Category Archives: Film

An award-winning team brings a timeous new documentary called Black Black Oil that examines the interconnection between oil, finance and the challenges for the UK to keep its emissions at 1.5%, according to the Paris Climate. Black Black Oil draws on the voices of young activists, oil company executives, economists and pension fund managers toContinue reading “Documentary Black Black Oil Explores North Sea Oil Role in Global Climate Action”

Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh returns for its second edition between 25 and 31 October with a fantastic range of Taiwanese cinema gems, many of them UK premieres, dating from the 1930s up to 2020, presented through in-person screenings and digital talks at Glasgow Film Theatre and Summerhall in Edinburgh and a free digital programme of films. I took the opportunity to previewContinue reading “A Mornng in Taipei, The Best Secret Agent          Taiwan Film Festival”

This Spanish/Argentinian feature, set almost entirely in the office of the editor of a newspaper, makes good use of the claustrophobic atmosphere to ramp up the tension between the protagonists. It’s Christmas Eve, and Antonio (Ernesto Alterio) is retiring due to ill health. He has been tasked by the board of directors to choose hisContinue reading “Game of Power (15)  Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival”

A layered look at the deeply complex issues of migration and immigration. Alberto (Vito Sanz) is a kindly, easy going engineer working in Madrid who has just been made redundant. Not great news at any time but he has not long  had the news that his elderly mother has committed suicide and his girlfriend MaríaContinue reading “On This Side of the World (PG)      Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival”

The Taiwan Film Festival returns to shine a light on the little-known gems of Taiwanese cinema of 20th and 21st century with in-person and digital screenings. Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh returns for its second edition between 25 and 31 October with a fantastic range of Taiwanese cinema gems, many of them UK premieres, dating from the 1930s up toContinue reading “Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh Returns with In Person and Digital Screenings”

Undoubtedly one of the highlights of this year’s Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival, David Perez Sanudo’s debut feature had a number of nominations for the 2021 Goya Awards, and scooped up three of the main awards – Best Lead Actress (Patricia Lopez Arnaiz); Best New Actress (Jone Laspiur); Best Adapted Screenplay (David Perez Sanudo & MarinaContinue reading “Ane Is Missing (15)    Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival”

Seville is the setting for this light hearted comedy that has intergenerational sorority at its heart. Sara (Juana Acosta) is a beautiful woman in her late thirties and a high flyer in an insurance company, who casts a calculating eye over her work and her life. Her tightly pulled back hair is highly symbolic ofContinue reading “One Careful Owner (15)       Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival”

The Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival welcomes film fans to its 8th Edition. The festival is delighted to be back in the cinema and offer audiences a new hybrid event of both in-person and online screenings and events featuring a total of 21 feature films and 8 short films in Spanish over the month of October. The 2021 festival hasContinue reading “Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival Returns for Its 8th Edition”

This was, without doubt, the film that gave me the most pleasure at this year’s EIFF. Chloe Mazlo charts the life of Alice (Alba Rohrwacher), a Swiss girl who leaves home in the 1950s for a job as an au pair in Lebanon, and falls in love with both the country and with Joseph (WajdiContinue reading “Edinburgh International Film Festival : Skies of Lebanon / The Road Dance”

Opening Gala for this year’s Festival, Michael Sarnoski’s beautifully filmed feature coaxes a performance from Nicolas Cage that is a masterful depiction of restrained passion. Cage is Robin, once the most revered chef in Portland but now, after the death of his wife, living in the Oregon forest and surviving by trading the truffles heContinue reading “Edinburgh International Film Festival : Pig”