey. An awful, unsettling moment comes at the mid-point when we see Jamie appearing more confident in herself after getting her dog, only for her therapist to try and kiss her. It is heart-breaking to see her composure shatter afterwards, however, Bailey remains the grounding force in her life, stabilising her and making her feel safe. The film proudly promotes a touching message about the importance of therapy dogs in providing well needed companionship and support for those that need it. Katie Vincent as Jamie also gives a fantastic performance, conveying the overwhelming terror and uncertainty of her character very authentically. She is sensitive and emotionally raw throughout; a particular highlight of her performance shines when she breaks down beside her front door as she struggles to leave her apartment and steady her breathing. The film would not work nearly as well without that strong leading performance and Vincent is incredible in this. Despite the hard hitting tension and stress, the film finally ends on a heartfelt, cathartic note which is very emotional after we have closely experienced Jamie’s anxiety alongside her for the better part of twenty minutes. Astyria wrote and performed the original song ‘Burn’, which plays during the final sequence showing Jamie overcoming her fears and adds a great triumphant punch to the scene, contrasting the wonderfully melancholic original tracks composed by Christopher North. Despite having a simple plot, HomeBound works perfectly as a self-contained, intimate character piece. It tells an uplifting, emotionally resonant story which is executed expertly through precise direction and a fantastic lead performance, with a powerful message about the human drive to face our fears and overcome the obstacles life throws at us. This endearing short comes highly recommended (especially for dog lovers!). Watch Homebound: #EmilyDavison

★★ Directed by: Jarret Liotta Written by: Jarret Liotta Starring: Frank Muni, Josh Hyman, Nya Sanaa Short Film Review by: Chris Olson Small Town Movie Review Filmmaker Jarret Liotta’s short film Small Town Movie deals with some rather large topics. From racism and gun control, to cancel culture and protesting, the movie aims to take a satirical look at some of the hottest topics in the U.S, presenting the often moronic, Twitter-comments-style dialogue from characters all over the political spectrum in order to create a cacophony of chaos and anxiety. One of the central characters is a local teacher called Elliott LeBlanc (Josh Hyman), who seems to be the most affected by the swirling conversations and situations he overhears or witnesses. He is there when anti-liberal patrons in a cafe are spewing “What about white people?!” and “What would you do if a black guy…” and this seems to get him on edge enough to purchase a gun. He’s made to really care about his PP (Pistol Permit), in a running gag that’s as funny in this review as it is in the film. He sees his class jeering about the idea he’s a slavemaster and seems confused when they make “whipping” jokes. This last aspect affects a black student called Zeena (Nya Sanaa), who is enraged by her teacher’s lack of control over the class and decides to organise a protest - where the culmination of Elliott’s confusion takes place with tragic consequences. As with the global arguing on social media platforms, there is no search for truth or a peaceful conclusion here. Small Town Movie knows it has no chance of reconciling the varying opinions it is ridiculing and instead pokes fun in all directions, as well it should. The jokes don't land sadly, largely because the characters are so unlikable and the script resorts to gags like the aforementioned PP, or having a cafe customer describe Dutch people as being “grey” numerous times. The short film is successful in showcasing the confusion around the various topics up for discussion, such as diversity and inclusion, or police brutality and police protection. One scene was particularly well shot, where Mr LeBlanc goes to buy his gun in a montage with a Country song playing over the film. It has the simple terror of how easily and mundane it seems for a person who has been whipped up by scaremongering to go and purchase a lethal weapon. During the protest, Sanaa does make an impassioned speech about the situation and even states the line “Your jokes are not funny…your words hurt people” - which seems to hit home harder than the filmmaker may have intended. With never a day without a firestorm of controversy, social media and the global faecal fight that rages on have shown us that we won’t reach a satisfying compromise any time soon. This painful and exhausting fact seems no less painful or exhausting when showcased in a short film format like this. Whilst Liotta and co certainly deserve credit for wanting to make fun of the alarmingly baffling opinions people have about these serious topics - whether right or left - all the film ends up doing is regurgitating the opinions without enough stress on the satire. Watch the official Small Town Movie trailer below:

By Chris Olson Our third instalment of the UK Film Review Festival was an absolute blast! Our biggest lineup ever, with films from across the world, podcast specials, press attendance, as well as a special filmmaker event that saw 30+ filmmakers connect for one special night to talk about their films. It was an absolute honour! All of our winners have now been announced on our film podcast. Thank you to everyone who has been listening to us on the podcast, it has been a lot of fun so please keep listening. We have new shows every week, with some new ones coming in 2023. Here are all of our winners for each category - with a few special mentions. Best LGBTQ+ Film: Pronouns in Bio Best Comedy Film: Wicked Plans Honourable Mentions Pandemic Spy & Rise of Fizzy Pop Best Crime/Thriller Film: Coast Road Best Documentary: A Manchester Story Best Drama Film: Community Service Best Horror Film: File Not Found Best Feature Film: Anonymous Honourable Mentions Clout & The Letters Best Short Film: Garage Well done to all the filmmakers in this year's film festival. It was an incredible selection and we enjoyed watching, reviewing, and showcasing them. Stay up to date with all the latest goings on with UK Film Review by joining our social communities - listed at the bottom of the page.

★★ Directed by: #BijanKarim Starring: #AldenDoyle, #KellenJackson, #SuchitraVanRielBarrett Short Film Review by: Alexandra James Rosa is a short film about 3 friends, Adrian, Kyra, and Rosa. However, Rosa has faded away, where to and how is not exactly clear. The audience are left in a state of confusion in terms of the time frame of this. However, Rosa’s disappearance has left Adrian and Kyra in a state of loneliness and uncertainty, especially in terms of love and their feelings towards one another. Director Bijan Karim explores the vulnerability of the characters and how loss can often draw people closer together, but this can also bring forth complications such as guilt or betrayal. It is sometimes difficult to separate that need for comfort and actual love. This certainly seems to be the case between Adrian and Kyra, a mixture of emotions combined with young naivety leads to an uneasy relationship between the two. The story begins with Kyra and Adrian alone in the woods together sharing a personal moment, they smoke weed and Adrian shares how he cut his hand. They then spend the night together in the forest, a quiet spot where Kyra escapes to so that she can be alone but has now chosen to share this space with Adrian. The location here was beautiful, the crystal-clear river flowing, the deep greens of the overhanging trees as well as the isolated feel of the forest itself was truly captivating and picturesque. There is chemistry between the two characters, but it appears very repressed at times as if they are unwilling to share their true feelings towards each other and perhaps Rosa is at the source of this emotional distance. However, this is not entirely clear, the storyline is often missing pieces of information which would help to patch together the narrative. The film needed to provide detail surrounding the characters so that the audience can understand the relationship between them and their missing friend so that we can fully digest this piece. The facts do not need to be explicitly told and spelled out to the audience; however, some background information would have encouraged more of a fascination with the characters and their lives from the audience perspective. It was difficult to understand a lot of the dialogue throughout this short, sound was an element which could have been improved as the background noise whether this be wind, trees or traffic buried the voice of the actors which in turn made some scenes hard to follow. Sound is crucial as the audience need to focus on the words, meaning, tone, and delivery as this allows us to establish the relationship or connection between the characters. This would be something to develop upon to help aid the storyline and for it to flow a lot smoother.

★★★★★ Directed by: #AkashSunethkumara Starring: #IshankaAbeysekara, #VimukthiKiriella, #KrishanthaMendis, #MuthumaliPerera Short Film Review by: Alexandra James Temporal takes on the difficult theme of time travel, a confusing yet fascinating subject that makes the audience wonder what they would change in history. Would it be something personal to them or a significant moment which changed the world? For our protagonist Kalpa Keerthisinghe, a physicist working on creating a programme that allows humans to go back in time within five-minute intervals, his only priority is to save his girlfriend who ends up in a tragic accident. However, time travel does not come without its problems, with every movement and every decision we make this can completely alter the reality we know today. For Kalpa, this becomes apparent very quickly and he soon learns about the dangers his actions cause when returning to the past. This short film focuses on the distant relationship between Kalpa and Nikita (Ishanka Abeysekara). Kalpa is constantly distracted with work, and this creates a large divide between the couple. Nikita wants her boyfriend to meet her friends and to socialise with others, however, Kalpa’s focus is primarily on this project. He is neglectful and naïve, and this ultimately leads to his partners serious accident. The film then focuses on Kalpa using his invention to save his girlfriend. With time travel cinema, it is often very heavily focused on detail, it is always important to have strict continuity. Flash backs to the past and back to the present with the character moving between different dimensions. It is often complicated and problematic because it is crucial to have accuracy when changes occur from the past as they need to be reflected in the future. Director Akash Sunethkumara accomplishes this successfully, the detail within this short is brilliant as everything fits perfectly and feeds into the excitement within the storyline. With each time Kalpa returns to the past, the scene is filled with intensity and a foreboding ambience. Dangers lie ahead for our protagonist as he attempts to save his loved one. The production for this short created an exhilarating cinematic experience, the audience are also rooting for the character throughout, and we become invested in his mission urging him to keep fighting. This was a fascinating short film which came with thrills, fear, and action around every corner. It was an extremely entertaining short and flowed exceedingly well, the audience were on the edge of their seat for a lot of the scenes. The characters were very well rounded, and the acting was seamless, which meant that you were able to invest in the story completely.

★★★★★ Directed by: #StanleySievers Starring: #StanleySievers, #JoScott, #MirandaRoldán, #KatrinaNaficy, #EliMandel Short Film Review by: Alexandra James Samurai Sword is a short comedy which tells the story of a man who needs to make some important changes in his life. Daniel, played by Stanley Sievers, is a gullible man who still behaves like a child and very much remains in this fantasy world which he has established for himself. Unfortunately, the people around him want him to face reality and take responsibility for his actions. Daniel is extremely immature and never seems to face the consequences of his behaviour. He becomes infatuated with a samurai sword which he finds in a flea market, spending his entire rent money to pay for it because he believes it is cursed and holds power which can change his fate for the better…. yes, insane! However, his sister gives him an ultimatum, either pay your way or move out. The rest of the film focuses on Daniel’s journey of self-discovery, will he carry on hurting those around him or can he find it in himself to break this cycle, make amends and change his old ways for the better. The fast-paced editing made this piece look like comic book strip, Siever is clearly inspired by Edgar Wright’s style of filmmaking and whilst watching I did notice that the style was like the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World both in terms of editing as well as humour with the witty awkwardness of some of the characters. Let’s be honest, you can’t really get more awkward than Michael Cera and there were echoes of this persona in some of the characters of Samurai Sword. If you’re going to be inspired by a director, it’s always great to choose an innovative director such as Edgar Wright. The short was peppered with sword fighting montages and the editing added to the comedic value by suddenly removing the music and exposing a full-grown man playing with a sword on his own bringing the story firmly back to reality. The power of editing is fascinating as it can completely elevate the story itself, as well as add elements and dimensions to the film whether this be a sad undertone or comedic high. The story flowed extremely well and although was more of a comedy rather than a life lesson, it does teach the audience the importance of adapting and changing your ways to get out of a rut and to build bridges between people. Daniel unfortunately, has stuck to his immature ways far too long in life and the people around him cannot take it anymore. It is important to take a step back and reflect on our behaviour before we go ahead and blame others first. Samurai Sword was funny, bizarre, and very cool. If you are a fan of Edgar Wright films then this is up your street, if you’re also a fan of cursed swords then this will also be your cup of tea! Siever’s work is clever, witty and provides us with a rather crucial message to take home; to make amends with loved ones.

★★★★ Directed by: #AnthonyJCook Starring: #VictoriaSmith, #IanMairs, #SophiaWaterton, #HannahWest, #OwenLlewelyn Short Film Review by: Alexandra James Can’t Go Home Again is a short sci-fi that takes the audience on a journey travelling through space and time, with one important question that arises, what moment in your life would you like to go back and change? For Agent Elliot Young the answer is simple, there was only one point in her life which has haunted and left her traumatised, against all odds, she attempts to stop this event from taking place. However, Agent Elliot is forbidden from revisiting this part of time, but this emotional tragedy is far too great for her to turn back now. Anthony J. Cook, director of Can’t Go Home Again, combines science fiction and serious matters such as abuse both physically and mentally. Two very different themes intertwined, and although it is rare to watch a sci-fi film with these kinds of subjects, it worked extremely well. Elliot Young goes back to visit her family home, the place where it all started. Elliot poses as a police officer and is greeted by her father and convinces him that there is trouble in the area, he finally allows her in and offers a drink. The interaction between the two is forced and uncomfortable. Elliot comes across as a confident and powerful character, showing how she has taken charge of her own story and is no longer the victim. Her goal is to take revenge upon her father, an abusive and manipulative man and the source of her and her mother’s pain and suffering. Ian Mairs who plays the father Justin, was a good choice however, the aggression and anger fuelled persona that he needed to portray was lacking. It was difficult to see him as this intimidating figure, it was clear that this role did not come naturally. It is often difficult to become this kind of dominant character if you are mild-mannered in everyday life. In that sense, it was not an entirely convincing performance. However, the sly and undermining comments make him more of a vicious character rather than violent. It was clear that the relationship between the two was fraught and they were completely estranged from one another. I did find it interesting that the father accepted quite quicky that his daughter had returned from the future, this may have not been my first guess! It would have made sense to keep that layer of confusion and would add drama to the scene. Can’t Go Home Again provides a voice to victims and puts them in control of their own story. Agent Elliot is a strong character and has overcome the fear and manipulative tactics of her father, she is now able to overpower him and rewrite her own past, she does not let this define who she is as a person. This was a great short film with a powerful message.

★★★★ Directed by: #AliMoazen Starring: #EbrahimAzizi and #SohaNiasti Short Film Review by: Alexandra James Lover and the Sea is a short film about a young man and woman bound together by love; however, Leila is a married woman and is torn between her heart and her head and wishes to not betray her husband any further. Nevertheless, Leila’s lover believes the reason for her cutting their affair so short is because he is unable to please her sexually due to his dysfunction. The entirety of the film takes place on a lonesome beach, with only the sea to hear their dark secrets. Director Ali Moazen displays the true realities of love and the despair and travesty that it can summon. Moazen highlights that love does not always bring happiness and shows us the consequences that arise when one chooses to follow their heart, it does not always lead to the best outcome. What works well within this short is the simplicity of it, although shot at one location being an exceptionally quiet and peaceful beach, it complements the narrative playing out on screen. It also helps to aid the storyline; the weather is gloomy and ominous creating this foreboding atmosphere. The audience instantly sense that the connection between the couple is filled with feelings of resentment and grief as the scene encompasses this dark undertone. This scene is the epitome of the perfect location, as it reflects as well as fuels the narrative projecting this sombre mood. The couple look distressed and tired as if arguing night and day, it was clear that their relationship had grounded to a halt, and this was portrayed by their melancholic facial expressions. As the couple share this private moment with each other and discuss the end of their affair, they do not directly look each other in the eye, instead they speak and look out to the sea. As if unable to face the fact that their relationship is coming to this bitter end. Both actors conveyed this burnt love well, you could connect with the characters and relate to their circumstance as many of us have had to endure this uncomfortable and unwilling discussion with a lover. I will not spoil the ending, but it is one that is unexpected and left open to interpretation. Lover and the Sea is a great short film which focuses heavily on the complexities that surround love and relationships. The story is primarily directed towards the couple and the life with which they are shielding from others. This film encourages the audience to debate right and wrong and this idea of being a moral human being and whether this can be disregarded when it comes to matters of the heart and love being at the crux of the situation.

Film Festival Feature by Chris Olson When I decided to launch the film festival back in 2020, the world had never seemed stranger to me. A pandemic was hitting hard, life was being turned outside in, and the future suddenly seemed to feel a lot more blurry. The UK Film Review Festival (UKFRF) felt like a way to stay connected to the critics of the site and the filmmakers who form our active community, whilst shielding ourselves from uncertainty by holding the event online and in our control. Two years later and normality has resumed but the world seems stranger still. A new world order is in effect and life steel feels uncertain and to be frank, scary. That's why I am so thrilled and honoured to be hosting the 3rd UK Film Review Festival with our biggest lineup so far! Not only does it still help us to feel connected by our shared love of independent film, it also helps us to know that hard work and passion will often get us through the tough times - which may come unyieldingly. It gives me great pleasure to announce the 2022 UK Film Review Festival Lineup: Best Comedy Boomslang 2: The Dinner The Show Wicked Plans Moving Parts Pandemic Spy Rise of Fizzy Pop Best Crime/Thriller Coast Road The Saint The Night Out Sometime Else Best Drama Another Day Railroad to Hell: A Chinaman's Chance Ruth Green Lanes The Letters For I Am Dead Community Service Plant Life Pulse Sometime Else Best LGBTQ+ Pronouns in Bio Swimming With You For I Am Dead Best Horror Doll File Not Found Zombie Beach Best Documentary A Manchester Story The World Cruzer Ukraine War, In the eyes of refugees Best Feature Anonymous Clout What You Can't Promise Where The Merrows Roam The Letters Best Short Film For I Am Dead A Moral Man Baroness Brother Troll Cha Chapel of Rest Fat Boy Finding Wilson Garage Holestepper (Pisahueco) Hollow HoneyDough Jumpers for Goalposts Kowalsky Lactown Making Beethoven Proud Man to Man Mein Mehmood Old Windows One for the Ditch Painting By Numbers Playdate Powdered Dandelions Purgatory Rage Queen of Diamonds The Find The Girl and the Tide The Quiet Throw Your Heart Over First Trigger True Colours The Night Out Community Service Plant Life Pulse Sometime Else The festival takes place RIGHT HERE on the UK Film Review website on November 12 and 13. Passes for the festival can be purchased here. If you are looking for a PRESS Pass find out more here. Head over to our Dailymotion channel now to watch the trailers for the lineup.

Struggling to find something to watch this Halloween? Well here are 13 of the best films to stream. I have deliberately avoided the obvious choices, the likes of Cronenberg, Carpenter, Argento, Bava, Romero etc. to offer something a little different. Happy Spookies! We’re All Going to the World’s Fair Lonely teen Casey (Anna Cobb) begins to look inwards as she engages with the online Creepypasta-like role-playing game We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. As she immerses herself in the game reality begins to slip and she feels herself losing control of her body and emotions. The breakout film from director Jane Schoenbrun is a beautiful and haunting portrait of the confluence of dysphoria and online culture. Available on Shudder. Mad God Visual effects genius Phil Tippet (Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Robocop) presents his magnum opus, a work thirty years in the making. A stop-motion Inferno, a journey through a tortured landscape, a squelchy, vile, and grotesque nightmare. Every second takes you deeper into revulsion. Unmissable. Available on Shudder. His House After escaping war-torn Sudan a refugee couple are allocated a dilapidated house in England, but a spirit in the walls tells them they are not welcome. Equally a tight-knit ghost story and a dense allegory, Remi Weeks’ debut feature interrogates the racist politicising and inhumane treatment of refugees. Available on Netflix until 29th October, then BBC iPlayer. Dead Set What would happen if you were on Big Brother UK during the zombie outbreak? Well, pre-Black Mirror Charlie Brooker decided to answer that very specific question. A Romero-like zombie thriller loaded with sharp criticism of reality TV culture, although bizarrely allowed to use BB branding and starring Davina McCall? (Admittedly a TV-series but with a full runtime of 2hrs21mins I’ve made an exception.) Available on Netflix. Pulse Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s early internet ghost story feels ominously prescient as people become paradoxically more connected and increasingly isolated as the technology becomes more prevalent. A masterfully suspenseful tale of techno-paranoia, with some of the most intense and unsettling scares of the century so far. Available on the BFI Player. Eyes Without a Face A surgeon culpable for his daughter’s disfiguration abducts young women in order to successfully perform a face transplant and restore her visage. A seedy body horror that is viscerally oppressive, assaulting both aurally and visually, playing deep into the uncanny valley and our discomfort with our own mortal flesh. Available on the BFI Player. The Slumber Party Massacre & The Slumber Party Massacre II The Slumber Party Massacre films have that campy charm one wants from a slasher, but they have enough bite to make them meaningful and memorable. The original manoeuvres accordingly between burgeoning teenage feminine sexuality and malevolent masculine presence, but the sequel goes all the way and becomes a flamboyant, outlandish, bad-taste riot. Available on Amazon Prime Video. The Changeling After losing both his wife and daughter in a car crash composer John Russell takes up residency in an old abandoned mansion, little did he know, the house has secrets of its own. Sometimes all it takes is a big, scary, not-so-empty house to scare the life out of you, and Peter Medak’s The Changeling delivers exactly that. Available on Amazon Prime Video. Cat People One of the cornerstones of horror, Jacques Tourneur’s (I Walked With a Zombie) 1942 tale of gendered sexual repression turned dangerous. Layered with animal instincts and longing stares, Cat People does what Horror does best and turns sub-text into super-text. To call it iconic would be an understatement. Available on BBC iPlayer. Horror Express Hammer alumni Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star in this 70s paranormal thrill ride. After unearthing a well-preserved humanoid creature from the ice in Manchuria, Professor Saxton (Christopher Lee) must escort it back to Europe on the Trans-Siberian express. But when several of the passengers suffer mysterious and confounding deaths, they begin to suspect that their cargo is something not of our world. Eye bulging, paranoia, and Telly Savalas hurtling through the snow at breakneck speed, all aboard! Available on BBC iPlayer. Night Tide A displaced gothic romance resituated in a seaside town. A sailor on shore leave (Dennis Hopper) falls for the mysterious Mora (Linda Lawson) at the local Jazz bar, but as their relationship grows so too do the rumours spread by the local townspeople. What is Mora, a mermaid? A murderer? Available on MUBI. Knife + Heart Anne, a producer for gay porn films in the late 70s, is caught at the center of a mystery when a serial murderer begins targeting her stars. With stunningly lit colourful set pieces and an abundance of leather Knife + Heart is a gorgeously grotty queer giallo up there with the best in the genre. Available on MUBI.

On Tuesday, Programmer and Head of Film and Visual Art at Eden Court Cinema, Paul MacDonald-Taylor took to the stage to announce the line-up for the 20th edition of the Inverness Film Festival. He unveiled a core programme of upcoming British and International features, alongside a range of special presentations, Scottish shorts, and a selection of films from previous iterations of the festival to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Running from the 4th to the 10th of November, the festival opens and closes with, respectively, James Gray’s (Ad Astra, The Lost City of Z) personal family drama, Armageddon Time, and cheffing thriller The Menu. Preceding the festival on Wednesday 2nd there is a special preview screening of Living, the Bill Nighy starring adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru. There are two extra special presentations this year, one being a screening of Bill Forsyth’s 1983 classic, Local Hero, followed by a talk with the author of Local Hero: Making a Scottish Classic, Jonathan Melville, and star Jimmy Yuill. The other, a rare screening of Behind the Door, a silent-era revenge drama with live accompaniment from one of the most accomplished artists in the field, Stephen Horne. Under the Highlights banner you will find Charlotte Wells’ bittersweet tearjerker Aftersun, Luca Guadagnino’s cannibalistic coming-of-age tale Bones and All, and Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, an unconventional biopic of 19th-century monarch, Empress Elizabeth of Austria. Furthermore, there is The Eternal Daughter, the latest Tilda Swinton starring semi-autobiographical film from The Souvenir director Joanna Hogg, Blue Jean, an impactful Thatcher-era lesbian drama, and two opportunities to see Bouli Lanners’ Lewis-set Nobody Has to Know. It must be mentioned that MacDonald-Taylor has carved out an important Saturday afternoon timeslot for Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, the most recent in a sequence of docu-fiction films the artist has made in protest of the oppressive Iranian regime. The director was arrested earlier this year and is being held unjustly, along with fellow filmmakers, Mostafa Aleahmad, and Mohammad Rasoulof, the latter’s film There is No Evil was shown at last year’s festival. A few days ago the group were tear-gassed during the incident at Evin prison. The Documentaries selection includes the much-praised Nan Goldin focussed work All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, and The Oil Machine which takes a timely look at our relationship with North Sea oil, the screening will be followed by a discussion with the director Emma Davie. The New World Cinema strand boasts acclaimed features What Do We See When We Look At the Sky?, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, and Golden Bear winner Alcarràs, as well as the welcome return of Moroccan director Maryam Touzani, with The Blue Caftan, whose previous film Adam was shown at last year’s festival. To celebrate 20 years of IFF there are screenings of four previous features, The Flying Scotsman (2006), No Country for Old Men (2007), Gravity (2013), and Brooklyn (2015). There are several blocks of short films peppered throughout the festival including two designed specifically for children, and one showcasing talent from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Amongst the other curations you can find there is Is This the End? a film created with Highlands-based mental health charity Mikeysline, and Life of Riley the latest work from up-and-comer Shaun Hughes. To promote filmmaking in Scotland there is a Monday night double bill in partnership with Short Circuit of Angry Young Men, and Groom, followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Paul Morris and Leyla Coll-O’Reilly. And for those aged 16-25 Eden Court have collaborated with Glasgow Film Theatre to offer a suite of free industry events taking place on Saturday 5th and Monday 7th. For the full programme and to book tickets visit: Cinema | Eden Court (eden-court.co.uk)

★★★ Directed by: #AlejandroGonzálezIñárritu Written by: #NicolásGiacobone & #AlejandroGonzálezIñárritu Starring: #DanielGiménezCacho, #GriseldaSiciliani, #XimenaLamadrid, #ÍkerSánchezSolano Film Review by Taryll Baker As part of BFI London Film Festival 2022 Alejandro G. Iñárritu has been fairly silent with his output since 2015’s The Revenant. After over 20 years, this striking director returns to his Mexican homeland to gift the world a film about life. Existence. The spaces in between conversations, events. Connections, feelings. Time, passing by, slipping. The human soul, ageing, maturing, cracking, and repairing itself all over. This is a film about life, in every sense. At just over 2 hours and 30 minutes in length, this is undoubtedly one heck of a journey to sit with. Iñárritu surprised us with an appearance to introduce the film, and he said something along the lines of BARDO being “a cinematic sensory experience,” and I believe that to be quite true. He also asked us to let go of logic and go along for the ride, letting it wash over us. For 2.5 hours, I let BARDO wash over me. And I’m still letting it sink into my soul as I reflect on it. I’m not so sure I enjoyed the film, but I most definitely appreciated it. I appreciated that it was a personal film for Iñárritu to make; a reflection of himself, of his career, to present to us. It’s incredibly well shot, and features a few stunning scenes and ideas supported by a memorable soundtrack and led by a phenomenal, understated and real performance from Daniel Giménez Cacho. His soft footsteps ricocheting around the sandy apartments and empty city streets he finds himself dreamingly wandering through. Every word, every expression feels earned. If you found this film a struggle to watch, at least you had Cacho leading you through it. The entire cast, though very small, is brilliant, but he carried this film effortlessly. BARDO is a strange film to discuss. It’s really more of an experience you just have to be there for. Expertly crafted and stunning to look at, it’s also a wonderful sensation to the ears. The line between dreams and reality is greatly blurred, but the soundscape created will guide you to the truth. Though it must be said; the experience that started so jarringly strange and interesting, peaks too soon, then unravelling to a slow burning of self indulgence that isn’t executed nearly as well as the hour before. But, a film like this shouldn’t be dumped on Netflix, and I am glad to have experienced it properly with a big audience at LFF. I must say, I wasn’t as captivated as I was with Birdman or The Revenant, but BARDO holds its own charm, and while I didn’t enjoy it a whole lot—certainly due to its tiresome running length—I did go along for the journey, as its director graciously asked. This is what cinema is all about. BFI London Film Festival 2022 runs from October 5th - 16th, for more info visit: https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff - #TaryllBaker