Allan Hunter

Farsi’s film now stands as a powerful memorial to someone who was both ordinary and extraordinary.

Expertly paced, Glory builds to a cleverly staged off-camera climax that perfectly caps everything that has gone before.

Ultimately, Chernov’s film is a compelling record of senseless destruction and death, and a salute to the enduring resilience of a people who refuse to surrender their home.

Precisely observed but somewhat aloof in tone, The Girl And The Spider builds into a symphony of separation and solitude.

Avi Belkin’s fascinating, meticulously assembled documentary Mike Wallace Is Here fondly celebrates his life but also questions Wallace’s influence on the quality of public discourse in modern media.

Predators may not find all the answers, but it offers a thought-provoking exploration of the questions and should attract audiences fascinated by the morality of the media and the complexities of crime and punishment.

A modest, social realist drama, its air of familiarity does not diminish its impact as a heartbreaker.

The thriller-like intrigue in Meeting With Pol Pot is sustained by tension around whether the title event will ever actually happen and, ultimately, whether any of the trio will make it out alive.

The collection of quirks, emotional connections, whimsy and humanity makes for poignant viewing.

You Won’t Be Alone’s strength lies in Stolevski’s ability to balance the gore with the humanity.

Sadiq’s screenplay navigates a complex web of secrets and lies, pressures and prejudices to create a soulful human drama intent on challenging narrow minds.

Rams may sound bleak and unforgiving but it has a generous spirit and wit that make it entirely accessible.

This is not a venture into wire-work and acrobatics but a contemplative, often ravishing-looking, immersion in the complex politics, power struggles and personalities of the Tang Dynasty as seen through the moral dilemmas facing an enigmatic trained assassin.

It is often very funny, unsettling and yet still proves illuminating on the character of Neruda and the battle for Chile in the 1940s.

What makes Hold Your Fire so timely and disturbing is also how much remains the same.

The story of a couple finding their best life in the rural Ireland of the 1980s is beautifully realised and quietly beguiling.

It may be modest in scale but the film is assured in both intention and execution, building successfully towards a quietly moving climax.

Infused with nostalgia, United Skates is also an infectious call to arms, noting the way in which communities are starting to fight back.

Director Mark Grieco grabs our attention by going beyond the obvious. Exploring the consequences of well-intentioned actions and providing a sense of the much bigger picture transforms A River Below into an unexpectedly compelling proposition.

It is a small film, but one whose subtle touch and generous spirit proves captivating.

Writer/director Benjamin Naishtat’s subtle, twisting, state-of-the-nation drama works effectively as a noir-like thriller, and as an exploration of a country that has lost its moral compass.

Costa’s use of news footage, tapes of incriminating conversations that were made public and acts of self-serving betrayal gives The Edge Of Democracy the feel of an All The President’s Men-style political thriller. Further revelations about her own family and the allegiances of earlier generations turn that aspect of the story into something with the sweep of The Godfather.

Jessica Beshir’s hypnotic, immersive and very beautiful documentary marks an impressive feature debut.

Alex Schaad’s spiky, good-looking debut feature takes a clever concept and develops it into a witty, provocative exploration of identity, gender fluidity, sexuality and the pursuit of happiness.

It is a striking, sustained artistic achievement, but one as painful and distressing to watch as it must have been to live through.

A multi-layered and thought-provoking work of art.

The initial promise of a South African Brokeback Mountain broadens into a measured consideration of class, race, self-loathing and self-assertion in a compact but pleasingly complex drama.

It is the viewer who feels the injustice and outrage on his behalf, deepening the emotional connection to events.