Daniel Nelson

Films from and about Africa, Asia and Latin America, and the environment, at the London Film Festival on 5-16 October include:

 

A United Kingdom

Amma Asante's drama about an interracial romance that changed the world, between Seretse Khama, King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana), and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the government of the time.

 

Lion

Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman lead the cast in a rousing true tale of a lost Indian child, adopted by Australian parents, searching for home.

 

Before the Flood

Climate change documentary 

 

The Birth of a Nation

Explosive drama that follows Nat Turner, a preacher who became the radical leader of an uprising against slavery.

 

The Woman Who Left

Lav Diaz's luminous film explores the emotional burden borne by the Filipino disenfranchised who live in the shadow of colonialism

 

Queen of Katwe

One girl’s determination to escape from poverty in Uganda by becoming a chess champion, directed by Mira Nair and starring David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o and newcomer Madina Nalwanga.

 

Mirzya

Romeo and Juliet-like Indian story of childhood sweethearts whose obsessive love is rekindled just as the heroine is about to be married into royalty.

 

The Handmaiden

Director Park Chan-wook channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller, full of erotic intrigue.

 

Layla M.

Gripping story of a young girl’s path towards radicalisation.

 

Clash

Egypt on the brink in this drama about rival protestors who find themselves locked up in a police van.

 

Chasing Asylum

Documentary about Australia's shocking immigration policies and the appalling treatments inflicted on refugees who reach its shore.


On Call

Documentary filmed in a walk-in service for asylum-seekers in a hospital near Paris that features dozens of personal stories.

 

Hedi

TNaturalistic drama about a dutiful son on the brink of an arranged marriage: it speaks volumes about Tunisia today.

 

Wùlu

Drama in which Malian bus driver Ladji finds that a life of crime offers more opportunity than living an honest life.

 

Starless Dreams

Thoughtful and complex portrait of juvenile delinquent women at the extreme margins of Iranian society.


An Insignificant Man

Rare documentary insight into the birth and rapid growth of the Indian political party led by Arvind Kejriwal, whose mantra is to challenge corruption in the world’s largest democracy.

 

Safari

Austrians trophy hunting in Nambia: dark, absorbing and ultimately quite sinister.

 

Aquarius

Drama about a woman making a stand against avaricious property developers in modern-day Brazil.

 

The Wedding Ring

A female-directed and rare film from Niger about a privileged young woman who returns to her village after studying in Paris to discover the truth of gender relations in her society.

 

You Are My Sunday

Feel-good buddy movie in which five Mumbai mates are banned from playing footie on the beach, and emotions run high as they struggle to find a new pitch. 

 

Santi – Vina

A restored Thai Buddhist melodrama that revels in the beauty of the Thai landscape.

 

The Bacchus Lady

A sex worker solicits older men in public parks by offering them bottles of Bacchus energy drink, in this funny/sad Korean melodrama.

 

A Billion Colour Story

An inspirational schoolboy aims to restore his parents’ belief in themselves and in India.

 

A Day for Women

Worlds collide when Sunday is decreed a day for women at a local swimming pool in Egypt.

 

Farouk, Besieged Like Me

Veteran Syrian documentarian Hala Alabdalla’s invites us to dinner with writer and editor Farouk Mardam Bey for a thought-provoking reflection on Syria, culture and identity.


In the Last Days of the City

A frustrated film-maker roams the streets of pre-revolution Cairo as a city, and a region, teeters on the brink of exploding.

 

Ma’ Rosa

Matriarch Rosa Reyes is all about the business in Brillante Mendoza’s latest swipe at police corruption, set in an electric rain-swept night-time Manila.

 

Patient

Moving documentary about a mother caring for her gravely ill daughter in a Colombian hospital.

 

The Revolution Won’t Be Televised

A film that taps into an example of grassroots political action in Senegal, where a group of disenfranchised activists decide to campaign against the country’s elite.


The Salesman

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s returns with a masterclass in complex moral questioning as a couple has to deal with a sudden violent act.

 

Ten Years

A dystopian Hong Kong 10 years from now is the setting for a provocative series of short stories looking at the territory’s future.

 

Barakah Meets Barakah

A humble government official and rebellious vlog star develop a tentative romance amid strict Saudi Arabian cultural taboos in this warm-hearted, slyly subversive romantic comedy.


Tickling Giants

Documentary on Egyptian surgeon-turned-comedian Bassem Youssef, whose hit TV satire show took on oppressive regimes at great personal risk during the Arab Spring.

 

The Last Laugh

Documentary examining whether taboo subjects like the Holocaust are ever acceptable material for comedy, including interviews with famous comedians – Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman - and survivors.

 

Apprentice

A prison guard in Singapore finds himself drawn to the gallows when the hangman needs a new apprentice.

 

Dearest Sister

Drama in which a rich woman in Laos finds that her encroaching blindness gives her strange and frightening visions.

 

Hema Hema: Sing Me A Song While I Wait

A Bhutanese spiritual getaway shows that anonymity can bring out the strangest of impulses, as masked campers go wild in the jungle.

 

Wolf and Sheep

Humorous, beguiling portrait of the rituals and traditions of a remote Afghan community, with standout performances from a non-professional cast.

 

The Worthy

In a dystopian Arab world, a small group of survivors are infiltrated by two visitors, sparking a deadly game where only one shall be chosen worthy - an audacious ripping up the script of what to expect from an Arabic language film.

 

Interchange

A crime-scene photographer must catch a killer with vampirish tendencies and a penchant for old cameras in this Malaysian supernatural thriller.

 

The Bait

Master Indian filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s surreal story explores through three intertwining characters the idea of people used as bait for power games.

 

76

A Nigerian political drama that deals with the ramifications for a group linked to the assassination in 1976 of General Murtala Mohammed.

 

Life After Life

Matter-of-fact ghost story follows a father and his son in contemporary China, where spirits sometimes show up unannounced.

 

Lupe Under the Sun

Neo-realist portrait of a Mexican itinerant worker in California that is an empathetic and poetic reflection on the ‘no-man’s land’ of migrant identity.

 

Those Who Jump

“I exist because I film” - compelling first-hand account of an African migrant enduring great hardship to reach Europe and make a better life.

 

Tramontane

A young blind musician embarks on an identity quest that takes him to the heart of collective amnesia about Lebanon’s fractured past.

 

Fonko

A pulsating journey through the electronic urban musical underground of Africa that looks at how the new sounds are defining a generation.

 

Junction 48

Musical ambition and geopolitics collide in this story of a Palestinian rapper trying to get a break in a world where opinions are formed before the music starts.

 

A United Kingdom

A United Kingdom

Image by A United Kingdom

Further Beyond

A deconstructed biopic of the extraordinary Ambrosio O'Higgins, who left Ireland to become the captain general of Chile in the Spanish Empire.

 

Festival website

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