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'.
Romulus, My Father (2007)
6.7/10
Director: Richard Roxburgh
Starring: Eric Bana, Franka Potente, Marton Csokas, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Russell Dykstra, Jac...
Eric Bana and Franka Potente star in this adaptation of Raimond Gaita's childhood memoir, relating the experience of his immigrant family's struggle f... Read more
Offside (2006)
7.3/10
Director: Jafar Panahi
Starring: Sima Mobarak-Shahi, Shayesteh Irani, Ayda Sadeqi, Golnaz Farmani, Mahnaz Zabihi
In Iran, women are banned from sporting events, but during their country's 2006 bid for the World Cup, a handful of die-hard fans just can't resist se... Read more
Mary (2005)
5.9/10
Director: Abel Ferrara
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Modine, Heather Graham, Marion Cotill...
Abel Ferrara attempts to illuminate the life of Mary Magdalene and the role of Catholocism in the modern world through three interweaving stories. To... Read more
The Great Dictator ( Blu-ray + DVD ) (1940)
8.5/10
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
Chaplin's first talkie stands as one of his greatest achievements. In this touching and often hilarious political spoof on the Third Reich, Chaplin pl... Read more
Ghost in the Shell ( Blu-ray ) (1995)
8/10
Director: Mamoru Oshii
In early 21st century Japan, the search for a criminal computer genius known as 'The Puppet Master' sends a cyborg policewoman on a dangerous search,... Read more
Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998)
7.6/10
Director: Michel Ocelot
An enchanting animated adventure inspired by the folk stories of Senegal and showing how a young boy, the tiny but brave Kirikou, outwits a powerful s... Read more
Black Sun (2005)
7.5/10
Director: Gary Tarn
Starring: Hugues de Montalembert
While living in New York in 1978, British painter and filmmaker Hugues de Montalembert fell victim to a random mugging, paint remover was thrown in hi... Read more
Princess (2006)
6.8/10
Director: Anders Morgenthaler
A visually striking animated feature from Denmark with a missionary priest named August abandoning his profession after the death of his drug-addicted... Read more
The Aura (2004)
7.2/10
Director: Fabian Bielinsky
Starring: Ricardo Darin, Dolores Fonzi, Alejandro Awada, Pablo Cedron, Jorge D'Elia, Nahue...
A spell-binding and richly textured heist film centred around an epileptic taxidermist who leads an isolated existence, harbouring fantasies of pullin... Read more
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005)
8.1/10
Director: Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise
Starring: Tony Iommi, Dee Snider, Ronnie James Dio, Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Lemmy ,...
Anthropologist and life-long Heavy Metal fan, Sam Dunn, sets out on a global mission to discover why the headbanging music so adored by its millions o... Read more