My Favourite Films of 2017

It's been a pretty awful year in politics, so I find looking back at my year in film is a pleasant diversion. The following is a list of my current 2017 favourites, but before I go through them, there are a few special film-related highlights to mention: In January I hosted a Q&A with producer …

Cambridge Film Festival 2012

And so another successful Cambridge Film Festival drew to a close yesterday. I'm already missing it... Here are some very quick thoughts on this year's experience. Lead by the inspirational director Tony Jones and his team of programmers, this important, ambitious festival prides itself on bringing a wide-range of quality films to Cambridge. What is …

Neil Brand: The Silent Pianist Speaks

This is an expanded version of my short review published online in One Hundred Words magazine [no longer available]. An appreciative audience in Welwyn Garden City were treated to Neil Brand’s hugely entertaining one man show, ‘The Silent Pianist Speaks’, when he brought it to the Hawthorne Theatre, Campus West last week. With his charismatic …

Visages d’Enfants

Here is my (slightly modified) review of Visages d'Enfants, as published in Issue 2 of Take One's special publication for the British Silent Film Festival in April (the review is on the last page). It's a film which was one of the highlights of the festival for me. Thankfully, the journey of discovery for cinema …

Cambridge Film Festival 2011

One of the real highlights of my year is the Cambridge Film Festival. After the funding difficulties of last year (due to external factors) it was especially thrilling to see it back in 2011 with just as bold and ambitious a programme as ever. This year's festival experience started for me with a couple of …