Film Festivals 2003
2003 brought many filmic gems from around the world. Some highlights were Rolf De Heer's stunning 'The Tracker'; New Zealand's entry, a delicious, black holiday comedy 'Christmas'; from Brazil, the astonishing debut of Fernando Meirelles, 'City of God' and from Russia, the longest tracking shot in film history, 'Russian Ark'. From the US came the unique and captivating bio-pic 'American Splendor' and tongue-in-cheek horror 'Cabin Fever' as well as documentaries 'The Kid Stays in the Picture' featuring the infamous Robert Evans, and Noam Chomsky's 'Power and Terror'.
Cabin Fever (2002)
5.6/10
Director: Eli Roth
Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Vervee...
This bloody horror film follows five recent college graduates as they travel to a remote North Carolina cabin for the party of a lifetime. The pals' c... Read more
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002)
7.3/10
Director: Dai Sijie
Starring: Xun Zhou, Chen Kun, Liu Ye
Set in China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1970s, the story follows Luo (Chen Kun) and Ma (Liu Ye), two young men from the city who are sent t... Read more
Secretary (2002)
7/10
Director: Steven Shainberg
Starring: James Spader, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Ann Warren, Patrick Bauchau, Maggie Gyllenha...
Fresh off a stint in a mental hospital, upbeat but repressed office worker Maggie Gyllenhaal takes a job as personal assistant to tightly-wound lawyer... Read more
Respiro (2002)
7/10
Director: Emanuele Crialese
Starring: Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato, Francesco Casisa, Veronica D'Agostino
Welcome to Lampedusa, a Mediterranean island paradise as mysterious as it is beautiful, a tropical heaven where ocean waves pound deep mysterious cave... Read more
Blue Car (2002)
6.7/10
Director: Karen Moncrieff
Starring: David Strathairn, Agnes Bruckner, Margaret Colin, Frances Fisher
Having been abandoned by her father and neglected by her overworked mother (Margaret Colin), young Meg (Agnes Bruckner) turns to her English teacher (... Read more
Sweet Sixteen (2002)
7.5/10
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Michelle Abercromby, Martin Compston, Michelle Coulter, Annmarie Fulton, Tommy M...
Liam's mum is in prison and due to be released in time for his sixteenth birthday. Dreaming of the family life he never had, Liam is determined to mak... Read more
Spider (2002)
6.8/10
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, John Neville, Bradley Hall, Ly...
Master of cerebral horror David Cronenberg directs this mind-bending psychodrama. In a London halfway house, paranoid-schizophrenic Ralph Fiennes stru... Read more
The Dancer Upstairs (2002)
7/10
Director: John Malkovich
Starring: Javier Bardem, Laura Morante, Juan Diego Botto
This taut political thriller set in Latin America marks John Malkovich's explosive directorial debut. Javier Bardem ("Before Night Falls") stars as le... Read more
Personal Velocity (2002)
6.6/10
Director: Rebecca Miller
Starring: Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, Fairuza Balk
Three very different women. One daring leap of faith. Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey and Fairuza Balk star in this compelling drama about three women who... Read more
All or Nothing (2002)
7.6/10
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden, Ruth Sheen, Marion...
Three-time Oscar-nominated writer/director Mike Leigh ("Secrets and Lies") delivers this "rewarding... vibrant... poetic slice-of-life drama" (Variety... Read more