Author: Grace Williams

After a successful KickStarter campaign to raise money for a short film, Nicole Albarelli managed to make a full feature on only 20k with To Dream. Gaining multiple awards and recognition state side, the film appears to be striking a chord!

Now after its festival run, To Dream is available on various online platforms with a lot of positive attention to help it’s viewer counts, I’m sure. 

Abarelli is comparable to a millennial Andrea Arnold as she delivers a hard hitting drama that has indie-hipster all over it. With a cool 80’s synth soundtrack, use of natural light and a saturated colour grade, this film accomplishes the same tone and feel as a 100k plus American-Sundance favourite. 

The film follows best friends Luke and Tommy from childhood to adulthood as they naively attempt money making quick-fixes to fund their dream trip to America. Set against the backdrop of a relentless London,  the two friends deal with sexuality, domestic abuse and poverty. 

The film is a simple tale, with looming zooms in and out to put a microscope under the character’s lives. The cast act their parts well and most of the elements lock in, yet there seems to be something missing which could have given the film a final varnish, which is a more interesting script. 

There are plenty of films which have a very simple story, yet because their words are inherently individual to the characters and situations, the world becomes so much richer. Where as because this film is too realistic, it means that the character’s conversations sometimes become forgettable. Imagine Reservoir Dogs without the likes of the “I don’t tip” speech, for example. The characters just merge into one. 

There are memorable motifs peppered in, like Luke’s father coming to life whenever his marital song comes on the radio, but yet most of the dialogue is just full of boring banter like “you alright bruv?”, “yeah bruv”, “It’s gonna be great”. One particular character which I felt could have been developed more was Easy, a drug dealer who the friends visit for a ‘fix’. He is as forgettable as any generic London-gangster character which lessens his threat. The friends main drive that they both want to escape their life to America is lost until the very end. 

Despite this, this is a strong debut from Ababrell.

Isn’t it lucky when your favourite artists keep a record of their life through the medium of video? I’m certainly going to start filming more often after watching this doc! I’ll also get my best friend to film me too so they can release all the footage as a documentary in a decade!

That’s exactly what bestie of M.I.A Steve Loveridge has done with MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A and the footage caught is really very special. The footage literally starts to roll from when Maya travels from Sri Lanka as a child refugee in the UK. We see her elevate from art school student to high profile groupie to global star, which is a lot in 90 mins!

This film is insightful, traumatic and eye-opening, covering topics from civil war to flipping off the NFL. Despite the film’s effort to capture the amazing career and life of M.I.A, Loveridge over saturates the documentary often making its impact less. One moment, we’re following Maya as she makes a documentary about her missing cousin in Sri Lanka, then to her having a fight with Elastica front woman Justine Frischmann.

Whilst I understand that the film is about M.I.A and all that she has accomplished, one side often take away the impact of the other. There’s a really honest and important story about the Sri Lankan Civil War. The film focuses on how she ‘failed’ making a documentary of her cousin who was ‘Missing In Action’ (which M.I.A) stands during the continuing conflict. There’s also a documentary about the toxicity of the music industry and the media. Her music speaks volumes about the terrors and atrocities of Sri Lanka, yet the lost, bolshy Maya we see in the documentary often mutes the poignancy of her most fought for cause.

A great watch and an amazing woman, but a little more structure would have made this documentary pack a harder punch.

What happens when someone who fights for a living suddenly becomes a normal member of society?  Jared Bentley’s action thriller Intensive Care/Hospice turns the stereotype of retired ex-soldier on its head with stunt-woman Tara Macken as a hospice worker with a dark past.

This is editor-turned-director Jared Bentley’s first feature film release and the concept is good. Tara Macken really drives this film, with her brilliantly choreographed fight scenes and enigmatic on screen presence. I personally love fight scenes which are not cut in to teeny tiny bits in the edit. A well shot fight scene is becoming a bit of a lost art form, so kudos to Bentley for some great on screen action.

It’s not entirely clear what is happening throughout the film and there’s little time for character development. Without knowing the budget, it would have been nice to see a bit more back story to the leads and I didn’t see the twist coming because there wasn’t really any need for one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVaOxXtDwZk

Intensive Care isn’t a revelation but it’s certainly got charm. Its early Tarantino quality makes it a shame that some of this film fell flat with dialogue and plot development with this film. I feel that the criminals could have had some more fleshed out banter so that they didn’t merge into one person, at times. I wasn’t 100% sure why Alex stopped being a vicious assassin type and then decided to be a live-in nurse… I’d personally go and live on a tropical island somewhere and relax, but each to their own. Also, she seemed to be running the entire farm house of the sick lady she was caring for which was a bit unbelievable.

Good film but the character writing could have made it that bit better.

Song Chuan’s second feature Ciao Ciao puts a microscope over country living in China by telling a homecoming story in a fresh, new way. The opening shots of the film are luscious wides of green mountains, with a fancy car driving through a farmer and his herd. This is Ciao Ciao, arriving back from her exciting life in Canton to her home village. She is back to help her parents whilst waiting to set up a business with her friend. However due to her fickle and arrogant nature she stalls and ends up staying longer, soon becoming the object of desire for the son of local fraudster.

The friend she longs for could potentially be a girlfriend, as this is the only person Ciao Ciao is affectionate toward in the film, but it is never confirmed. She uses men to get closer to her goal of going back to Canton, whilst satisfying her parents’ wishes of providing for them She is never affectionate with her lovers, just makes herself sexually available. She scorns, smokes and totters around whilst helping at her Mother’s shop. Her parents seem to use her as a business bargaining tool, to which she seems emotionless.

Chaun has a brilliant sense of colour throughout the film and the soundtrack complements the titular character’s arc. The plot maybe moves a bit quick as it seems like no sooner does Chiao Chiao arrive does she get thrown into a very significant moment in her life. She is also so unlikeable that you’re never really routing for her to live her dream and escape the misogynistic world of rural life. However, maybe that’s just what the film is trying to show – that it’s a dog eat dog world when money and security are involved.

One motif (purposeful or accidental) that stuck with me throughout was the constant sound of buzzing. Whether it was on the farm, in a restaurant or during the character’s sexual dalliances. It was a really powerful sound and visual as it seemed to represent the community’s corruption and outdated morals. Great fly acting, but not as good as old Dr.Brundle, of course.

A difficult yet rewarding watch and would love to see what Song Chuan does with a big budget feature!