Girlhood: The Brutal Truth of Female Adolescence

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While its English language title may invite easy comparisons to Richard Linklater’s celebrated opus Boyhood, French filmmaker Celine Sciamma’s coming of age drama Girlhood is far more accurately represented by its native language moniker, Bande des Filles (‘Band of Girls’). Indeed, its depiction of teenage life in the depressed projects of suburban Paris has, tonally speaking, more in common with 2001 TV WWII epic Band of Brothers than Linklater’s sepia-toned account of growing up under the California sun.

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FrightFest 2009: Day Five!

colinposterThe fifth and final day of FrightFest 2009 was the most exciting of the whole weekend, with so many great films to choose from showing across both screens that it proved very difficult to come up with a plan of viewing action. We decided to start the day in the Discovery Screen with Colin, the much-hyped debut from British newcomer Marc Price and were glad we did. Although we very much doubt that the movie cost just £45, a figure that’s been bandied around by the press, it was still an effective foray into low-budget horror film-making.

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FrightFest 2009: Day Four!

salvage7We spent most of the fourth day of FrightFest ’09 in the Discovery Screen, where there was a host of intriguing film fare on offer. And we weren’t the only ones to take advantage of this year’s new double-screen choices, as American Werewolf director John Landis also took his seat in the smaller screen. And first up was Salvage, the excellent ultra-real chiller from British writer/director Lawrence Gough.

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