The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine review – scavenger’s story reveals a rich seam to mine

Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza’s absorbing documentary about an ageing Chilean gold panner is meticulously detailed and doubles as its own act of visual prospecting Out on the remote archipelago of Tierra del Fuego in Chile, Toto Gesell holds on to a profession that hails from bygone times: gold prospecting. Every day, come rain or shine, he puts on his rubber boots and heads to a local creek, where he searches for specks of gold the old-fashioned way: with a pan, a shovel and a homemade sluice. His daily routines are documented with great tenderness in Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza’s absorbing documentary, shot over nearly a decade. The camera often lingers on Toto’s wrinkled hands, as he carefully handles tiny flecks of the precious metal, or writes down his hopes and dreams in a neatly kept diary. Despite his contentment with this simple way of life, his body is etched with the physical toil of the demanding work. When Jorge, Toto’s worried son, decides to build a trommel from scratc...

Crossing review – terrific Istanbul-set culture-clash drama

A stern Georgian ex-teacher on a mission to make amends with her trans niece learns a thing or two in Levan Akin’s rich, rewarding ensemble film

“I have no future and thus no plans. I’m just here until I’m not.” Stony-faced and severe, Lia (Mzia Arabuli), a retired schoolteacher from Batumi, Georgia, is not in the business of mincing words. But she’s not being entirely honest about her plans. There is one final thing that she hopes to achieve: she aims to track down her niece, Tekla, to make amends for failing her years before in a time of need.

Her quest takes her across the border to Istanbul; tagging along with her is Achi (Lucas Kankava), an opportunist kid who has talked his way on to her trip as an interpreter, but really just sees her as a way of escaping his dead-end life in a Black Sea beach shack with his bullying brother. Following a series of false starts, and a few too many evenings of heavy drinking, the pair connect with Evrim (Deniz Dumanli), a trans woman, lawyer and advocate for trans rights.

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