The Old Oak explores the struggle to maintain hope and solidarity in working-class communities. Margaret Petrie reviews Ken Loach’s latest film. The Old Oak (currently showing on Netflix) is the third in a trilogy of films set in the Northeast of England from Director Ken Loach and Scriptwriter Paul Laverty. All three films give voice […]
Jackie Bergson reviews Official Secrets (2019). Director: Gavin Hood. Writers: Gavin Hood, Gregory Bernstein, Sara Bernstein Her belief that GCHQ have duties to uncover truths which serve to protect UK citizens and inhabitants drives the film’s narrative. In parallel, journalists working for a London-based broadsheet newspaper determine to uncover and publish their findings about whether […]
Kevin Macdonald, director, The Mauritanian, 2021 (with writers: Rory Haines, Michael Bronner and Sohrab Noshirvani) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson. The Mauritanian is based upon the testimonies of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who, suspected of terrorism, was arrested by Mauritanian police in November 2001. Consequently, he was questioned by the FBI, then imprisoned in solitary confinement in […]
Ben Lawrence, director, Ithaka (2022) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson At its simplest, Ithaka tells the story of a father, John Shipton, who travelled halfway around the world to fight for his son, Julian Assange’s freedom. The documentary opens with footage of the inciting event which triggered his journey. This was the moment on 11 April […]
Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director, Flee (2021) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson True stories which are told in first person throughout a feature length film are unusual. Flee is just such an unusual film. Formed as a virtual documentary, this story is brought to life through mixed media animation, archive footage and original sound recordings. The interrogator […]
James Bluemel, director (2020) Once Upon a Time in Iraq, KEO Films – Reviewed by Jackie Bergson Award-winning documentary series, Once Upon a Time in Iraq, focuses upon the experiences of civilians, journalists and soldiers who were actively involved, or involuntarily trapped, in the midst of war conflicts in Iraq during the past two decades. […]
Shaka King (director) and Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas (writers), Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson In late 1960s Chicago, socialist revolutionary Fred Hampton led the Illinois Black Panthers. As their popularity and power strengthened and grew, they attracted the attention of the highest USA government officials, […]
Robin Bissell, director, The Best of Enemies (2019) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson Durham, North Carolina, 1971. A school which educates black pupils only is on fire. This catalytic scene follows the film’s opening images, of a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) initiation, which are accompanied by a voice-over of real-life antagonist, C P Ellis, talking about […]
Nadine Labaki, director, Capernaum (2018) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson Capernaum is a devastatingly captivating drama which overflows with ingenuity and social realism. From the outset, in casting non-actor, Zain Al Rafeea, to play the main role of Zain El Hajj, the filmmakers gifted their audiences with an outstanding, heart-and-soul character. Real-life Syrian child refugee, Zain, […]
Steve McQueen, director, Small Axe: Mangrove (2020) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson. Artistry and realism synergise perfectly within screenwriter and director, Steve McQueen’s, body of work, much of which includes historical drama films which have been inspired by real people and events. This is also true of his recently released Small Axe anthology of five films; […]