Mostly British Film Festival

Shadow Dancer

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:47:35 +0000

An informant has been at the center of many a political thriller up to the present TV series “Homeland.” The intense Closing Night film focuses on a young single mother (Andrea Riseborough) whose brothers are restless members of the IRA in 1990s Northern Ireland. Recruited by them, she is arrested when a bomb plot in a London subway goes awry. Clive Owen is in top form as a MI5 official who interrogates her, offering her a choice of spying for them or going to prison and leaving her son motherless. Meeting weekly along the Belfast coast, an intense relationship develops between the official and his prey. The genuinely poetic director James Marsh brings his visual skills from his Oscar-winning documentary “Man on Wire.”

(UK/Ireland, 101 minutes, 2012)

Black and White

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:46:52 +0000

This court room drama tells the true story of an aboriginal man ( David Ngoombujarra from “Rabbit Proof Fence” ) who is charged with the rape and murder of a nine year old white girl in Australia during the 1950’s. Robert Carlyle (“The Full Monty”) plays a small town lawyer doing battle with racism and brutality in order to defend the accused. Charles Dance (“White Mischief”) brilliantly plays a politically ambitious prosecutor looking to prove guilt at all costs. This famous case bitterly divides South Australian society and saw a young Rupert Murdoch ( Ben Mendelsohn ) , an up and coming media baron, step forward to defend the accused. The accomplished filmmaker is Craig Lahiff, who also directed “Swerve.”

(Australia, 2002, 101 minutes, 35 mm)

The Runway

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:45:31 +0000

In the opening scene a Colombian aviator (Demian Bechir, Oscar nominee for “A Better Life”) is forced to crash land his plane near a quiet Irish town– to much local astonishment. They wonder who this handsome but unintelligible stranger is and what he wants. As the film takes us gently toward an answer, Irish director Ian Power manages to skillfully weave all the disparate strands of his story into a compelling portrait of the town and its people. A feel good movie based on actual events.

(Ireland, 101 minutes, 2010)

A Million Colours

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:44:04 +0000

Based on a true story, this film follows a black couple who face prejudice and conflict at the height of apartheid in 1970s South Africa. Despite much adversity and danger, they somehow remain curiously interwoven as if connected by a mysterious fate. Vivid scenery and interesting historical depiction by Canadian director Peter Bishai, who describes his film as a “mixture of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet.”’

(South Africa, 110 minutes, 2012)

My Tehran for Sale

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:44:01 +0000

A masterful drama about contemporary Tehran and members of its underground art scene. An actress whose theater group has been banned meets an Australian-Iranian at a rave and sees moving to Australia with him as a way out of her fearful existence. A debut feature from filmmaker Granaz Moussavi, it is partly based on her own life. In a case of art imitating life, for appearing in this movie with her head uncovered, lead actress Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced by Iranian courts to 90 lashes and a year in prison, a sentence that was eventually reduced to three months with the flogging sentence overturned. She gives a brave performance supported by outstanding cinematography.

(Australia, 96 minutes, 2009)

ASAD

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:42:49 +0000

Shortlisted for an Academy Award, this is a story of a Somali boy who is faced with falling into the pirate life, or rising above to choose the path of an honest fishing man. A war torn developing country presents young kids with very tough choices and few opportunities. Asad, chooses loyalty and honesty even when faced with the danger of death. Tragic circumstances lead to his unusual catch at sea (a white Persian cat in a sailor suit), which defines him as a most extraordinary fisherman. Shot in South Africa with an all-Somali refugee cast it is sure to touch you.

(South Africa/USA, 18 minutes, 2012 - Shown with My Tehran for Sale )

Backbeat

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:41:33 +0000

An early chapter in the life of the Beatles is explored in this fascinating drama set in the dreary rathskellers of Hamburg in the early 1960s where the pre-fame Beatles have gone to solidify their act. At that point they were the Fab Five, including bass player Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorf) who wasn’t up to the others and seemed to be around only because he was John Lennon’s (Ian Hart) best pal. The movie hints that their relationship may have been more than platonic. Director Iain Softley focuses on Sutcliffe and his dilemma whether to stay with the lads or set out on his own as a painter. An arty German photographer (Sheryl Lee) pushes him to fulfill his own destiny. Songs are performed by Beatles’ impersonators who sound like the real deal.

(UK, 100 minutes, 1993, 35 mm)

Stand Off

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:40:47 +0000

Terry George is known for directing masterful but grim dramas like “Hotel Rwanda” and “In the Name of the Father.” Who knew all along he had a comedy in him? It’s a fish story starring Brendan Fraser as an Irish American working in his cousins’ Belfast curio shop to get away from his crazy wife in Boston. Nearby, a botched robbery at a fish market is in progress, executed by a young man hoping to pay off a crippling debt to a gangster. What he doesn’t know is that the mobster owns the market. George’s stated goal is to make a film about Northern Ireland after The Troubles that would show a humorous relationship among locals, police and remaining British officials. He succeeds brilliantly.

(Ireland, 89 minutes, 2012)

Stella Days

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:39:48 +0000

A small town cinema in rural Ireland becomes the setting for a dramatic struggle between faith and passion, Rome and Hollywood and a man and his conscience.

Father Barry (Martin Sheen) sees his chances of going back to Rome and completing his research studies thwarted by an overzealous Bishop (Tom Hickey), who likes to ascertain his authority and build new churches. Bored by the lack of intellectual challenges in his parish, and pressed to raise funds for the new church, Father Barry attempts to set up a new cinema in town. His novel ideas are ostracised by a local politician in the making (Stephen Rea), who is campaigning on an agenda of moral strictness. Convincing depiction of 1950′s Ireland in a sentimental and humorous movie with pillow-soft photography that charms.

(Ireland, 100 minutes, 2011)

56 Up

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:38:35 +0000

Director Michael Apted returns with a new installment of the “7 Up” series, in which he lays bare the lives of the same group of Brits he has studied at seven year intervals starting in 1963 when they were seven. In this, the eighth documentary in the series, most of his subjects have curbed their ambitions and are cheerfully on the road to retirement. Exceptions are the two who led the most adventurous lives and who speak up for the rewards of taking chances. Wonderfully engrossing filmmaking– you feel like they are your chums.

Co-sponsored by the San Francisco Film Society

(UK, 144 minutes, 2012)