Frames of Representation looks to find a home for “new visions for documentary cinema,” in whichever form that might be interpreted and shape it may arrive. When rounding up his favourite films of last year, festival curator Nico Marzano stated that his ambition each year is “to be inundated by films that are both able to inspire and to take a risk or and to challenge mainstream cinematic languages.” Frames of Representation is the result of this, posing a cross-section of the abundance of creative, challenging…

BFI’s LGBT showcase, Flare concluded its festivities last night, after a busy and exciting ten days that felt like some of the festival’s most active and exciting yet. The festival screened new and intriguing films, as well as hosting events with filmmakers and actors. From their expansive offering, here are some titles that we thought might pique your interest.

The latest in Albert Serra’s series of imaginative retellings of the legends of historical or literary figures might be his best yet, and is certainly his most accessible. The Death of Louis XIV was conceived initially as a performance piece, commissioned by the Centre Pompidou and due to take place over 15 days there, and elements of this form remain. Starring a 71-year-old Jean-Pierre Léaud as the near-terminal Sun King, Serra’s film takes place entirely within the royal chamber, ensuring…

Eglantine, the first feature from artist and filmmaker Margaret Salmon, is full of love – love for nature, love for the family, love of earth and love of the land. A warm and sensuous film, Eglantine could best be described as “a healing film” – one that, as it radiates with calmness and purity, restores the senses and the soul through the viewing of it.

Arriving fresh from TIFF, Barry Jenkins’ three act identity tale Moonlight comes eight years after his feature debut Medicine for Melancholy. Other than being about relationships and the complicating factors that distance people from each other, this new film bares little resemblance to that mumblecore debut, especially stylistically. The style of Moonlight however, may be more familiar to those who have seen some of the shorts Jenkin made in the period between the two features. In particular, two commercial commissions (Tall…

For a film about dopplegangers it’s fairly apt that Richard Ayoade’s second feature The Double is drenched in a pervasive sense of cinematic deja-vu. A vast improvement on his twee ode to precocious teenagers – Submarine – Ayoade has dug deeper into his box of cinematic reference points, but rather than lifting them wholesale, here the allusions and gestures are interwoven with a deft slight-of hand. Jettisoning the ‘nouvelle vague,’ this time his concerns are far more literate, riffing on…

12 Years a Slave is the latest film from artist turned filmmaker Steve McQueen, and marks another point in his move from provocateur formalist to award-baiting sentimentalist. Whereas with Hunger and to a lesser degree Shame he played his cards close to his chest, conjuring up a series of oblique yet exquisite images ripe with both mystery and provocation, pointing yet never telling the audience of his true intentions, here what was once internal has become external. The film positively…

These reviews contain spoilers.  All is Lost Although the concept of spending two hours alone on a boat with Robert Redford sounds like some suburban housewife’s wet-dream, J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost is a revitalising take on the survivalist drama genre, offering interesting parallels with Alfonso Cuaron’s sci-fi hit Gravity (see review here). Redford stars as a nameless sailor, who awakens one morning to discover water pouring into the hull of his yacht following a freak collision with an errant…

Last week I had the pleasure of watching the documentary 5 Broken Cameras at the Hackney Picturehouse and in attendance was co director Guy Davidi, who afterwards hosted an in-depth discussion/workshop session that looked at how the film came to be made. 5 Broken Cameras is an impressive feat by any stretch of the imagination. Filmed over six years the documentary charts the non-violent protest movement of the Palestinian village of Bil’in as they struggled against the Israeli build separation…

I should point out that I’m not trying to do a Zizek and link two disparate cultural properties, it’s merely that the second review is quite short and seemed too lacking in content to warrant it’s own post. However if anyone would like to have a go at trying to find comparison then be my guest. Seven Psychopaths In his follow up to In Bruges, Martin MacDonagh has written and directed a film about a screenwriter named Marty/Martin. The level…