Leeds Film Festival 2026 - Day 11

LIFF SHORTS 2026: The Award-Winners

Sadly, I'd dropped the ball a bit with this one and missed the first hour, as the excellent Flo and Joan were playing at City Varieties and myself and the lady wife were having a great time.  Still, I managed to catch the last 4 short films:

Intersecting Memory (Pal) - Told through footage from old video tapes, Shayma tells the story of her childhood under occupied rule in Hebron, in the West Bank.  Capturing uprisings against tanks, buildings being bombed and the fallout from attacks, interspersed with happier memories of friends and family growing up.  A powerful account that is as relevant now as when the films were taken. 8/10

 

Scorching (Chi) - an unusual film about a young girl about to follow in the footsteps of her family and go work in the nearby chicken processing plant; but seeing the chickens and trying to hatch an egg herself (literally) is making her change her mind. 6/10

 

So He Grabbed the Knife (Ja) - An animation through the eyes of a young boy learning about the injustices of the world, and hopefully choosing the right thing to do when the time comes.  The animation uses a VR first-person perspective which was very effective. 7/10

Time's up, I'm Afraid () - a fun effort where a hypnotist finds herself unsure whether she is in charge of the hypnosis, or the patient, each snap of fingers moving between two realities, and it's clear that time is passing much quicker in the other one.  Which is reality, she needs to make her mind up quick. 7.5/10

Last Movies (UK) (letterboxd)

Jeremy Irons narrates this unusual documentary, ostensibly about the last movies that people of note - movie stars, directors, presidents and the like, watched before they died.  But this quickly becomes too simple a premise for the director, who uses Irons' theatrical drawl to turn it into something much deeper, of coincidences, conspiracies and darker backstories to things we thought we knew about; the actors who played the gangster John Dillenger in a variety of films over the last hundred years for instance, and the numerous connections and coincidences between the people, films and locations involved.

But director Stanley Schtinter oversteps things somewhat.  The narrative journey the narration takes you on is fast moving, quick-fire and jarred by the mixing up of footage from many different films to create new celluloid realities, and the result is confusing and debasing rather than informative and fascinating, your mind having to try going in two directions at once, Irons' commentary only sometimes hitting the same beat as what we see.

This may be deliberate, to unsettle the viewer and take them on a rollercoaster they are not meant to fully comprehend, but I found that to be a waste of potential.  A little bit more lucidity and slightly less desire to treat the audience as a captive to play with and befuddle, could have been a real recommendation. 6/10

The Education of Jane Cumming (UK/Ger/Swi) (wiki)

Somewhere outside Edinburgh in the early 19th century, a modest girl's school educates a small number of pupils.  As well as the all important dancing steps every young prospective wife must know, they have a rather modern approach; teaching arts, nature, sciences and maths.

Lady Cumming, a grandmother of some note has three daughters in need of an education, and Marianne and Jane's school sounds ideal, if a little modern for her tastes.  Still, she sees a sound place for those in her care, including Jane Cumming, an Indian girl born out of wedlock to Cumming's wayward son.

Jane clearly doesn't want to be there and her half sisters, Alexandria and Margot, have obviously made her life hell since moving to Scotland from halfway round the world.  But after the first term passes without incident, Lady Cumming is sufficiently confident to let them use a seaside house for a much needed holiday, so long as Jane comes along.

Although Jane becomes attached to the teachers and sees them as a mother figure of sorts, her resentment is never far from the surface, and things take a bad turn when observing the clear chemistry between the two ladies, Jane accuses them of lewd behaviour towards her in an attempt to get out of there.  This in a time when same sex attraction was not even considered a thing by most, let alone how depraved an act they would consider such a possibility had it crossed their minds.

Based on a true story, serialised in the novel Scotch Verdict and also multiple films, including The Childrens Hour, The Education of Jane Cumming tells the tragic tale of lives destroyed by prejudice before prejudice (of this particular kind) even got a foothold, that beautiful and innocent things can be curdled and destroyed by anger and hatred.  Only by denial of themselves do Jane and Marianne have a chance of salvaging any of themselves from what happens to them, and the ending will leave an empty feeling.  

Still, the tale is a tragically beautiful one that should be experienced; the two leads give a delicately expressed portrayal of two hearts struggling to deal with feelings their whole life society has been telling them doesn't even exist. 8/10

Leeds Film Festival 2026 - Day 10

Take me Home (US) (wiki)

In a hot, sultry town somewhere near Orlando, Anna, a young Korean woman with severe autism lives with her adopted mother and father.  She lives a quiet, cushioned life until her mother suddenly dies, leaving her and her father, who himself is showing signs of dementia, to cope.  Suddenly a balanced existence is made extremely precarious without the steadying hand of the mother.

Sister Emily, also adopted but without any mental issues flies in from her stressful life to try and help; her need to get away from the cloying protection that served her sister well but strangled her.  Her time is short and she does the best she can to steady the shop, but in an America where support is cut to the bone and everything costs, and debt is rife, two ailing souls cannot last very long.

The sisterly chemistry between both Anna and Emily, and their parents leap out of the screen with an emotionally resonant performance that will be remembered for a long time. 8/10

Al Baraneya (Egy) (review)

As her father Sayed is badgered continually from a wealthy land owner to sell up his wheat fields, Amal, the oldest of many brothers and sisters, and heavily pregnant, spends her days with her sisters selling Jasmine necklaces to those in passing cars and trains, while the boys and men tend the crops in the fields.  It is a meagre but traditional existence she doesn't question, until Rania, her cousin from the relatively modern Cairo visits and makes Amal question whether this is the life she wants.  

 

The directors' family make up most of the cast, all are amateur actors, though you couldn't tell.  Only the character of Amal is played by a professional.  Told very much as a slice of life drama with only a laid back narrative to push things occasionally forward, it's the sort of film you need to adjust your tempo to before it can be enjoyed fully.  7/10 

British Shirt Films Competition 2

Under the Wave off Little Dragon - little FeiFei doesn't believe her mum's explanation of what happens to her fish when it dies, so she sneaks out of the family Chinese takeaway into the Welsh fishing village in search of a replacement.  A happily positive portrayal of colliding cultures. 7.5/10

Daughters of the Late Colonel - taking it's cue from a 100yr old story of the same name, two spinster sisters realise just how helpless they are when their controlling father dies leaving them at the mercy of debt collectors and randy vicars. Told in a minimalist scribble of an animation style which verges on not even being there, but still managing to convey the story with a fun and playful tone. 7/10

(Failing to Make) a Documentary About My Sudanese Family - director Sid who grew up in the UK after his family fled the Sudanese war in ****, reflects on his desire to turn his families' experience, both here and those who remain in Sudan, through the lens of surviving photos and home movies, an unappreciated trip there when he was a teen, and the poor portrayal of the country in film; consequently finding that a single narrative of his life is a complicated one to pin down.  Told with dry humour and heart.  8/10

i have a - a smart, quick fire animation put to song, about the things we all own but not quite sure why, and what will it all be ultimately worth in the end.  Funny, sharp, and a little unnerving. 8/10

Date Night - Danielle and Harry are in their thirties and aren't happy with their lot.  Regarding the greener grass of their babysitters lives they fantasise about what life would be like if they weren't them.  Sharply scripted, great acting from the lead parts.  Very funny and physical, and again, sometimes hits a bit too close to the bone. 8/10

Strangle - a gay man seeks to make a stronger connection with a client he meets in the woods who left his number, but doesnt answer.  The more unanswered calls, the more obsessed he becomes, until a final confrontation will settle things, one way or another.  The direction of the film was a little foggy. 6/10

Hot Favourites - Director David Arthur films some of the last days of his father Norman, as his life long gambling addiction, unknown to his family until David chanced upon some old betting slips, comes to light.  A gifted younger man, he had an eye for a good horse, and could have left the family thousands had it not been for tragic misfortune.  A poignant send off for a much loved father who tried his best to leave a legacy. 8/10

Flock - a mysterious disappearing of all the sheep from a Welsh village, bar those owned by an old man who keeps them for milk rather than slaughter, turns the whole village against him.  Told as a horror folk tale put to film, the stark black and white mixed with the blood red of slaughter couldn't hide an obfuscated story that could have done with a little more exposition. 6/10

Donkey Princess (Chi/Ur) (review)

The strange French fairytale Donkeyskin is loosely retold in an even stranger form here, a macabre mishmash of different styles taking in cell animation, puppetry, silhouettes, model making and live action.  In a faraway kingdom, Diana is born of a king who, when his queen falls ill and dies (in suspicious circumstances), he decrees that the plague of love must never infect another soul in his kingdom; he outlaws falling in love and anyone who does so is the enemy.  

Problem is, Diana fancies a bit of a passing peddler Lalo, who gives her a bracelet of unusual power - the ability to have her wishes granted, just not on her reality, but some other to which she will be transported.  When her father banishes him for his transgression, Diana transports herself to an alternate reality 90s Chile, consumed by an actual plague, but at least has her beloved for company.  But can it last?

Donkey Princess is nothing if not inventive, there are a lot of ideas in here - maybe too many, as the core of the story feels as if it has been lost in a sea of extra things added as they went on.  The cyclical theme hinted at in the opening scenes seems to have been forgotten about by the end, which feels painfully normal compared to the inventiveness of the first two acts.

I didn't dislike it, it had a lot to offer, and there's genuinely a good film hiding in there somewhere, but it lacked focus.  Some may complain about the medieval sets which looked as if they were knocked up for an episode of knightmare, and the city skylines weren't eventually properly sellotaped together, but this could easily be forgiven as part of it's charmingly naff quirkiness, had there been a more mature guiding hand that stopped the ideas fire-hose from being turned on to full.  6/10

A Man of His Time (Fra/Bel) (wiki) 

This French epic has been lighting up at the awards circuit including the best screenplay at Cannes.  Loosely based on the life of the directors' great-grandfather Henri Marre, who we meet first in 1940.  Germany has occupied a large swathe of France with the construction of the Vichy Regime, and Henri joins the department of labour to collaborate with Nazi Germany to keep the country functioning and get the unemployment rate down.  It's soon clear that his colleagues have a range of political opinions from patriotic resistance to cooperation based on the shared xenophobia against the 'parasites' bleeding their country dry.  Henri, who doesn't have the benefit of a history book from the future, tries to work with all sides, to some initial success, until the Germans start pushing for more and more, their position becoming more intolerant of different views, and their outright disappearing  of minorities and foreigners, supposedly in the name of labour.

The actual atrocities wages during these terrible years take place away from the camera, the focus of this film is one of highlighting how the work of appeasement with a hostile enemy will get you trampled on, a realisation that seems to come late in the day to Henri, who is not portrayed with sympathy.  A man who was a cog in the machinery largely invisible to him, who tried to do the right thing, but often helped make it worse.

Emmanuel Marre's film is two and a half hours, and though it covers a part of history whose voices should always be heard, the runtime isn't justified.  A concentration on the bureaucracy in favour of the action drags, and that isn't offset by a wide platter of character.  Many parts are one dimensional and do not mature as the film progresses and it's difficult to keep track of who is who, and the effort to try is not rewarded.  

 

And I have to raise the curious choice of music.  Though this is a historical account very much tied to the second world war, the synth-pop beats of 80's icons Alphaville are what we hear.  Its not jarring as such, but its certainly odd.

 

I did appreciate the film, it's novel angle, it's authenticity and it's attention to detail, but I cannot say that I enjoyed it.  6.5/10

Leeds Film Festival 2026 - Day 6

Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition 2

Burn and Fade (Fra) - two elderly men sit in the middle of dense forest on an unauthorized holiday from their sterile nursing home.  They contemplate how they lived their lives now they near the end.  Told only in sign language, to accentuate both the natural ambience and their struggling breath, this was unexpectedly emotional and beautiful. 8/10

Nobody Barks  (Spa) - on her way to her young nephew, Cardela runs over his beloved dog.  As her sister struggles with the task of explaining, she makes up a lie on the spot, and as with many lies, it grows in order to survive, consuming her in the process. 7.5/10

Surface Tension (Phi) - as her sister prepares to marry, Bulet, visiting her old town from America, drifts through the typhoon-wrecked villa that she remembers from her childhood, recalling old memories feelings for both bride and groom as she goes.  Clever use of flipped images reflects Bulet's disoriented state of mind as the ground shifts beneath and above her. 7/10

As a Cure (Ch, UK) - two children play in the sand dunes on the edge of their city, burying themselves and hiding things in boxes in the sand.  Apparently she was meant to be trying to get a place in the opera, but her older self (was it her older self? I cant tell) was dressed more like an airline stewardess.  It was pretty hard to get a foothold on, a bit too artsy.  It didn't make a lot of sense to me, this one.  I think I was missing some cultural comprehension somewhere as well.  4/10

The Spectacular Death of Prisca (Ni) - a mother's I'll chosen words to her daughter as she readies for marriage, mixed with a cookie of dubious ingredient, cause a Nollywood style fever dream where she fights to save her daughter, whether she likes it or not. It was a bit rough around the edges but good fun. 7/10

Light Pillar (Ch) (imdb)

Lao Cha lives a pathetic, lonely existence, surviving the Chinese winter as a janitor on a run down film studio set in some depressing, detached future.  He spends his days keeping it just about in working order should someone wish to film there as the boss barks his orders through a microphone.  His co workers think little of him, and the cat-adjascent being he keeps as a pet is the only one to show him even a little warmth.  But when Lao acquires a virtual reality headset, things appear to change for the better; through it he meets a young woman of some beauty who convinces him to come with her on the Light Pillar space program and see what it's like out there. (light pillars are a thing BTW, which is something I learned today)

Light Pillar will win no awards for it's animation, which is pretty ropey in places, and not all of it makes sense.  But looks aren't everything.  Jingwei Xu's debut film is sweet, quirky, funny and told with heart.  Its mix of animation (for Lao's distopian existence), and with wobbly handicam live action sequences as the VR segments set in the modern day, suggesting that future beings will look back upon our time period as some relative paradise, I found this a clever touch. Extra points for a completely unexpected Robot Dreams cameo (the director is a big fan), and what must be the oddest credits sequence I've seen at a films end.  7/10

School for Defectors (S.Kor, US) (mubi)

Most people know of the split between North and South Korea, and that the lives of those in the south are much freer, happier and better lived in the southern democracy than the northern dictatorship.  But the contrast is never so stark as when northern Defectors are able to tell their stories, both of life in the north and their transition as one of the lucky few who make it to the south without being caught, which usually ends in slavery, or death.

South Korea has a dozen or so of these 'schools for defectors', and this film concentrates on the smallest one - Jangdaehyun, a boarding school which takes only 20 children from both North Korea and China, per year.

We follow the residents going through the system during 2025, interviewing both the children and their parents, sometimes hiding their faces for their own safety. Two things soon become clear: that the families that made it to the south were the lucky ones, many will have been captured and disappeared, and that when they did arrive, the ordeal was far from over, North and South Koreans are very different people both culturally and in their social conditioning.  The role of the school is as much to deprogram them and show how to live as a human being with rights and autonomy, as it is to give them an education.  Many families hide their northern heritage from shame, those who are found out in a standard school are often harshly bullied by South Koreans who see them as little more than weak willed scroungers.  Inter Korean racism is surprisingly rife.

A quietly affecting film that doesn't sensationalise, but just show a corner of the world with both it's cruelty and it's beauty, both at the hands of humans.  Many times in the film, it talked of reunification of the two halves, as if such a thing was just around the corner.  Perhaps it is, and thanks to schools such as this, the country and it's new generations will be ready for it. 8/10

Bagworm (US) (site)

Back in his collage days Carroll was well known.  He was the guy who did the crazy stuff, the guy who you would fully expect to be dead at 25 from a prank gone very wrong.  Somehow despite himself, he persists in the world.

But only just.  Jilted and living alone in a fire-damaged wreck of a home, and his crazy days left behind and replaced by 30-something backache. He makes just enough from the sale of dodgy Chinese knock-off tools to scrape a living, but a chance encounter with a nail in the foot starts off a chain of events bringing to the fore Carroll's complete inability to take care of himself, and the masculine cultural pressure to keep saying everything is fine, even when it clearly isn't.  As his infected foot turns all sorts of colours he must endure a night of raucous arsery in Vegas with his old college chums, who don't seem to be able to notice Carroll's increasingly putrid appearance.

As you may be able to tell, Bagworm is dark on humour and horror on body, and while it lacks a strong narrative flow - his descent into hell plays more of a set of unconnected incidents rather than a 3 act play, it's got a few surprises and good ideas.  Producer Zoe Rosenburg was present for a Q+A at the end and revealed that the cut we saw would never be screened again, due to a particular scene that Disney may have some legal problems with.

 

And, like Light Pillar and buses, we had a second credits sequence which did crazy things with the titles. 7/10

Leeds Film Festival 2026 - Day 6

Words of Love (Fra/US) (review)

Rejection at any age comes hard, as single mum Erika knows well.  Her young daughter has recently learned of her father's existence, and being the 6 year old headstrong force of nature her mother always feared she would be, here they are hammering on his door, asking for him to meet her.  Probably not for the first time.  For reasons her young mind cannot process, he doesn't even have the guts to come to the door.

So continues little Abi's struggle, which haunts her with disappointment through turn of the century France.  As her increasingly frazzled mother tries to spell things out whilst trying not to be the bad guy, Abi pulls further away, convinced that all of her father's avoidance is just a series of badly timed misses.

A look at the complications of one sided relationships of what should be the closest kind, Words of Love gently simmers away, never letting it's subject matter become a depressive experience.  It's peppered with welcome and subtle comedic relief in the shape of Abi's mischievous clutz of a half brother, and an adorable dog who steals every scene he is in.  7.5/10

Wolfram (US) (wiki)

Deep in the Australian outback during the early colonialism, young aboriginal strays Kid and Max mine the titular mineral for their slave owning master.  A bad encounter with a snake gives them chance to make a break for it, but not without running into Casey, a wild-eyed and short-fused stranger from out of town, looking for riches in the newfound mining village of Henry, accompanied his young sidekick Frank, who is quickly learning some of Casey's worst characteristics.  From the off, Casey and Frank look like trouble for both the kids and just about anyone else who crosses them, desperate to find the riches promised in the fly-infested lands.

Wolfram tries to be a high-stakes thriller where the boys escape the bad guys and come back to their mother's arms, but honestly it's a confusing mess.  The chess pieces move around the board erratically and it sometimes feels like an episode from a letter season of Heroes - and that's not a compliment.  The journey is messy and unfocused, and confusing directorial decisions, like having the film in four(?) parts but without a theme tying each part together, and having a supposed big reveal near the end that the two boys are actually girls, which has absolutely no bearing on the plot, the stakes, or the characters.  They just say it and move on.

It could have been a gritty thrill ride with some social commentary on slavery and the nature of relation between owner and slave but it did a lot of that in a ham-fisted way as well.  Casey is generic evil white guy with nothing to redeem him, the aboriginals and Chinese characters say things like 'the white guys are bad, mkay'.. a bit of nuance would have gone far, here.   And the kids just get batted from place to place and don’t really do anything.  I just couldn't find myself liking it much at all.  

 

And the flies.  Oh god the flies.  I get it's a rough existence but once you’ve made your point it becomes a distraction and pulls you out of the film - these poor actors had to endure swarms of the buggers and for what? A sub-par Aussie western that was in bad need of a rewrite. 5/10

Yorkshire Short Film Competition 

Practical Anarchy - members of Bradford's 1in12 club, a hub for collectives railing against the Thatcherite government of the 80s and the legacy beyond.  4 floors of music, education and support owned by it's members became a flourishing expression of counter culture. 7.5/10

Pay as You Go - a stressed man weighs up his meagre bank balance against the constant charges placed on him for the slightest action, made worse by a visit from the local rep, whose friendly demeanour masks little of her intent to charge more.  She has her own targets to meet. It felt like it could have had sharper teeth. 7/10

Wuthering Hearts - in a short but pleasingly energetic animation that lightly parodies the source of the title, Helena scrambles across the moors from her cloying mother to her goth beau, Bernard in the hope he will not put his foot in it with his well meaning complements this time.  The characters were funny and expressive, the animation was bouncy and fun.  At 3 minutes I wanted more of it, and there's scope here for expansion into something more substantial. 7.5/10

The Witches of Pool Bottom - as Rachel plucks up courage to go swimming with her friends, the demons of her physical self-doubts manifest into physical form, with a surreal comedy fight ensuing.  A very strange but effective way to highlight bodily self doubt. 7.5/10

Claw & Order - a positive mini documentary on the lobster fishermen of Whitby bay, who after witnessing a devastation of their stocks a few years back, have now joined with scientists to help restore the numbers.  It was enjoyable but it felt as if the film wanted to explore what caused the die-off but were gagged from going too far. 7.5/10

Nowt - an apparently headstrong teen hates her mother and stymies her at every attempt to get her back to a normal school routine.  Bailey has fallen for the older boy with his own shiny car and puffy jacket.  But Bailey's attitude is a shell; she's a child trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation and has no way out. Maddening the viewer, just as it should do.  8/10

Five Minute Brides - Cinderella's in Skipton is a bridal shop with a difference.  Twice a year for those who feel their opportunity has passed, or maybe just want to wear the dress, can come and be a bride for a short time.  Mandy and a handful of her customers tell their stories and the feelings this brief indulgence brings them.  7.5/10

Blue Hour - for the last night out before university beckons, Bea and her friends go up into God's own country with an old fashioned camcorder to capture their memories.  Waiting until the period just before night, they muse upon their lives together and the imminent transition to adulthood. 8/10

Leeds Film Festival 2026 - Day 4

Ben'Imana (RWA/Gab/Fra) (wiki)

22 years after the Rwandan genocide, the wheels of justice still turn slowly.  In a run down village near Kigali, Vénéranda lives quietly with her daughter and mother.  Their village still bears the scars of the attack, and families of both killer and killed share a space, old wounds never healing.

Faced with the impossible task of bringing her community back together in an act of joint forgiveness against the families of the aggressors, Vénéranda tries her best with little to help her.  But her positive words in public meetings sit awkwardly with those she has in private with her daughter, who has fallen pregnant to a young Tutsi boy out of marriage.

Winner of the Camera D'or for best first feature this year, Ben'Imana tells a difficult story wrapped in cultural traditions and deep open wounds.  Asking the question of what to do, and answering that nothing will work without both sides willing to move on.  I did struggle with some of the more subtle cultural themes but not enough for it to spoil things. 7/10

Mutter: The Diary of a Mother (Tky) (mubi)

As we join Gül, she's being transported at high speed through the forests of rural Turkey.  Cam**, her husband is barely capable of keeping them on the road to the hospital, and a collapsed tree blocking their path is the least of their problems.  It's clear there are complications with the imminent birth, and when cam hears the distinctly non-human screaming coming from the back of the transit van, he runs a mile.

Alone in the middle of nowhere, Gül somehow makes it back home, a rundown old shack with little to it's name; a series of bad decisions brought her to this point and now things are so much worse.  The octopus-like being attached painfully to the teet, and somehow, that's the most comforting thing in the moment.

Güls predicament doesn't get any better, and the film seems to want to punish her with setback after tragedy through to the end.  It's gritty horror with a smattering of social commentary, what a desperate woman has to lower herself to in a world where she is seen as meat.

 

But then it started to fall apart a bit - I was willing to suspend my disbelief with the strange mini-Cthulu child, but then the film took a leap with a scene where Gül finds out from a doctor that its all due to Chinobyl nuclear fallout creating a new substance wrapping around her internal organs, which came so far out of left-field that it made me laugh out loud; I suspect the intended audience reaction there was meant to be more empathetic to Gül's plight, but it just took the wind out of the last 20 minutes for me.

That notwithstanding, those looking for redemption at the conclusion may find themselves despairing and leaving their seats with an empty feeling in the pit of their stomach.  But if you like your body horror with a side order of sunken-eyed depression, this could be for you.  6/10

Leeds Film Festival 2026 - Day 3

Today's films, (perhaps deliberately by the festival) have the central theme of children, or child-like figures taking the centre stage.

The Meltdown (Chi/US) (wiki)

Little Inés has found herself, at the delicate age of nine, living with her Chilean grandparents in a ski resort high in the mountains.  It's the early 90s in post-dictatorship Chile, and families from all over come to ski, meet and have fun.

One such family arrives from Germany, a young skiing prodigy Hannah with her step-dad Alex.  Inés and Hannah quickly form a bond and go out into the wilderness together to get away from it all, but it's clear from the start Hannah is rebellious and looking for a release beyond the narrow perameters parents have set her.  When she discovers cousin Sebastien, a teen drifting through who takes a fancy to her, thats the last Inés sees of Hannah.  Overnight, she is gone.

A frantic search through snowy mountains ensues as mother Lina arrives on the scene and takes life into her hands, dragging young Inés along as a translator in the desperate hope of finding something.

Told entirely through the eyes of little Inés, a youngster observing and trying to understand why the older kids and the adults around her behave the way they do, and forever questioning herself; why her mother abandoned her in the middle of nowhere.  This perspective gives a fresh angle to the standard family tragedy and young star Maya O'Rourke plays it well, her dark eyed stare taking it all in as the grown ups say and do stuff beyond her comprehension.  And the ending, quite abrupt, shows what happens when you take anyone, even an innocent child, for granted.  7.5/10

Joybubbles (US) (wiki)

 

Young Joe Engressia was born blind in Richmond, Virginia.  Moving around a lot due to his fathers business, and bullied at his school, he was unable to make friends.  He turned to the telephone, which fascinated him; the abilty to talk to anyone with a line in the world, but also the technical side - the whirrs and clicks he heard when he was being transferred through.

 

One day, he did something you would normally expect to read in the Fortean Times; purely by accident he found that if he could whistle at precise pitches, he could control the machinery that routed calls.  Practicing his whistles until he was pitch perfect, he spent years honing his craft until he was able to make long-distance calls, for free, to anywhere he chose.  This at a time when calling long-distance was very expensive.

 

By the time he was at university he was an expert, and it won him friends with his peers, who would pay him a dollar to connect them to family and friends.  But it also caught the attention of the telephone companies themselves, who were rattled at the prospect of some university kid scraping off their billions in profits.  Engressia was convicted of fraud, and was lucky to get off with little more than a fine.

 

But it started something; Engressia is as an early Phone Phreak, a movement in America who were obsessive over the telephone system.  Many would exploit Engressia's discovery, but most were interested from a technical standpoint.  Some, including Steves Jobs and Wozniak, would hit the local electronics shops and cobble together what became known as blue boxes, little bundles of electronics that could fit in a cigarrette packet and produce dial tones, much like Engressia demonstrated himself, years earlier.  But as the movement grew, so did the reaction from the telephone companies, who took the situation increasingly seriously.  Engressia found himself in the spotlight again but with higher stakes.

As the film goes on, the technical angle disappears, and Engressia the person starts to come to the front.  A scarred but endearingly innocent character, wanting only for his own high-rise flat, and the connection to other people.  During the 80's he created the "Zzzzyzzerrific Funline", deliberately the last entry in the phone book to attract those with a curiosity for finding out what would be at the end of such a tome.  In it he would tell quirky, random, silly stories on audio tape and invited his audience at the end to call his real number.  Some did, and a network of friends slowly developed.

 

Joybubbles is a wrenchingly beautiful tale of an innocent soul making the best of the hand he was dealt.  Much of it told by the friends he made, but also by Engressia himself, via many audiotapes he made before his death.  "The child within is still there, just asleep."  8/10

Josephine (US) (wiki)

A sunny San Francisco, not yet 6am.  8yr old Josephine and her dad are out on a run in the park when Jo's enthusiasm puts her in harms way.  Streaking ahead she chances upon a woman being assaulted.  The assailant gets caught and arrested, and as little Jo waits in the police car with the victim, her mind races with the face of the man burned in her memory, and the world shaking experience with she has just bore witness.

Desperate for justice to be served, physically-minded father Damien, and more cerebral mother Claire begin to lock horns on whether Jo, as the only credible witness to the crime, should go through the stressful experience of testifying in court.  As obvious as it is the right thing to do, to take the best shot at locking away a scumbag, the mental scars on their little girl they know are a heavy price.  As tensions rise in the household and Jo attempts to process what is now a persistent presence in her life, she begins to hallucinate a malevolent ghoul in the shape of the man, infiltrating her home and her bedroom.  Her behaviour becomes more erratic as she struggles to come to terms with her new perspective on the world and who inhabits it.

An interesting companion piece to The Meltdown, both of which use the interpretation of the world through the eyes of a child while terrible events unfold, Josephine will tug particularly at the heartstrings of parents for obvious reasons.  Channing Tatum is solid as the a tough but sensitive father, while Mason Reeves makes a great introduction as Jo, her sparkling eyes displaying emotions with the slightest change of expression.  A troubling but satisfying drama that will stay in my mind for some days. 8/10

Leeds Film Festival 2026 - Day 2

The Red Hangar (Chi/Arg/Ita) (wiki)

 

During the intense, paranoid period of civil unrest of 1970s Chile, Captain Jorge Silva, once a celebrated name in the chilian air force, now works a relatively quiet job in the senior ranks of a military flying school.  Things hot up as the coup looms over the horizon, when Colonel Jahn - a rough-nosed, menacing figure - appears and takes over the running of the school, repurposing it as a holding centre for captured uprisers, many of which would be tortured and killed for what information they had.  

 

Silva, the darker aspects of his shrouded past only hinted upon, clearly had a hand in stalling Jahn's progress through the military, having had him kicked out for misdemeanours in the past, now finds himself under Jahns command, who has not forgotten the past.  As Jahn's actions become increasingly reckless towards his prisoners, Silva must choose between his adherance to military hierarchy, or stand against it.

 

Shot in saturated black and white, accentuating every character expression; the slow twisting of the rope around the necks of the main characters is demonstrated largely with words not action, and is no less tense for it.  It could be seen as a good companion piece to Wild Horse Nine, coincidentally also showing but I didnt manage to get a ticket, which is also set with the Chilean coup as its backdrop. 7.5/10

Variations on a Theme (SA) (review)

During the second world war, allied Europe enlisted thousands of South-Africans onto the front line.  For their service, while the white man was paid well, each one of these men returned with a pair of leather boots and a bicycle.

 

In the present day, Hettie - a daughter of one such soldier, now about to turn 80 herself, tends her goats on the hills above her small, poor village.  She lives thriftily and alone, but comfortably enough and has become used to her empty nest after her husband passed and the children left for the city.  But now, supposed government officials have been handing out blue forms, offering at last, proper compensation for the sacrifice of their ancestors.  Naturally Hettie, and all her neighbours quickly copper up their significant administration fees, and post them off.  Only a week or so, they said, and the money would come back.

 

Operating somewhere in the area between documentary and fiction, the silent Hettie is given voice by the narrator who weaves stories around the scenes of the village and its enhabitants as the wait, and wait; and gives thoughts and complexity to Hettie's silent existence, showing as that this quiet old woman is full of thoughts and feelings behind her subdued expression and painted smile.

The cyclical nature of the film, as it repeats the same static scenes one by one with subtle differences, could have got annoying, but with its short run time (just over an hour), they become a lyrical rhythm of this old lady's stoic existance.  Initially it seemed to be about the ease with which a community such as this could be hoodwinked - as they are - out of what little cash they had; but it became little more than a background detail as the more important themes of family and community, repitition and foundation, took to the front.  It was warmed over with beautiful music seemingly from deep within Hettie's distant past, and was a lovely way to spend a little time with her.  8/10

Ultimate Thunder (UK) (film site)

Few bands command such warmth from their audience as these guys, a group of men with various learning disabilities who came together in a Leeds warehouse to become, 'the most punk-rock band in the world'

Quite the claim, but here they make their case. These guys dont have a set list, they just play, jazz-style, whatever comes to mind, and the audience has to take it.  No two gigs are ever the same, and front man Matthew's improvised lyrics jump the tracks continually, from random, bizarre outbursts to profound inner feelings.  In that respect, their musical output is perhaps the purest form of expression.

Filmmaker Ben Brown became an unofficial band member for three years and followed them from humble jam sessions to their first gigs. Their popularity went large when their funding was cut and fellow bands spread the word of their crowdfunder which spread through word of mouth.

An easy film to love and I spent most of it with a big smile on my face.  Hyde park was packed out, clearly with a number of locals who know and love the band; plus the director and band members were among them; they got up on stage afterwards for a long Q+A session that unfortunately I had to miss a lot of.  I'll be looking out for these guys on posters around Leeds in the future.  8/10

The Third Man (UK) (wiki)

To round off the night, we have a fresh 4K remaster of the 1949 classic, oft cited as the greatest British film of all time, but one I had yet to experience.  My first and second choices for this slot had all sold out (you have to be quick at Leeds) so this was an opportunity to see it where it was meant to be experienced.

 

Holly Martins, an American writer of some limited fame arrives in a wrecked post-war Vienna, occupied in zones by the British, the Americans, the Germans and the Russians who somehow have managed to work something out, and uneasy peace exists amongst the rubble between the factions, although crime is still rife.  Somewhere in the city, Holly's friend Harry Limes has said he might have some much needed work.  

 

But without even being able to meet, Harry is killed in a car accident, and all Holly can manage is to catch the tail end of the burial, attended by a handful of unfamiliar and shifty faces.  Idle questions give nonsensical answers and Holly is drawn deeper into a detective mystery of the kind only his books would go near.  With the police seemingly uninterested in pursuit of these new developments, and a distraction in the form of Anna, a tragic femme fetale who loved harry for all his faults, can he get to the bottom of the loss of his friend?

Getting on now for 80 years old, The Third Man is still plenty watchable in its own right, and from a retrospective angle, represents an early example of what later thrillers would employ in terms of narrative twists and turns.  While I would not rush out to buy my own copy off the back of this, it was an entertaining, fascinating time capsule, both of the wreckage of a once beautiful city, and also a major milestone in film history. 7/10