Sofía Korous Vázquez explores the exquisite visuals of a Kieślowski masterpiece. 

This past week FilmSoc screened Krzysztof Kieślowski’s The Double Life of Veronique (1991), a filmic whirlwind of poetic images that draws viewers under its spell with its bold yet delicate beauty. Every frame is magic; here are just some of my favourite images that embody The Double Life’s creative language.

Reflections, mirrored worlds, glass

Doubles, dualities

Worlds within worlds, marionettes

Beams of light, warm and cold

Interior spaces, greens, and reds

Camerawork, gliding, skew

The red frame

Kieślowski really out here making 5 seconds of red frame the most engrossing thing to ever grace a screen!

Later today, we are screening Children of Men. It’s free to all UCL students and no society membership is required. Come along!

Sofia and Lorcan got together this week to discuss Lynne Ramsay’s intense thriller, recently released in cinemas, and of course, go over some film news.

(A few spoilers from around minute 12 onwards)

With the AGM right around the corner, our days on the 2017/18 Committee are numbered. Thinking of running for a position last minute? Let us help you decide which position might be for you with some insider info from each member.

(Some of us took this exercise more seriously than others.)

President: Anton Volkov

“The all-powerful being who steers the FilmSoc ship to glory” © UCL Comedy Club

The president position is really what you make of it and it depends how closely you want to get involved and fulfil a specific vision for the society… The main duties are: managing (and chasing) the committee, liaising (a lot) with the Union, and just generally being the face of the society both at uni and in public – and by public, that also includes awesome industry people!

Treasurer: Lucie Desquiens

Treasurer is a position that is in itself self-explanatory. I am responsible for our budget and accountable for our expenses. My job involves being in touch with all actors involved on a daily basis: whether it be the Union, producers of term/affiliate films, or committee members. I try and make sure it is a smooth ride for everybody, while emphasising the need to keep receipts preciously (fastidious but not as boring as one might think) so that everyone who has spent FilmSoc money is reimbursed at the end of the day. It takes dedication, but it is truly fulfilling to know projects do actually happen because they have received adequate funding. It’s very exciting to have this much responsibility and having the chance of managing a big budget. You also help the society develop and grow by investing in new equipment, refurbishing the studio etc.

The best thing about being on the committee is being aware of everything that goes on within the society. All projects have to be financed, so you’re a part of most of them! I also love working closely with production: it’s always nice to see a short film being made after you’ve dealt with financing equipment, location (etc.) to ensure the movie will look amazing!

Secretary: Mary Ignatiadi

This is a great role for a person who’s looking for commitment but wants to take things slow. Duties involve: being present for meetings, recording organisational aspects, and being a point of contact for the society. It’s a great (stress-free) position for someone who wants to see the (inner) workings and (top) secrets of the society, whilst also enjoying perks and privileges.

Examples? Card access (being allowed to lurk in the studio whenever you want). The odd free food during meetings (if a committee member was feeling particularly generous that day). Also providing input during the bidding selection (knowing the term selection felt like getting Oscar results a day early).

Marketing Officer: Andreas Zinonos

I basically promote the society and its activities and ensure that the society members always know what is going on. This includes creating events on Facebook for any activity we have, sharing the events on different social media and composing a weekly newsletter for the society members. You control the internet… or at least the FilmSoc page.

Some great things about being on the committee are:
1. Having direct impact on what’s happening in the society,
2. Having access to the studio (pretty cool),
3. Being part of a group of people who care about film,
4. Perks like knowing what events will happen before being released.

Drama Producer: Tanya Dudnikova

As the Drama Producer, you are in charge of organising all of the society’s centrally run projects, such as the Term Films, Webseries, and FemFilm, as well as all helping out with affiliate films. Since this requires a huge time commitment, you will basically live in the studio for a year and sell your soul to FilmSoc, but fear not, it’s all worth it in the end! (I promise)

The best thing about the role is… Getting to work with so many different people & departments. And getting to Exec Produce things

Docs Producer: Nick Mastrini

Being the Documentary Producer means getting e v e r y t h i n g filmed for societies – a blessing and a curse. This role covers all non-fiction filmmaking at UCL, from short documentary films to videography across campus – it involves creating trailers, covering UCL events, setting up docs screenings and society collaborations, to name a few elements.

I love the freedom of the role, which gives you a chance to interact with any and every society at UCL. You also work with every committee member to foster a documentary aspect to their role, whether on the blog or in screenings. Plus, commissioning promos and trailers to frequent deadlines is the fastest way to learn everything about film-making.

Screenings Producer(s): Sarah Saraj & Issam Azzam

Love film! Think you’ve got good taste? Show it off! Would you like to become Screenings Producer of the Film & TV Society! Bond the students of UCL together with great films (and food)! Create your own little cinema, exactly how you want it, each week on campus!

Screenings producer essentially means that we were able to choose the films screened this year to make a program. This is the role for people who have seen a lot of films and have an eclectic taste that they want to share with others! It’s also important to make the screenings topical in line with various holidays and events happening throughout the year. The screenings this year have collaborated with other societies a lot this year, bringing in a different audience and connecting for people to films! It’s a really amazing role with minimal commitment other than 2 hours a week for the screening. We buy the DVD and sometimes snacks and usually give a quick talk before the film.

The best thing about the position is the two hour break from deadlines and uni work – bring along your friends and get a drink after. Hearing the opinions from people who came along and discussing the films! Sometimes, we collaborated with other committee members to make the screenings correspond with other society activity. Being on the committee has been a dream. Access to the studio for editing etc has also been really useful!

Workshops Producer(s): Pietro Sambuy & Yara Alkatheir

Workshop producer is a great role to gain some experience in organising small-scale events and a fun way of being creative without having to work so intensively all year long. The main duties as workshop producer involve finding an awesome idea for a workshop, seeking out for people to present/lead them, filling in guest event forms, and finding/booking venues. The great thing about it is that you have the freedom of organising any type of workshop, although you still have to find someone to lead it.

At first you might think this role is about emailing a bunch of people in the film industry — which it is, partially — but more so it’s about creating opportunities where people are able to help each other. It’s about keeping a community of film education and knowledge alive, whether that is through listening to a famous speaker or learning hands-on about equipment from a passionate FilmSoc member.

The role really pushes you to have confidence and to believe in yourself, because you do need a certain sense of self assurance if you want to email strangers. It puts you in a position where you have to face rejection and I think it allows you to see rejection as a way of life rather than something to be afraid of! One of the best things about this role is its flexibility. You organise as many events that you can manage. If you have a few free weeks, you can organise two workshops per week, and on busy weeks you can step down and relax from the position for a bit.

Being a part of FilmSoc is like having a family away from home, feeling comfortable and surrounded by people who are similar in interests to yourself.

Social Sec: Zara Hussein

Film is typically not the most social of interests, so this position is about organising cool or fun opportunities (e.g. drinks/film quizzes/cinema trips) for people to meet and get to know each other within our large society. I also find it just means being the person available for anyone and everyone to talk to, and creating a relaxed atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable.

A good thing about this position is, perhaps obviously, getting to meet a lot of new people which is always fun and interesting. Another great thing is the freedom you have with regards to the events you create – you can be as inventive as you like as long as it allows people to socialise, and the possibilities are endless!

Blog & Podcast Editor-In-Chief: Sofia Kourous Vazquez

You can run this joint however you want. I’ve tried my best to be get to know the people who get involved on the blog and podcast and spark a cute community vibe (although a lot of it is virtual). Not going to lie, this role does take a surprising amount of consistent work and time investment since you’ll be maintaining a more or less constant output on the FilmSoc blog and podcast platforms, but you get to foster a little microcosm of film appreciation which is nice given that the actual society feels overwhelmingly big otherwise. Also: free screening tickets, London Film Festival press attendance, and constant awareness of the goings on in the film industry (whether you want to or not?)

Studio access is a pretty sweet committee perk; that place sure has seen me through a lot (ex. that time my laptop broke during deadlines but I survived using the studio Mac, hallelujah). Being in the loop with the rest of the society’s activities through the committee also makes you feel involved and part of something. You’ll meets lots of people, make a few friends, and use it as an escape from other types of responsibilities.

Equipment Manager: Molly Hwang

This involves: taking care of the babies cause people will hurt or kidnap them if you don’t watch them. And badgering people to return stuff.

And 24 hour studio access! I just like kit in general and if I make sure other members use it properly then I know that we’ll have functioning kit on things like term films/web series. The society is a good place to be to keep your film buzz going. With all the fellow film geeks around talking about film plus the FilmSoc resources, you feel more motivated to actually go out and make stuff! Being on the committee let’s me have power over what equipment to get or replace next. Also the power to ban flakey/careless people from using kit again to prevent damage!!! (lol I’m such a bitch I know)

Studio Manager: Lorcan Moullier

The studio is FilmSoc’s crown jewel. It’s a space which is essential to all the society’s activities, from productions to meetings to screenings, etc. As Studio Manager, your job will be to ensure that this sacred temple is taken care of by those who wish to use it. Most of your job will involve the thrilling task of checking emails for booking requests, responding to Facebook messages from random delightful studio enthusiasts, and consulting the elegant Excel timetable spreadsheet which is very colourful and nice to look at. It’s a position with real responsibility and it’s a great way to get involved!

Volunteering Officer: Zhijun Yin

Welfare Officer: Yingying Zheng

As the welfare officer, I kind of jump from one project to another. For instance, I helped advertise Fem Film Project, and now I am organising special screening events in a collaboration with the Student Union.

Best thing about being Welfare Officer is definitely the flexibility you get. You help out with different projects run by Film Soc and work to make the society a comfortable and inclusive place.

The FilmSoc AGM will be hosted on Thursday, March 22nd at 6pm. Info on the FACEBOOK EVENT. 

Calvin and Ivan are back to discuss the outcome of last Sunday’s Academy Awards results plus some film news of the week. Tune in below, and be sure to check out our other episodes!

(Illustration: Jennifer Luxton for the Seattle Times)

Last week’s podcast is out after some delay! On this episode, Sarah and Alexandra discuss Greta Gerwig’s debut and Oscar-nominated feature, Lady Bird. One of them loved it; the other not so much… Hear them talk it out, plus go over some film quick news.

Illustration credit: Virginia Zamora

The Academy Awards are tonight! Cast your vote for this year’s candidates in a few of the categories:

ROUND 2

> CLICK HERE TO VOTE IN THE SECOND ROUND OF CATEGORIES <

ROUND 1

> CLICK HERE TO VOTE IN THE FIRST ROUND OF CATEGORIES <

Illustration credit: Tomi Umi

(Illustration: Joanna Bush; Costume Design: Jennifer Johnson)

A new episode is up! Sofia and Maria run through some recent film news headlines then dive into discussion of I, Tonya and The Post, both Oscar-nominated recent releases that feature female figures in the public eye. WARNING: some spoilers.

(Illustration: Bendik Kaltenborn for The New Yorker)

On the latest episode of our podcast, Milo and Lorcan discuss the past week’s film news highlights and talk us through their takes on Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Picture runner, Phantom Thread.

Warning: Spoilers throughout!

Last time on the podcast: Oscar Nominations & 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

In our latest episode, Maria and Ivan react to Oscar nominations (how do they compare to Ivan and Calvin’s predictions from last time??) and discuss a Best Picture frontrunner: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Illustration: Petra Eriksson for The New Yorker.

Last time on the podcast: Awards Season Special

Check out our ‘Trip to the Oscars’ event to see Three Billboards this Thursday (1/02), at 20:30.

This week, Calvin and Ivan run through the hot films at the centre of awards season buzz this year, weighing in on the frontrunners, snubs, and their favourite underdogs.

Last time on the podcast: #TimesUp: Hollywood, Hypocrisy, and the Future

Speaking of awards, check out our Trip to the Oscars cinema outings. This week, we’re heading to see Darkest Hour (FACEBOOK EVENT) – join us?

A few of our writers butt heads over Sean Baker’s stylistic choices. 

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS.

The Florida Project, released in late 2017, has been critically acclaimed and deemed a top awards season contender. The humanistic story, beautifully shot, follows Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a rambunctious child living in a motel room near Disneyland, Florida, with her irresponsible but loving young mother. Her living situation slowly becomes more precarious in the background of her childhood antics as her mother struggles to pay rent. Real life eventually gets the better of Moonee’s la-la-land: in the final sequence, she realises the sweet-talking grown-ups who’ve appeared at their motel room door – Child Protection Services – are going to take her away from her mommy. Panicked, Moonee breaks away and runs to her best friend Jancey (Valeria Cotto)’s room. She breaks down crying when Jancey opens the door. In act of solidarity, mischief, and friendship, Jancey takes Moonee’s hand, and suddenly the atmosphere changes. The music becomes upbeat and playful; the camera goes jittery and POV-style. The girls run together to Disneyland, the fantasy destination whose proximity colours and seduces Baker’s eccentric, pastel paradise.

To some, the switched-up style of The Florida Project‘s conclusion is jarring and unwelcome. Others see it as a coping mechanism: a creative descent into Moonee’s imaginative, childhood world. The facts are that Baker shot the Disneyland scenes secretly without permission, and on an iPhone 6S Plus. Addressing the ending of his film, Baker said, “We’ve been watching Moonee use her imagination and wonderment throughout the entire film to make the best of the situation she’s in … In the end, with this inevitable drama, this is me saying to the audience, ‘If you want a happy ending, you’re gonna have to go to that headspace of a kid because, here, that’s the only way to achieve it.'”

Not a fan?

LIAM’S THOUGHTS

Throughout ‘The Florida Project’, the spectre of Disney World looms in the distance, a behemoth both culturally and spatially which drips colour onto peripheral and far less glamorous motels like the Magic Castle. Home to Moonee and her mother Halley (Bria Vinaite), this location transforms into a makeshift Magic Kingdom through the perspective of a child’s eyes, the hopeful but limited world-view protecting Moonee from the tribulations of life below the poverty line, but leaving her vulnerable as well. It is in this moment of vulnerability, as her entire life crumbles in the film’s conclusion, that she breaks through the lines of disappointing reality and discovers the fantasy Disney World signifies. However, pervading this border seems to undermine the subtle commentary of the piece, that despite being so close to the Magic Kingdom it will always be inaccessible, an understated tragedy that is far more powerful and relevant. In addition, the jarring technical shift from film to digital that accompanies this finale, necessitated by the fact that Baker did not have permission to film on the resort, is rough and clunky, as opposed to the beautiful delicacy which the director imbues the rest of the movie with. Akin to the proverbial dream sequence, a stylistic change makes some sense, but a great deal of elegance would b3 required to really pull it off. With that being said, I really like ‘The Florida Project’ and the ending by no means ruins the experience, only prevents what is really good from becoming great.

SAM’S THOUGHTS

The Florida Project is a beautiful movie, a powerful reflection on hardship, childhood, and friendship. In its closing moments Moonee, our protagonist, cries outside the home of her only real remaining friend in the world – a friendship we have watched form and blossom over the last hundred minutes. In an achingly brilliant and uncomfortable closeup, we watch her own construction of reality shatter, and the truth of her situation sink in.

Cut to black. Walk home. Think about the movie for the next month.

This is how I wish The Florida Project had ended. However Sean Baker – somewhat admirably – wanted to drive home the film’s core concept, on how children escape their problematic situations, one final time. To do so, he shoots a lurid, dreamy sequence obviously representing a fantasy, but that is in keeping with the style of the rest of the film. Moonee and friend run away from their problems to Disneyland. It strengthens the main themes and improves the movie as a whole.

In an alternative reality, this is also a wonderful ending to The Florida Project. However Sean Baker and A24 couldn’t get clearance to shoot at Disneyland. As a filmmaker dedicated to perfection and excellent visual storytelling, Baker concedes that his proposed ending is impossible to execute properly, and returns to his original ending.

In another dimension, this is the creative process for indie-purist Sean Baker. However Sean is pontifical and unyielding, determined to execute his vision. So he grabs an iPhone and an easily sourced, $200 gimbal, shoots a sequence with the same careful cinematography the rest of the movie has, sneaks into Disneyland, and sits happy knowing the movie is everything he wanted it to be.

Yet still, this is not how it went. Instead we got an unstabilised, poorly shot, cinematically incoherent scene that pulls everyone watching out of the emotional catharsis Baker had expertly put them in, to instead wonder what on Earth he was thinking.

Baker is without a doubt a wonderful filmmaker. The Florida Project is without a doubt a genuinely great movie. But the ending of The Florida Project is symptomatic of a director with too much vision for his own good, and holds the film back from the praise it deserves.

All for it

XIN’S THOUGHTS

The ending scene definitely came out of the left field – its bizarre tonal change managed to pull my emotions with an emergency brake from immersion and sympathy to utter confusion of disjointed thoughts. I didn’t know how to feel about it for at least a few weeks.

That was the point, isn’t it? It puts us in an uncomfortable position, left with such an ambiguous ending that would understandably be unsatisfying to some, blocking the audience from knowing the reality of Moonee’s fate. But it doesn’t matter. Baker asks the audience to come to their own bleak conclusion, giving us the power to choose what is best for her. Would it be better for her if she ran away? Lived with Jancey? Or if she was taken by social services and separated from her mother? Baker forces us to make the decision instead, and for us to suffer the moral consequences of our choice. How else should Baker end it?

Not only so, it’s a testament to the friendship Moonee has built with Jancey, and an insight to the character’s own desperation. Despite all her toughness, she’s nonetheless a child – she just wants to go to Disneyland, live in an actual magic kingdom with her friend, play in a place with no danger and no limits. A symbolic icon of innocent happiness and magical childhood dreams, the Magic Kingdom we know finally lights up the screen in a blur, fulfilling Moonee’s fantasy and providing her sanctuary and optimistic hope. A haven to run to.

Yet because of her background, because of the life she was born into, Disneyland can only be a fantasy, nothing more. And that’s a heart-breaking point to end on for a film dealing with childhood, poverty, and the harsh reality.

CALVIN’S THOUGHTS

GEORGE’S THOUGHTS

“A filmmaker who prefers ideas to images will never advance above the second rank because he is fighting the nature of his art. The printed word is ideal for ideas; film is made for images, and images are best when they are free to evoke many associations and are not linked to narrowly defined purposes.” So said Roger Ebert on the criticism towards the great champion of images over ideas, Federico Fellini. I use it now as I anticipate the criticism of the ending of Sean Baker’s truly beautiful “The Florida Project”.    

Let me make myself clear – I am not going to argue that the film’s ending is necessarily a great one. I believe the film is probably a great one, but I think the ending is so divisive that it cannot simply be great. People who are derisive of the film claim it is “poverty porn” in that it entices people into the allure of the bottom of society and glamorises it.  People who loved it say it’s a magnificent blend of gritty social realism and lurid dreamscapes.  However, whatever you think of all but the last minute of the film, the ending seems to stand separately. It is so distinct from the rest of the film that even some of the film’s supporters, like friends I went to see the film with, were alienated by the ending. This is largely due to its complete shift in style, mood, cinematography and music. The film has a flowing lackadaisical quality that serves in the manner of an ethnographic film. Thus when the viewer is confronted with the inevitable, an ending for this film, they have to decide whether they like what the filmmaker is saying or not. Whatever Sean Baker’s ending, it would have been divisive, because the whole film seems to play out without a real acknowledgement of closure, but paradoxically builds up a climax that requires one.  

So the film was always going to have a problematic ending (or at least a divisive one). But what Sean Baker does is surely the best possible answer. The film’s protagonist Moonee, having realised she will be taken away from her mother, runs to find her friend Jancey, and flees the motel to Disney World, in a frenzied child escapism. He switches the film’s absolutely stunning cinematography from 35mm film to an iPhone 6s Plus to create the shot (he previously filmed “Tangerine” entirely on an iPhone 5s). The smooth and crisp cinematography shifts to jarring and fuzzy, and the audience definitely feels jarred. It feels rushed, it feels disconcerting, it feels uneven and incongruous with the rest of the film.  

And it works. Because in a film so focused on the close-ups of daily life, of human beings, that tries to blend ethnography into narrative storytelling, how could a filmmaker be so obnoxious as to give the viewer a great dramatic closure? My friends said they expected something else from the film, something more – but how could a film that tries to be so true to human life and struggle say something that no one can claim to know?  There is no possible greater closure to a story where a child of a prostitute is torn from her mother and sent into foster care. What truly mature film can give this story a happy ending, or sad one? But to leave the viewer with merely an image, conjuring so many different ideas, interpretations and answers – that is the mark of a film which has respect for its subject matter. We aren’t left with a clear idea of what happens to Moonee, or whether she has a terrible life or a great one. We are merely given an image of what it is like to be a child, still able to run as fast you can to escape whatever you want and be comforted, if only for an instant.

The Florida Project was out for wide UK release in November, 2017. Watch the trailer below and read our full review from London Film Festival earlier in October.

Last time on the Podcast: Superheroes.

Illustrations credit: Rachel Levit.

The year moves pretty fast. Here are the FilmSoc blog’s 10 most popular posts of the past 12 months (according to Google Analytics), in case you missed them. Happy New Year!

1. ‘The Handmaiden (Extended Cut)’ Review
   
2. Christopher Nolan Returns To UCL To Receive Honorary Degree And Visit The Film & TV Society
   
3. ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Review
   
4. Today’s Extraordinary Yellow Sky and 11 Films It Reminded Us Of
   
5. ‘It’ Review
   
6. ‘Dunkirk’ Review
   
7. Round-up: the Weinstein scandal
   
8. London Film Festival: ‘Ava’ Review
   
9. ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Review
   
10. ‘mother!’ Review
    
    

Keep your eyes peeled for new articles and reviews from the blog in 2018, plus opportunities to get involved. Happy New Year!

Last week on the podcast: Call Me By Your Name.

After a long hiatus, the FilmSoc podcast is back!

Starting with a quick round-up of the latest film and television industry news, this week Lorcan, Issam, and Maria take a look at Call Me By Your Name, the acclaimed 2017 indie romance rocketing towards Oscar fame. Listen to them dissect the film – characters, performances, soundtrack, etc. – in the context of LGBT cinema.

Check out our blog review of Call Me By Your Name from London Film Festival in October as well!

It’s festival season! The FilmSoc blog is covering the BFI’s 61st London Film Festival (4-15 October), diving into the myriad of films and events on offer to deliver reviews.

Editor-in-chief Sofia Kourous Vazquez reviews Eliza Hittman’s poetic feature.

Some may call 2017 a good year for queer cinema. At the February Academy Awards, Moonlight took home its Best Picture. British film God’s Own Country, currently still in cinemas, has achieved wide release and critical acclaim. Call Me By Your Name, recently premiered at London Film Festival, anticipates similar response. Now Eliza Hittman’s Beach Rats joins these releases with sensitive and understated flair. Along with its central theme of sexuality, the film is a gentle glimpse into a chapter of a coming-of-age story. Soft and uniquely set, Beach Rats throbs with quiet energy and vulnerability.

Beach Rats follows the life of Frankie (Harris Dickinson), a Brooklyn teen dealing with a terminally ill father and an increasingly confusing sexual orientation. He spends his time skylarking with friends on the boardwalk, smoking pot, and taking mirror selfies with the flash on. It’s a life of hyper-masculinity — girls, working out, cruising around looking tough — and one at odds with Frankie’s exploration of online gay chat sites. Dickinson, truly a breakout star in this role, delicately portrays a young man who knows exactly what he is but doesn’t know what to do about it.

Beach Rats is a character study above all else. The plot is fuzzy; it lopes along the seashore, browses games at the arcade, and mindlessly takes the train down to Coney Island. The viewers are silent companions to the activities of these teens, but when alone with Frankie we get an intimate understanding he lacks from anyone in his life. It’s these quieter moments that inform our observation of him in public contexts. We are taught to read subtle flickers of emotion on his face, and understand the weight of Frankie’s glances. In the local park, he notices his sister and her boyfriend holding hands on the swings. Reading past the bullying protective older brother act, we know when his eyes dwell on the interlocked fingers he is really thinking I want that.

A sense of longing oozes from the fabric of the film. Frankie certainly wants things — sex, companionship, perhaps love — but, as he often says to the men he video chats online, he’s not sure what he likes. The camera moves shyly between glimpses of muscles, arms, legs, and beads of gathering sweat on tanned skin, dealing in stolen glances and the almost overwhelming sensuality of young masculinity. The visuals are shrouded in the warm and tinted veil of Hélène Louvart‘s 16mm cinematography. Her work is light and summery, with a hint of bittersweet.

In the final portion of the film, Hittman slightly abandons the stylistically formless story-line for something more active and bold. Frankie’s bros, belonging to the strand of his life kept until this point successfully separate from his sexual experimentation, come along to one of his gay meetups, questionably passed off as an easy way to score drugs. Introducing a climax to the tension is necessary at this point, and concluding such an elusive film is an understandable challenge, but unfortunately in attempting to meet it the writing becomes inconsistent and flow is lost. The friends, who we’ve come to see as passive and aimless, gain a sudden sense of drive and unexpected threat. A glimpse of this potential earlier in the film would’ve at least slightly prepared us for their burst of homophobic energy. In fact, we lacked insight into their attitudes towards sexuality in general, something that could’ve woven Beach Rats’ two strands together into a tighter helix.

Representation of Frankie’s relationships to the women in his life leaves something to be desired; that isn’t necessarily depth but might be more screen time. Kate Hodge inhabits Donna, the boy’s mother, with naturalism and personality. Lacking is the space and time to understand the context of their relationship and family life, but the film designates itself as a conveyor through image rather than word very early on — we get to know little more than what is presented. Simone (Madeline Weinstein), Frankie’s girlfriend, is also portrayed effectively. Simone leads their affair, and is the one to step away when Frankie’s hot-and-cold, distracted persona, often verging on cruel and not made any easier by his drug use (…and the fact that he’s gay), becomes too much of a problem. Her maturity and security in life counters his state of disorientation. Thankfully, her agency just about elevates her from being merely Frankie’s foil.

Beach Rats is a good film, but it will have to fight comparison with Moonlight to be remembered. It’s beautiful, but in similar ways to Barry Jenkins’ lauded drama: it shimmers, it glistens, it’s shadowy and quiet. Strong lead acting helms its journey into an individual’s grappling with a seemingly oxymoronic existence. However, Hittman can set her film aside in its wandering, documentary style. With a unique poetic cinematic language, Beach Rats carves out its space.

7/10

Beach Rats premiered at London Film Festival on . Watch the trailer below:

Editor-In-Chief Sofia Kourous Vazquez runs through a few films from the docs-focused London festival, which ran from the 5th to the 10th of September.

WINNERS

Grand Jury Award: ‘Purge This Land’ (Lee Anne Schmitt)

This is a documentary that shies away from people and focuses instead on spaces. How can historical locations and spaces convey their story when paired with spoken word and sound? Schmitt tells the story of John Brown, a radical white abolitionist who came to believe violent armed conflict was the only way to achieve liberation for the oppressed peoples of the United States; indeed, the film’s title is taken from a Brown quote, in which he states ‘the crimes of this guilty land can never be purged away but with blood’. As the film travels across the US, tracing Brown’s activities and visiting scenes of other events significant to American slavery, segregation, and racial relations history, the director reflects on more recent events and her personal life — Schmitt’s partner is a black man, and her child is mixed race. The film skillfully conveys the emotional through objective facts. Its glances back at the violence, prejudice, and discrimination that occurred less than a century ago are reminders of the complex and problematic heritage of a nation, and honours the importance of remembrance and ongoing critical examination.

Emerging International Filmmaker Award: ‘Taste of Cement’ (Ziad Kalthoum)

Kalthoum bathes a construction site in Beirut in beautiful golden light as he silently documents the monotonous lives of the Syrian labourers who work here. The men have a 7pm curfew, after which they descend for rest through a hole into the gloomy foundation of the building. The primary footage of slow, repetitive, mechanical labour — the stacking of bricks, the drilling of holes, the steady ascension of the site lift that takes the workers up every morning and down at night — is interspersed with clips from Syria, for as these men lift buildings out of the ground in their host country, their towns back home are being demolished by bombs.

This is a quiet film, ruled by stillness and rhythm, but sink too deeply into viewing comfort and you’ll be jolted back to reality. Despite its beautiful images, ‘Taste of Cement’ won’t let you forget the sad irony of its subjects’ situation. It’s observational, but rather muted. You might long for more but maybe that’s the point. For these Syrian men, the past is being erased; their futures perhaps as well. The present is their only reality, and this is where the film makes its nest.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

‘Photon’ (Norman Leto)

‘Photon’ is Leto’s second full-length feature and he isn’t planning on quitting anytime soon, but honestly he could. He has every right to be that proud of himself. This film is the product of hard work and vision. It is designed. In it, a pleasant, authoritative, and slightly humorous narrator traces the history of the universe. We start at the Big Bang and end, well, in the future, with predictions (or warnings?!) of what’s to come. Voice aside, what establishes the film as something unique are the visuals, including fascinating and often beautiful computer animations of particles, organisms, embryonic development. You can’t tear your eyes away, and you don’t want to. Sometimes what you see is shocking. Towards the end, what you hear definitely is. You will question the meaning of your life and the course of humanity in this impressive example of avant-garde documentary. Seek out where this is showing, sit back, and let it happen.

‘Atelier de Conversation’ (Bernhard Braunstein)

A charming little package of warm and high-quality documentary film-making. Multiple times a week, a free French conversation workshop convenes at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. All sorts of characters, all of them foreigners, come along with the desire to improve their skills. Their interactions and communication, guided by an instructor, are sometimes humorous, sometimes heated, sometimes touching, and always colourful. Even when differences arise, the participants are united by the willing vulnerability that accompanies learning a new language. This is what Braunstein captures so compassionately. ‘Atelier’ is a lovely patchwork quilt of humanity to cosy yourself up with. It’s simple, and it works.

Open City Documentary Film Festival was founded in 2011 by the UCL-based film school of the same name. The 2016 edition was hosted at the university. This year, the festival was based in the Southbank Bargehouse Oxo building and ran screenings at venues across London including the ICA, Picturehouse Central, Genesis Cinema, and Regent Street Cinema.

Editor-In-Chief Sofia Kourous Vazquez reviews Geremy Jasper’s Sundance hit.

Finally, I’ve found it. My song of the summer. I know I’m late — September is practically upon us — but take my word for it, glam power ballad ‘Tuff Love’ from the Patti Cake$ Original Soundtrack is an anthem. Despite all the hip hop tracks dominating this film, which follows small town, New Jersey gal Patricia “Patti” Dumbrowski (Danielle Macdonald) who dreams of being a rapper, I latched onto the odd one out. I guess this is a metaphor for how I felt about Geremy Jasper’s first feature. I didn’t love it, but there were some gems, namely Bridget Everett’s performance as the protagonist’s partygirl mother (and one-hit-wonder singer behind ‘Tuff Love’) Barb. Though superficially cute and rather endearing, Patti Cake$ is formulaic in plot and confusing in tone, torn between being tongue-in-cheek and completely earnest.

Patti Cake$ consists of some fun stuff and some not-so-fun stuff, and it’s hard to be sure what the film wants you to feel; a humorous, fantastical dream sequence may closely be followed by a scene of uncomfortably real-life hardship without smooth transition. Patti aka Dumbo aka Killa P wants to be a rapper but feels suffocated by her circumstances. She’s trapped in her run-down and unexciting New Jersey town, stuck paying the family bills with money from her gross and low-paying bartending job, and tied down by her relationships. She tends daily to her very sick grandmother (Cathy Moriarty) and often has to clean up after her embarrassing mother, holding back Barb’s hair while she vomits in the seedy toilet of their local bar. Her ticket out of this situation is pursuit of her passion for hip hop and talent for rhymes, so she teams up with her sidekick friend Hareesh (Siddharth Dhananjay) to make it happen. You can literally guess the rest.

Hareesh and Patti’s friendship is clearly set up to be a crowd-pleaser. They exchange cheeky banter and indulge their fantasy larger-than-life rap star personas, but most of the time I’m left wondering what Hareesh is actually doing there. Though he’s Patti’s number one cheerleader, the dream seems to be a bit of a joke to him, plus the guy contributes no talent to their rap act; Hareesh’s high pitch vocals are completely slathered with auto-tune. Then there’s Patti’s grandma, her other big supporter, and again a one-dimensional character clearly set up to generate laughs. I mean, what’s funnier than a stubborn old lady getting sampled in a hip hop track and recruited into a rap group, right? Ha ha. The character I had the most issues with, however, was Bastard aka. Bob (Mamoudou Athie). I could rant for ages about this guy, a Satan-worshipping but harmless and shy outsider who utters some of the cringiest lines of the film, but to protect anyone from even more spoilers it will suffice to say that he is yet another example of superficial and confusing writing. With all of these characters, it’s unclear whether Patti Cake$ is trying to poke fun at tropes or wholeheartedly embrace them. I’m not sure failed execution of the former is any better than the alternative. If you’re going to subvert formula, you really need to do it right.

The two ‘loudest’ performances in the film, however, do save it from disaster. Danielle Macdonald keeps a controlled rein on Patti, who could easily become as ridiculously over-the-top as some of the other characters. Despite her confidence when performing, there is a quietness and thoughtfulness about her that really trickles through. Refreshingly, Patti’s weight, used against her in a few moments of the film, does not take over her character’s narrative (no classic ‘fat girl’ humour, no gimmicky overcompensation in sass) or play a large part in her motives. Macdonald and Everett, as Barb, work well together and cast a believable light over an equally sad and funny mother-daughter dynamic. They look like real people, and they act like them too — this latter point definitively setting them apart from the other characters.

My biggest issue with Patti Cake$ is its quashed potential. Though containing a healthy selection of elements with the capacity to elevate the film out of its indie predictability — the depressing suburban American aesthetic, the distinct and charming protagonist, the vibrant soundtrack — it’s completely overwhelmed by predictability and a handful of ridiculous characters.

Patti Cake$ is an entertaining watch, but if you’re looking for a fun hip hop dreamer’s tale, you’re better off checking out The Get Down (Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series), which has similar vibes and better execution.

Patti Cake$ is out in UK cinemas from the 1st of September. Watch the trailer below:

Editor-In-Chief Sofia Kourous Vazquez reviews Avi Mograbi’s latest documentary feature.

Natural light softly fills a plain, spacious room. Chalk writings and drawings decorate the back walls. In front of these, a group of men playfully act out the rise and fall of democracy and dictatorships in their home countries. This sounds difficult. It’s not. These men prove that all you need to tell their stories are a few wooden stools to stand on and a healthy dose of humour.

The men on-screen are refugees, many from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan. They eat and sleep at the HOLOT detention centre, where they wait for months, and often years, for news on their refugee status — a legal protection Israel rarely grants — and their futures. Voluntarily participating in weekly drama workshops organised by filmmaker Avi Mograbi and theatre director Chen Alon, they engage with each other and their difficult situations through exercises and improvisation. Their performance space? An abandoned military hangar near the facility. Proximity is key because, though they are permitted to leave HOLOT, roll call is taken three times a day, greatly restricting their freedom.

In Between Fences (Bein gderot), Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi spotlights the faces of immigration detention in his country. Though maintaining the unconventional approach and activist spirit of his past works, his latest film expands, with warm aesthetic sense, beyond politics and into the essence of humanity. Mograbi steps back from his usual quasi-protagonism, and instead hands the story, and power, over to the subjects.

It might initially sound dull to learn about the struggles of escaping persecution, crossing borders, and navigating immigration bureaucracy through basic re-enactment by non-actors, but the delicate nature of the migration and asylum-seeking process are difficult to document without creating some ethical dilemmas. Through ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ technique, elaborated by Brazilian stage director Augusto Boal in the 1970s, the refugee subjects in Between Fences are empowered. The approach puts the performers, called spect-actors, in control of the dramatisation, which becomes fluid and meaningful through their different added inputs and interference. The result is extremely moving.

One scene the men act out is an incident at a playground in Tel Aviv where Israeli parents passive-aggressively instruct their children to avoid their black playmates and, in the ensuing confrontation, call for the “infiltrators” to get out of their neighbourhood. Another depicts an asylum-seeker being bribed and blackmailed by Israeli immigration officers to return to his country of origin, or else face arbitrary imprisonment. In many of the skits, the detainees are joined by white, Israeli participants intrigued by the workshops.

Crying out into an imagined desert, a huddle of people reach the fence on the border between Egypt and Israel. They cover themselves with thin, invisible blankets and gather together for warmth. “Please! We are asylum-seekers! Please help us!” On the other side of the barrier, guards angrily urge them to turn back. “Please! We are cold and hungry!” The guards shake the non-existent fence and, through mime, threateningly point their weapons. Like many of the scenes in Between Fences, only the fuzz of a mic or boom pole dipping into frame serve to alert us that what we are watching is not actually happening. The harsh desert wind feels real; at just the right moment, the pane-less windows of the hangar lets in a breeze that ruffles the actors’ clothes and flutters the hair of the young Israeli woman also playing the part of a refugee.

The fourth wall does not exist in the Theatre of the Oppressed, and Mograbi does away with it in his documentary as well. We often see the director involving himself in the workshops, wearing his headphones and sound recording equipment as he does, and the cameras are also often keen to join in. The result is unorthodox but comforting. In a Q&A following a screening of Between Fences at the ICA, Mograbi revealed he could not include the most touching moment of the shoot, which involved one of the Eritrean migrants sharing his need to risk returning home to be united with his newly orphaned son, because the footage was ruined by the director’s crying and resulting shaky camera work. “I’m sorry I could not be more professional, but…” He gives a sheepish smile and shrugs. Personally, I am glad professionalism is sometimes tossed aside; it is good to know there is empathy behind the camera.

Empathy is indeed the film’s greatest achievement. The footage from the workshops is interspersed with clips of informal interviews of HOLOT’s detainees and documentation of the centre’s exterior, enriching the material with deeper insights into the state of limbo the men are trapped in. Between Fences is a process. Comfort increases as it progresses, and the documentary practice becomes more authentic when it confronts and questions itself in the various small turning points.

This film surprised me. Not only interesting in subject matter and innovative in format — to be expected from Mograbi — it is beautifully presented as well. Fluid camerawork imbues the film with a quiet vibrancy to match the spirits of its endearing subjects. Subtle sound design effectively uses silence to create space for emotion and communication. At other times, the natural audio is overlaid with singing, adding a poignant touch to the communal moments. Between Fences does not ask questions, and it certainly does not provide answers. It listens, suspending itself ambiguously between hope and hopelessness.

Between Fences was released in January 2017. It was screened in August in cinemas across the UK as part of ‘Crossings: Stories of Migration’, an ICA-led film and events programme supported by the BFI. Watch a clip from the film below.