The Mother of All Lies review – pursuing the truth of Morocco’s brutal dictatorship years

-
Asmae El Moudir employs a delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony to brilliantly evoke personal and collective trauma Between those who refuse to remember and those who struggle to forget, a tumultuous clash of minds occupies the centre of Asmae El Moudir’s inventive documentary, a prize-winner at last year’s Cannes film festival. Through a constellation of clay figurines and dollhouse-style miniature sets, most of which were constructed by El Moudir’s father, the director recreates her oppressive childhood in the Sebata district of Casablanca. Under the watchful eyes of her domineering grandmother Zahra, all personal photos are banished from the house, save for a picture of King Hassan II. The delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony brilliantly evokes the personal and collective trauma that stem from Morocco’s “Years of Lead” – a period of state brutality under Hassan II’s dictatorial rule. Lingering on the nimble fingers of El Moudir’s father as he puts t
Post a Comment

Bread and Salt review – clarity and rigour as a talented Polish pianist returns to his hometown

-

Real-life pianist Tymoteusz Bies and his younger brother Jacek star in Damian Kocur’s extraordinary and intriguing debut

There’s an icy, unforgiving clarity and compositional rigour to this arresting feature debut from Polish film-maker Damian Kocur, made using non-professionals and partly inspired by a violent incident from real life; it won the special jury prize at Venice in 2022.

Real-life Polish pianist Tymoteusz Bies plays Tymek, a high-achieving young man studying piano at Warsaw’s Chopin University of Music. He’s returned for the summer break to his drab home town, perhaps based on Ełk in the north-east, where all the kids he grew up with are heading for useless jobs and humdrum lives. He’s happy to be back with his music teacher mum and his brother Jacek (played by his actual brother Jacek Bies) but is perplexed and irritated by the fact that Jacek, despite his own piano talent, isn’t really working hard to get a musical scholarship, like him.

Jacek seems lazily content to live his life with a local girlfriend in this grim dead-end town, with all its racism, Islamophobia and homophobia, which is directed at a nearby Tunisian kebab shop; its hardworking owners tell Tymek that the traditional Polish welcome of “bread and salt” has not been forthcoming. And Tymek is also coldly resistant to answering Jacek’s questions as to whether he has a girlfriend in Warsaw. But something strange happens; we see how Tymek is rather gratified by his celebrity status here with his old pals; he’s quite content to hang out with them all summer long, playing basketball, listening to them freestyle rapping, and he even laughs along to the racist jokes over the endless beers. He certainly wants to get closer to his brother, but it ends in catastrophe.

Continue reading...

from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/nTorWxl
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gasoline Rainbow review – a free-ranging coming-of-age ode to the curiosity of youth

-
Billed as a gen Z road trip film, the Ross brothers’ first fiction feature offers more than you’d expect from the genre, with a focus on human interaction over plot In the opening seconds of the Ross brothers’ new film, a teenager professes his hope to discover a place “weirdos” like him can call home. The opening raises doubts about the novelty of what might follow: the trope of the high school outsider has been endlessly revisited. Gasoline Rainbow – billed as a gen Z road trip movie – starts off by replaying familiar images. As new high school graduates Makai, Micah, Nathaly, Nichole and Tony hit the road across Oregon for one final adventure together, we see the usual trappings of the genre: sing-alongs, parties by the campfire, and leaning out of car windows to enjoy the breeze and sweet call of freedom. We move into welcome new territory when a mishap leaves their van out of action, and the group are left in the hot desert trying to scrounge a path forward, meeting strangers al
Read more

Elaha review – sex, patriarchy and second-generation identity

-
A sexually candid, seriously intentioned drama about a young Kurdish woman who feels she has to surgically ‘restore’ her virginity before her wedding There is a heartfelt and courageous performance from 28-year-old Syrian-born, German-based actor Bayan Layla in this drama about sex, patriarchy and second-generation immigrant identity. It is a drama which hits the buttons squarely and efficiently, but might perhaps have played better as a three-part TV drama. Layla plays Elaha, a young woman of Kurdish family background in a German town (director Milena Aboyan is herself German-based and Armenian-Kurdish). She has finished high school and is now attending classes on how to apply for jobs, picking up skills she uses mainly to help her dad find employment. There seems to be no discussion about university, despite her obvious intelligence. Her mum works hard minding Elaha’s younger sister and disabled kid brother, and Elaha has part-time work at a dry-cleaners; she is saving for her wedd
Read more

Shraddha Kapoor roped in as co-founder by demi fine jewellery start-up Palmonas

-
Palmonas, the demi-fine jewellery startup, has announced the addition of Bollywood actor Shraddha Kapoor as its co-founder. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the industry, with Kapoor's involvement stemming from a serendipitous interaction on Instagram. Founded by Pallavi Mohadikar and Dr Amol Patwari, the demi-fine jewellery brand uses surgical-grade stainless steel elegantly plated with 18k gold tone and sterling silver plated with gold vermeil which is a 2.5-micron thick layer of 18K gold. This unique combination not only sets it apart in the industry but also establishes a standard of affordable luxury accessible to a diverse audience. Celebrated for its exquisite designs, superior craftsmanship, and affordable prices, PALMONAS has gained widespread acclaim for its contemporary and minimalistic jewellery collections made from sterling silver, stainless steel, and gold vermeil. Pallavi Mohadikar, Founder of Palmonas, shared the exciting journey of discovering
Read more