The Pearl Button is essentially about water, in all its forms.

Winner of the Silver Bear for script at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, The Pearl Button is the prolific Chilean director Patricio Guzmán’s latest documentary.

Guzmán takes us on a trip through Chile, from the 19th century colonisation to the disaster of the Pinochet dictatorship.

With it’s 2600 miles of coastline, Chile surprisingly does not have a maritime history, however its country’s history is beautifully and tragically connected to water. Guzmán’s perspective of the sea – admiration and fear – is based on a childhood memory of a friend being swept away, never to be found. In this very personal film he shares with us the revelation he had when discovering the fate of the indigenous people of Chile, and sucessfully continues the metaphor of lost people throughout the film.

“For the indigenous and the astronomers, the ocean is an idea, a concept that’s inseparable from life”.

In terms of human geography, Chile is essentially an island divided into three parts – the north, the centre and the south, dividing it into essentially three countries. An isolating arid desert in the north, a frozen continent in the south and a narrow strip, unable to support agriculture, running down the centre. The first inhabitants of Patagonia were made up of five groups: the Kawésqar, the Selk’nam, the Aoniken, the Hausch and the Yamana people. Included in the film are incredible photos of the Selk’nam people, taken in the 19th century, with body painting that was unusually beautiful and graphic. Soon after, their world of water and stars collapsed, invaded by the colonists – missionaries, explorers, farmers…

Guzmán successfully juxtaposes history, mythology and anthropology. Interviews with historian Gabriel Salazar, anthropologist Claudio Mercado, and poet Raúl Zurita, as well as three remaining members of the Selk’nan and Kawésqar people results in a rich essay of images – political, picturesque and poetic. An extremely thought provoking film that revives a part of history that has long been ignored.

Writer/Director Mark Bousfield’s short film Ghost Nets, filmed at Joss Bay on the Kent coast, sends three very different people on a camping trip. The dramatic tension from the start combined with the cold, beautiful yet hostile environment, reflects their relationship.

As the story progresses, so too do the necessary but damaging revelations between the brothers. The film benefits from excellent camera work and performances from Joe Sowerbutts, Charlotte Mounter and Bruce Lawrence.  The dramatic and dominating soundtrack became a distraction in an environment where crow and seagull cries combined with crashing waves should have been the major accompaniment.

Reminiscent of Raymond Carver’s story So much water so close to home, Bousfield’s film is a morally ambiguous tale where one is left with the question, who is saving whom?

Ghost Nets will be coming to a film festival near you.

A few years ago a colleague said to me, God punishes people by casting them into the manufacturing business. I didn’t understand it then, but I do now. So begins the introduction to the life of Mr Lin (Yao Anlian), in the once-thriving industrial town of Shenzhen in Southeast China. Placing the story against the background of 2010, when the Global Economic Crisis was sweeping throughout the world, Lin is faced with an economical and moral dilemma. His toy manufacturing business is in threat of imminent closure. He has made a lot of money in the past, which means he now employs close to 700 people, providing his workers with both work and housing. Under intense pressure to avoid bankruptcy Lin has to choose between accepting a contract with an American company for a large order, creating immense financial risk for himself, but saving jobs for his staff; or selling his factory and forcing his staff into unemployment. The film’s lead actor, Yao Anlian, deservedly won the Best Actor Award at the 2014 Montréal Film Festival.

Factory Boss is Chinese director Zhang Wei’s second film.

« It took me six years to prepare for this film. This film was initially called Made in China, but due to the pressures of censorship, among others, the name was changed to Factory Boss, from an English novel entitled Factory Girl concerned with a similar theme. This project was formed in my mind when I was studying directing at the Beijing Film Academy. Having lived in Shenzhen for over 20 years, I was compelled to speak up about these important issues which are directly linked to the accelerated development of the Chinese economy. The inspiration behind Factory Boss is the exposition of the harsh survival conditions of SMEs (small manufacturing enterprises) in the delta region of the Pearl River, around Shenzhen, following the reform and the opening of the country to international business over 30 years ago. »

Similar to the story behind the film are the 2007 Foxconn incidents, when media described this leading Shenzhen-based private enterprise as a “sweatshop,” causing the company to lose orders from Apple in the US. Though the company later won its lawsuit against Chinese media, the constant suicides of Foxconn workers kept the company firmly in the public’s attention. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30532463

This is a well-written timely film that deals with a contemporary problem. In this era of fast-fashion, worker-suicide, no sweatshops and ethical trade, are the people who build the goods produced by the billionaire companies actually being looked after by the ones who cut the deals?

To find out more, director Zhang Wei will join audiences to discuss the film in more detail at the Regent Street Cinema on 26 February for the European premiere of his film.  

Factory Boss will be making its European Premiere as a part of Asia House Film Festival at Regent Street Cinema on Friday 26 February, 18.30. Asia House Film Festival takes place from 22 February to 5 March at London venues http://asiahouse.org/

Two 4 One is Canadian writer/director Maureen Bradley’s debut feature film.

After directing and producing over forty short films, this is a stunner, and has been recognised with many nominations and awards. The film is a quirky love story, mostly concerned wih humanity and honesty. If that sounds cheesy, it’s not.

The film tells the story of a man named Adam, played by Canadian actor and comic Gavin Crawford.  Along the way we meet his ex-girlfriend Miriam (Naomi Snieckus) and his mother, the extraordinarily balanced Franny (Gabrielle Rose) as well as an interesting array of workmates, medical staff and miscellaneous friends and debt-collectors. A great laugh-out-loud introduction sets the pace for a funny and sincere look at how we go about living authentic lives. I can’t describe the rest of the story because its core rests on a gradual revelation, which I want you to have the pleasure of discovering by yourself. But if you can’t wait, then just have a look at the trailer.

Filmed in just 15 days, the confident pace portrays Adam’s life as he comes to grips with what it means to be a man, or as he describes it: “This is about me becoming the person I’ve always been”. His many endearing qualities, best shown in the scenes with his mother, are what make him such a likeable character and this, such a watchable film. Bradley’s excellent script and its dramatic irony, willingly takes the spectator along for an emotionally intriguing and humorous ride.