Show Reviews

The Italian Film Festival is 23 years young and kicking off in your town. And it’s not just films with a dramatic flair but several documentaries will feature this year, including Il Cerchio – The Circle. Directed by Sophie Chiarello, The Circle chronicles the journey of Italian primary school students over a five-year period, capturing their unique outlook on the world. The Circle is the winner of best documentary at the 2023 David di Donatello and screening at this year’s Italian Film Festival. Over five years, students share their thoughts and feelings on a range of topics during circle time.…

The Italian Film Festival is in its 23rd year after its founding at the turn of the millennium in 2000.  Since then, the festival has grown in popularity to become the most significant public celebration of Italian cinema outside Italy. A feature of this year’s festival is a special presentation of New Italian Cinema’s – Burning Hearts – which takes place in the picturesque region of Puglia. This gripping crime tale reignited an age-old feud between two rival families as a forbidden love story unfolds. Burning Hearts is directed by Pippo Mezzapesa and was the Best Cinematography winner at the…

A Singular Crime / Un Crimen Argentino is a 2022 thriller based on the 2002 Reynaldo Sietecasebook of the same name. It’s inspired by a true story occurring in 1980 Rosario, Argentina during the “Dirty War” military dictatorship. The book was a best seller, and now the film leaves audiences just as intrigued as they try to solve the crime alongside the protagonists. It is airing at the 2023 Spanish Film Festival and is a must-watch for any who love a mystery. Unlike the book, A Singular Crime primarily follows around two court clerks, Antonio González Rivas (Nicolás Francella) and Carlos Torres (Matías Mayer), alongside the judge’s secretary, Maria Bussato (Malena Sanchez), as…

The Spanish Film Festival is back this June and July and celebrating it’s 25th year! Presented by Palace, the film festival is accessible online, or in person, in major cities Adelaide, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. There are plentiful films to choose from with helpful category groupings such as ‘New Spanish Cinema’, ‘Spotlight on Argentina’, ‘Focus on Female Filmmakers’ and more. I had the pleasure of viewing ‘Cork’ (‘Suro’), a Drama/Thriller feature film debut from Director Mikel Gurrea, that is creating a lot of excitement in its New Spanish Cinema category. It has already won a slew…

The Spanish Film Festival returns and is celebrating its 25th year! This time, the festival will be heading to Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Byron Bay, bringing with it a selection of films from across Spanish-speaking cultures. With subdivisions of New Spanish Cinema and Cine Latino and a range of genres available, there will be something for everyone in the festival program this year. The preview film for the 2023 Spanish Film Festival was Alberto Rodriguez’s Prison 77 (In Spanish, Modelo 77). Prison 77 is a prison drama film set in the late 70s that follows the fictional…