Festival Films at Hepworth Village Hall
Dir. Maren Ade. Germany/Austria, 2016
The best foreign language film of the year. A practical joking father tries to connect with his hard working daughter. Surreal, very, very funny, very German, and, ultimately, tragic.
Dir. Anders Thomas Jensen, Denmark, 2016
Weirdly entertaining, this dark, strange tale of two brothers and their surreal, bizarre relatives stays just the right side of wackiness with exceptional performances from Mads Mikkelsen and other Danish favourites.
Dir. Asghar Farhadi, Iran/France, 2016
Best Foreign Film Oscar winner. One of the world's best directors with a potent, intelligent and suspenseful plot, turning the mysteries of personality into a gripping and disquieting drama.
Dir. Petra Vople (Switzerland 2017, 97mins 12)
Unbelievably, Swiss women did not have the vote in 1970, then a demur housewife in a small time village decided to get political and win the vote for women. This fictionalised entertaining crowd-pleaser delivers a genuine and rousing sense of sisterhood in Switzerland's entry to the Oscars.
Dir. Angela Robinson (US 2017, 108mins 15)
The true story of the writer of the feminist superheroine Wonder Woman, the secret life shared by him, his wife and their female lover, and the attacks on the wartime comic for sexual perversity.
Dir. Maysaloun Hamoud (Israel/France 2016, 102mins 15)
This exhilarating first feature from Palestinian director Maysaloun Hamoud caused a sensation in Israel for her depiction of three free-spirited and joyful modern Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv. She extracts wonderful performances from the actors in this slyly subversive award-winning feminist drama.
THE PARTY
Dir. Sally Potter (UK 2017, 68mins 15)
Potter's short, sharp and at times disconcerting dark comedy about Middle Class mores showcases British acting at its best with great performances and sparkling dialogue from Kristin Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson and Timothy Spall.
GLORY
Dir. Kristinia Grozeva & Peter Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece 2017 99mins 12)
Beautifully acted and often very funny fable about a honest and innocent railworker who comes across a large cache of money and sets off a tale of corruption and eventual tragedy as the hard-edged PR people (a wonderful Margita Gosheva) take over. Another gem from these Bulgarian directors (The Lesson, 2015).
Dir. Martin Provost (France 2017, 117mins 12)
Two outstanding performances from two of France's greatest actresses, Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot, as the still wild but dying former mistress of her father and the inhibited and hurt daughter, now a midwife, who meet again after thirty years. A moving film of warmth, depth and emotion that is entirely a pleasure.
From the team that produced last year's highlight about two brothers and sheep, this absolute gem was Iceland's entry to the Oscars. A near perfect Fargo-like social drama with great acting, complex, tender and ironic tale of neighbourly disputes that is also tragic.
Dir. Hafstein Gunnar Sigurdsson (Iceland 2017 88mins 15)
Starring Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh in their first film, this is a captivating adaption of J. L. Carr's novel set in Yorkshire in 1920 about former soldiers scarred by their experiences. Excellent English romanticism rarely seen but now re-released and remastered after the original print was feared lost.
Dir. Pat O'Connor (UK 1987, 96mins PG)
Film will be followed by a discussion led by the Two Valleys Book Club.
Denmark's entry to the Oscars is a gripping abduction thriller done in real time. The Guardian said it was a 'masterclass in wringing breathless tension from just a few key ingredients' - man in a room, a female and a gun. Excellent director, editing and superb central performance by Jakob Cedergren.
Dir. Gustave Moller (Denmark 2018, 85mins 15)
An extraordinary, unsettling and starkly imaginative version of the Lewis Carroll tale. Not only different to the other productions but by far the best. First aired on the BBC on 28 December 1966 and starring a whole host of 60s British actors, it challenges the notion that we are now living in the golden age of television.
Dir. Jonathan Miller (UK 1966, 70mins PG)
Followed by a selection of the very best international short films screened by the Festival over the past ten years. Including films from Spain, France, America and the UK:
HBCC - Gaspar Palacio (France)
La Piñata - Manuel Arija (Spain)
La Carte - Stefan Le Lay (France)
Bon Appetite - Jon Turner (Manchester, UK)
The Adventures of Octocat - David O'Reilly (Ireland)
Fool's Day - Cody Blue Snider (USA) - Parents please note that this file contains some gore! (But in a fun way!)
The Runaway - Victor Carrey (Spain)
image - La Carte
image - The Adventures of Octocat
image - Fool's Day
NO TICKET REQUIRED. This is a free event with a contribution collection - well worth the money!
This documentary proved to be one of the most popular screenings from the Festival - and deservedly so. The story of three lost boxes recovered in Mexico in 2007. The boxes, misplaced in the chaos of WWII, contained 4,400 negatives of the war photographers of the Spanish Civil War, including those of Robert Capra. Beautiful score by Michael Nyman.
Dir. Trisha Ziff (Mexico 2011, 86mins 12)
Great Holmfirth stuff here:
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Graphic design and festival programme by Owen Philips Creative Design
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