BFI Flare: Live it up

This is a busy week at the 40th BFI Flare with a flurry of premieres, including the world premiere of the flambuoyant British biopic Madfabulous, with much of the cast and crew in attendance. I've enjoyed watching shorts and features every day, and now we're heading into the final weekend (epic party incoming!). Here are five more highlights from the festival, and Critical Week is down below...

Madfabulous
dir Celyn Jones; with Callum Scott Howells, Ruby Stokes 26/UK ***.
An outrageous figure from the British aristocracy gets the lively biopic treatment here. Wrestling his unruly story into a movie structure weakens the momentum in the second half, but this is a superb depiction of how difficult it is to be yourself within the constrains of polite society. Director Celyn Jones creates several superb sequences, augmented by particularly magnificent costumes. And the performances have a lovely depth.

Big Girls Don't Cry
dir-scr Paloma Schneideman; with Ani Palmer, Noah Taylor 26/NZ ****
From New Zealand, this introspective drama follows a teen girl on a journey of discovery that's involving, moving and sometimes disturbing. Writer-director Paloma Schneideman evokes her perspective beautifully, complete with contradictions and misconceptions. So the film continually finds inventive ways to challenge the audience to understand the messiness of navigating a desire that doesn't fit with everything you've been taught. 

On the Sea
dir-scr Helen Walsh; with Barry Ward, Lorne MacFadyen 25/UK ****
Earthy and realistic, this understated drama set in North Wales quietly explores masculinity with characters ranging from 15 to 70. It's an observational film that gets under the skin with layers of interaction that's dryly humorous, and a central storyline about a man taking an unexpected journey into his own sexuality. Writer-director Helen Walsh has a terrific eye for complex family dynamics and deeper personal feelings.

To Dance Is to Resist
dir Julian Lautenbacher; with Jay LeReve, Vol'demar Kabus 26/Ukr ****
Spanning four years in Kyiv from Russia's February 2022 invasion right up to the present, this documentary centres on two young men who demonstrate their resilience through performance art. The film vibrates with a rave-style vibe, blending rehearsals and shows with fly-on-the wall scenes of everyday life, all under the constant threat of bombs. It's an engaging, evocative expression of personal freedom and, yes, resistance.

Mickey & Richard
dir Ryan A White, AP Pickle; with Richard Bernstein 26/US ***.
Shot in black and white with full-colour clips, this documentary tells the story of Richard Bernstein, better known as the beefy 1980s pornstar Mickey Squires. Narrated by Richard, this is a frank and openhanded walk through the life of a man who simply took advantage of everything that came along and enjoyed every moment of the ride. And filmmakers Ryan A White and AP Pickle allow his warm sense of humour to shine.

Full reviews will be linked to the SHADOWS @ BFI FLARE page.

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L  W E E K

Party alert! There were three festive screenings this week that inspired special posts on my Instagram: Halle Bailey and Rege-Jean Page star in the corny but entertaining romcom You, Me & Tuscany; Zazie Beetz leads the charge in the nutty horror comedy They Will Kill You; and Riz Ahmed premiered his hilariously sharp new TV series Bait. I also caught up with Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes and Jacki Weaver as sassy nuns in the charming New Zealand road movie Holy Days, plus lots of movies at BFI Flare. There was also a live performance of Where There Is No Time at Seven Dials Theatre

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Adam Scott in Hokum, horror thriller Undertone, Laszlo Nemes' new film Orphan, and a special screening of the Marilyn Monroe/Clark Gable classic The Misfits, plus many more films at BFI Flare.

BFI Flare: Cuddle up

I'm enjoying the eclectic films presented at the 40th BFI Flare, which has taken over the Southbank for 12 days this month. We're at the midpoint of the festival, so I'm fairly exhausted by my schedule, as I have to keep watching the regular releases of the week as well as lots of festival films, then find time to write about them. Here are four more superb movies that I hope will get proper releases at some point in the near future. The first is already on Apple TV in North America...

Perro Perro
dir-scr Marco Berger; with German Flood, Juan Ramos 25/Arg ****
Shot in glistening black and white by cinematographer Martin Farina, this surreal drama is so playful that it immediately makes us smile. Argentine master provocateur Marco Berger continues to explore masculinity and connection by blurring lines of sexuality, in this case teasingly lusty inversion of reality. Even if the metaphor is strained, the timeless filmmaking style gives a kick to deeper ideas. It's also sweet and very sexy.

Strange River [Estrany Riu]
dir-scr Jaume Claret Muxart; with Jan Monter, Nausicaa Bonnin 25/Sp ****
Following a Catalan family on a biking holiday along the Danube in Germany and Austria, this understated film zeroes in on a teen as he discovers inexplicable sense of his own desire. But this isn't a coming-of-age story, or a coming-out film. Instead, writer-director Jaume Claret Muxart is inventively digging under the surface to find truths that span generations. So it becomes a fascinating portrait of a family at a pivotal moment in time.

The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel
dir Ramiel Petros, Nicholas Freeman; with Tony Powell, Mick McGuire 25/UK ****
This is one of those engaging, riveting documentaries in which you join the filmmakers on an unpredictable ride, as new details surprise them and us in real time. Ostensibly this is a film about the closing down of a landmark motel in West Hollywood, but directors Ramiel Petros and Nicholas Freeman discover a protagonist in its final manager Tony Powell, an English football star who vanished without a trace more than 40 years ago.

Out Laws
dir Lexi Powner, James Lewis; with Friedel Dausab, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera UK/26 ****
Tracing the experiences of three human rights activists, this engaging documentary explores how British colonialism left a legacy of harsh anti-gay laws around the world. Thankfully, the central figures add a buoyant hopefulness as they encourage each other to keep up the good work. And with a wide range of experts, filmmakers Lexi Powner and James Lewis trace the topic's history and present-day realities with honesty and clarity.

Full reviews will be linked to the SHADOWS @ BFI FLARE page.

BFI Flare: Put your hands in the air

The 40th BFI Flare continues with a party atmosphere on the Southbank this weekend, welcoming filmmakers, actors and fans in a way that's become forgotten at most film festivals. And the range of films has been thoroughly enjoyable, a varied mix that includes quite a few inventive, incisive documentaries. Here are notes on a few more movies...

Low Rider
dir Campbell X; with Emma McDonald, Thishiwe Ziqubu 25/SA ***.
British filmmaker Campbell X takes the audience from London to Cape Town and beyond on a wild odyssey of self-discovery for a pampered city girl who doesn't think before she jumps. The assured writing and direction mixes engaging, sparky characters with picturesque locations and unexpected narrative twists and turns. The story gets rather melodramatic from time to time, but the film remains engaging and thoughtful.

Lunar Sway
dir-scr Nick Butler; with Noah Parker, Liza Weil 26/Can ****
Set in a present-day Canadian Wild West, this thoughtful film explores an unexpected relationship between people who are still working out who they are on their own, let alone together. Writer-director Nick Butler takes an offbeat approach to storytelling, drawing us in with a sense of mystery and random details before flipping the film into various genres. It's also nicely shot to capture the locations as well as the inner lives of these people.

Keep Coming Back [Siempre Vuelven]
dir-scr Sergio De Leon; with Bruce Pintos, Juan Wauters 25/Uru ****
Revealing the mix of memories, desires, fantasies and dreams swirling around inside a young man's mind, this Uruguayan drama finds unusual resonance in its surreal flourishes. It's also a rare movie about homing pigeons, using them as a symbol for grief and inheritance, as well as unwanted truths about sexuality that won't go away no matter how hard you try. And writer-director Sergio De Leon assembles this with a singular light touch.

Jaripeo
dir Efrain Mojica, Rebecca Zweig; with Efrain Mojica, Noe Margarito Zaragoza Aguiniga 26/Mex ***.
Diving into Mexico's cowboy culture, with its heavy-drinking machismo and raucous jaripeos (aka rodeos), this skilfully shot documentary has deeper intentions relating to sexuality and culture. Cameraman-cowboy Efrain Mojica, working with writer and filmmaker Rebecca Zweig, is exploring how it feels to be a young queer ranchero. The film's slightly aloof, introspective approach finds poetry in gorgeous imagery and evocative ideas.

Full reviews will be linked to the SHADOWS @ BFI FLARE page.

Stage: A question of faith

Where There Is No Time
by Mohammedally Hashemi
director Hamza Ali
with Mohammedally Hashemi, Milly Zero, Kerena Jagpal
Seven Dials Playhouse, London • 17-28.Mar.26 ★★★

Packed with big ideas, this one-hour drama keeps the audience engaged as we consider moral questions in the context of global culture. The writing is smart and understated, but it's also underpowered, and it becomes opaque due to stagey flourishes and barbed performances. As a result, the three characters are intriguingly prickly but never very likeable, especially with their oversized melodramatic mood swings.

It's set in an atelier in London, where Yemeni-Iranian designer Yusuf (played by writer Mohammedally Hashemi) is preparing his new show with his best friend and muse Nina (Kerena Jagpal). She encourages him to embrace the political edge in his work, and wants him to make a bold statement with his Dress of Faith, which was designed by his late mother, who inspired him to embrace his art and heritage. But the show is being funded by businesswoman Susann (Milly Zero), who wants Yusuf to be more accessible and commercial. She also loathes Nina, and their clash threatens the whole collection.

Essentially, this is a fresh take on the idea of killing your darlings, letting your friends and most beloved ideas go in order to find both artistic and popular success. So the jagged discussions ripple with resonant topicality, given extra weight by the Middle Eastern background, even if everything feels a little too sharply pointed. Each character has a moment when they hit the wall, burning bridges with screaming fury that feels unearned by the characterisations. This leaves the strongly charismatic actors looking arch as their glances throw razor-sharp daggers at each other. Without even a hint of camp humour, this is played with relentless, deadly seriousness.

In an attempt to add cinematic flourishes, the show is staged with jangling musical stings at the moment each character enters or exits, whether or not there's any passage of time. And a swirly time-lapse segment adds similarly distracting flashing lights. These are clearly meant to signify visual edits, but they continually throw us out of the scene. That said, it does add an eye-catching sense of drama to the interaction. And the bigger themes emerge with a real kick.

For information, SEVEN DIALS > 

photo by Tariq Westcarr • 19.Mar.26

BFI Flare: Let your light shine

The 40th BFI Flare kicked off on Wednesday night with a lively world premiere for Hunky Jesus at BFI Southbank, attended by many of the cast and crew, including several of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who ceremoniously conferred sainthood on the film's director on-stage. This was followed by a terrific party, as always running very late on a school night! And now the festival is up and running at full speed. This is my 30th year covering this event, and here is the first handful of notes about films I'm watching (Critical Week is below)...

Hunky Jesus
dir-scr Jennifer M Kroot; with Sister Roma, Sister Vish Knew 26/US ****
Recounting the story of San Francisco's iconic Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, this documentary is hugely entertaining on a variety of levels. Aside from being riotously funny and drenched in vibrant colours and joyous sunshine, the film is also remarkably informative as it both chronicles the sisters' history and explores their approach to life. Even more important is the way filmmaker Jennifer Kroot provides a series of pointed kicks.

Maspalomas
dir Aitor Arregi, Jose Mari Goenaga; with Jose Ramon Soroiz, Nagore Aranburu 25/Sp ****
With a pointed premise that's rarely depicted on screen, this Basque drama continually catches our attention with honest drama and realistic emotions surrounding an older gay man. Filmmakers Aitor Arregi and Jose Mari Goenaga take a superbly offhanded approach to the narrative and characters. Shot in an almost documentary style, the film relies more on unspoken interaction than dialog, which encourages the audience to engage more deeply.

10s Across the Borders
dir Chan Sze-Wei; with Xyza Pinklady Mizrahi, Teddy Oricci 25/Ph ****
Covering the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, this documentary captures the exuberant spark of queer young people who find a sense of belonging at voguing balls, carrying on the iconic New York tradition. Using fly-on-the-wall camerawork, filmmaker Chan Sze-Wei allows these bright stars to reveal their hopes and aspirations in conversation with each other. Their big personalities come through in everything they do, especially when they're striking provocative poses.

Uchronia
dir Fil Ieropoulos; with Kristof Lamp, Flomaria Papadaki 26/GR ***
Inspired by Arthur Rimbaud's poem A Season in Hell, experimental Greek filmmakers Fil Ieropoulos and Foivos Dousos take an outrageously surreal look at queer identity and legacy. Their multi-lingual approach inventively mixes documentary and drama, using a kaleidoscopic range of film clips. It's a bold film that continually takes jabs at how society pushes damaging ideas while compromising and commodifying messages. It's a hypnotic philosophical romp through history.

Full reviews will be linked to the SHADOWS @ BFI FLARE page.

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L  W E E K

Watching Oscars live in London on Sunday night, I enjoyed the show for the most part, even if it lacked the surprises I always love. At least there was a very rare tie (for live-action short). Michael B Jordan was a worthy winner, the largest cheer of the night, while Jessie Buckley gave far and away the best speech. And it was great to see Autumn Durald Arkapaw claim a trophy. Conan O'Brien was a funny but uneven host. Some gags were inspired, others felt corny. Reunions are fun: those Bridesmaids girls are hilarious, and it was lovely to see Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor mark 25 years since Moulin Rouge. On the other hand Avengers Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans were less fun. Highlights were the two big musical moments, with the dazzling Sinners extravaganza and a Golden K-pop moment. The extended in memorium segment went on a bit, but reminded us of the huge figures we lost last year. 

As for movies, I watched Aneurin Barnard and Jeremy Piven in the uneven thriller Past Life, the warm and scrappy five-strand Irish drama Abode, Christian Petzold's gorgeous German drama Mirrors No 3 starring Paula beer, the gorgeous and inventive Marianne Faithfull doc Broken English, and two excellent docs that were up for Oscars: Iran's moving Cutting Through Rocks and the blood-boiling The Alabama Solution. There was also a live performance of the drama Where There Is No Time at Seven Dials Theatre.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Zazie Beetz in They Will Kill You, Jude Law in The Wizard of the Kremlin, Miriam Margolyes in Holy Days, Gianfranco Rosi's Pompei: Below the Clouds, and the premiere of Riz Ahmed's new TV series Bait. Plus of course quite a lot more movies at BFI Flare.

Out on a Limb: Oscar picks & predictions

This has been considered one of the most volatile awards seasons in memory, as the buzz has been continually shifting around who might be in line to take home Oscars. There are a couple of sure things for the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday night, but the most important precursors -- Bafta, PGA, SAG -- didn't agree in many categories. Watching the ceremony, I always love an upset, so those will get my loudest cheers. Here's who I think will, should and could win [with winners in bold after the fact]...

PICTURE
Will/should win: Sinners
Could win: One Battle After Another

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Will win: Sentimental Value
Could win: It Was Just an Accident
Should win: Sirat
Dark horse: The Secret Agent

ANIMATED FEATURE
Will/should win: KPop Demon Hunters
Could win: Zootopia 2

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Will win: The Perfect Neighbor
Could win: Mr Nobody Against Putin
Should Win: Come See Me in the Good Light
Dark horse: The Alabama Solution

ACTRESS
Will/should win: Jessie Buckley - Hamnet

ACTOR
Will/should win: Michael B Jordan - Sinners
Could win: Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme
Dark horses: Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon / Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Will/should win: Amy Madigan - Weapons
Could win: Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another 

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Will win: Sean Penn - One Battle After Another 
Could win: Delroy Lindo - Sinners 
Should win: Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value  

DIRECTOR
Will win: Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another
Could/should win: Ryan Coogler - Sinners

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Will win: One Battle After Another - Paul Thomas Anderson
Could/should win: Hamnet - Chloe Zhao & Maggie O'Farrell

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Will/should win: Sinners - Ryan Coogler
Could win: Sentimental Value - Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt

CASTING
Will win: Sinners - Francine Maisler
Could/should win: The Secret Agent - Gabriel Domingues
[Winner: One Battle After Another - Cassandra Kulukundis]

ORIGINAL SCORE
Will win: Sinners - Ludwig Goransson
Could win: One Battle After Another - Jonny Greenwood
Should win: Hamnet - Max Richter

ORIGINAL SONG
Will/should win: Golden - KPop Demon Hunters - Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Teddy Park

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Will win: One Battle After Another - Michael Bauman
Should win: Sinners - Autumn Durald Arkapaw

FILM EDITING
Will win: Sinners - Michael Shawver
Could/should win: One Battle After Another - Andy Jurgensen

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Will/should win: Frankenstein - Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau

COSTUME DESIGN
Will win: Frankenstein - Kate Hawley
Should win: Sinners - Ruth E Carter

MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Will win: Frankenstein - Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey
Should win: Kokuho - Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino, Tadashi Nishimatsu

VISUAL EFFECTS
Will/should win: Avatar: Fire and Ash - Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett

SOUND
Will win: Sinners - Chris Welcker, Benjamin A Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker
Could win: F1 - Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A Rizzo, Juan Peralta
Should win: Sirat - Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, Yasmina Praderas

Critical Week: Made for each other

Finally, we reach Oscar weekend after what has felt like an unusually long awards season. My predictions will be here on Saturday as always. Jesse Buckley looks like a sure thing to win Best Actress for Hamnet, and she has a very different film in cinemas right now, which I caught up on the day it opened: The Bride! is Maggie Gyllenhaal's ambitious reimagining of The Bride of Frankenstein, costarring Christian Bale, Annette Bening and Penelope Cruz. It's enjoyably outrageous, but also badly uneven. Screening this week just before it opens, Reminders of Him is a slushy romantic drama with Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers that lays on the sentimentality rather thickly. And the story is too simple to carry the emotional weight. But it looks great.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Everybody to Kenmure Street
The Love That Remains • Scarlet
PERHAPS AVOID:
How to Make a Killing
Reminders of Him
ALL REVIEWS >

Further afield, I caught up with Steven Soderbergh's The Christophers, a smart and thoughtful art-world comedy-drama with excellent roles for Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel. Callum Scott Howells has fun chewing the scenery in the eye-catching Madfabulous, an involving and surprisingly moving tale based on a true story from the British aristocracy. And then there was Ferzan Ozpetek's lavishly gorgeous Diamonds, an involving multi-strand love letter to 1970s Italian costume designers. I also saw six movies in the Cinema Made in Italy season at BFI Southbank. 

Outside the theatre, I had a couple of Project Hail Mary experiences: After briefly meeting Ryan Gosling and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in London, I took a wonderful trip to the Pinewood Studios Creature Shop, where I got to meet Ryan's on-screen alien buddy Rocky, his vocal and puppet performer James Ortiz and creature maestro Neal Scanlan (full report with pics to come). Finally, there was also a live performance of Sam Morrison's witty one-man show Sugar Daddy at Underbelly Boulevard. It's basically about grief, but he's a gifted comic and he makes it very, very funny too.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Aneurin Barnard in Past Life, Irish drama Abode, German drama Miroirs No 3, the Marianne Faithfull doc Broken English, staying up all night to see the Oscars on Sunday night and watching lots of movies as part of the 40th BFI Flare film fest, which kicks off Wednesday on the Southbank with a documentary called Hunky Jesus. I'll also see a live performance of Where There Is No Time at Seven Dials Theatre.