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Film Festivals 2006

Another eclectic clutch of fine cinema from around the world. The 30th Telecom International Festival kicked off this year with Ken Loach's 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley', exploring tense Anglo-Irish relations in the 1920s; auteur Terrence Malick returned to filmmaking with a different story of colonialism, an eerily dream-like re-telling of the Pocahontas story and the 'conquering' of 'The New World'. Speaking of dreams, the innovative Michel Gondry gave us the enchanting 'The Science of Sleep', Richard Linklater came out with the animated 'A Scanner Darkly' and Korean Joon-ho Bong revisited the monster movie nightmare with fan favourite, 'The Host'. More personal stories included the excellent Canadian coming of age flick 'CRAZY', Tommy Lee Jones's 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'; low-key thriller 'Keane' and a blackly humourous tale of the prodigal son, 'Lonesome Jim'.

49 Up (2005)

8.2/10
Director: Michael Apted

And now they are 49. Michael Apted's legendary social experiment continues with 10 of the original 12 participants taking part. With each entry seem... Read more

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (2006)

7.9/10
Director: Basil Gelpke, Ray McCormack

An astoundingly sobering and unashamedly apocalyptic documentary about the world's obsession with oil, when it's going to run out, and what will happe... Read more

A Fistful of Dynamite ( aka Duck You Sucker ) (1972)

Director: Sergio Leone
Starring: Romolo Valli, Rod Steiger, James Coburn

James Coburn is top-billed as an Irish soldier of fortune with a penchant for explosives. Rod Steiger plays another mercenary who wants to utilize Cob... Read more

A Lion in the House (2006)

8.9/10
Director: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert

How does a family with a cancer-stricken child persevere in the face of the heart-wrenching challenges that emerge every day? Five such families are p... Read more

A Scanner Darkly (2006)

7.1/10
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, Rory Cochrane

Director Richard Linklater returns to the animation style of his earlier 'Waking Life' for this adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel. In the not-too-... Read more

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

7.5/10
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Starring: Al Gore

The history and perils of global climate change are explored in this popular and controversial documentary featuring former vice president Al Gore. Ta... Read more

Ans Westra: Private Journeys / Public Signposts (2006)

Director: Luit Bieringa
Starring: Ans Westra

This insightful documentary features the work of acclaimed photographer Ans Westra, whose photographs of New Zealanders constitute a uniquely expressi... Read more

Ballets Russes (2005)

7.9/10
Director: Dayna Goldfine, Daniel Geller

A rich tapestry woven from a treasure trove of archival gems and new documentary footage, forms the backbone of this entrancing ode to the revolutiona... Read more

Battle in Heaven (2005)

5.7/10
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Starring: Marcos Hernandez, Anapola Mushkadiz, Bertha Ruiz, David Bornstein

Marcos is the chauffeur of a general with a secret that only he and his wife know - they kidnapped a baby for ransom, and the child died in their care... Read more

Black Gold (2006)

7.2/10
Director: Marc Francis, Nick Francis

Multinational coffee companies rule our shopping malls and dominate an industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commod... Read more