The Invisible Cinema: Why Arabic Cinema is yet to get noticed in the West
Last month’s Safar film festival was undoubtedly an eye-opener for the people who attended. Focusing on some of the most popular films to come out of Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan in the past half a century, the festival showed that the region has plenty of talent both in front of and behind the camera, but is lacking the resources to get wider recognition in the West.
By Robert Zak | Arts, Film | Friday, 12 October 2012 at 5:17 pm
Pan-Asia Film Festival 2012: Exploring the uncharted corners of the Asian film industry
The Pan-Asia film festival is now in its fourth year of exposing an overlooked side to the various film industries of Asia. Ask an average person on the street what they think of Asian cinema, and – unless they wisely point out that referring to ‘Asian’ film is a sweeping generalisation – they’ll probably refer to Chinese historical epics or ultra-violent thrillers or horrors from Japan and South Korea. Rather than being generally under-represented, the cult popularity of the aforementioned types of films means that we get an extremely slanted view of cinema coming from the world’s largest continent.
By Robert Zak | Arts, Film | Tuesday, 20 March 2012 at 11:18 am
Tyrannosaur and Drive: The difference between loneliness and being alone
The prospect of loneliness is probably one of the biggest fears that humans have to contend with. More often than not, this is reinforced by the state of actually being alone, but it’s not automatically synonymous with it. There are plenty of people who are alone and are quite content with it. It can be associated with independence, standing on your own two feet, ‘going at it alone.’ You’re a lone soldier and you don’t need to prop yourself up on anyone. You can be alone and content with it.
By Robert Zak | Arts, Film | Friday, 10 February 2012 at 12:00 am
Modern horror: Lay off the CGI and bring back prosthetics
The doctor shouts ‘Clear’ and lowers the defibrillators onto his fallen companion’s chest. As he does this, the man’s chest opens into a gaping, jawed mouth and catches the doctor’s hands, ripping them off.
By Robert Zak | Arts, Film | Monday, 30 January 2012 at 3:42 pm
Do we need to understand films to appreciate them?
Recently, I finally rose to the challenge of watching David Lynch’s labyrinthine Inland Empire.
By Robert Zak | Film | Sunday, 9 October 2011 at 11:39 am
Don’t Look Now: a homage to a unique breed of horror
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pre-release copy of the upcoming Blu-ray remastering of Nicholas Roeg’s brooding horror film, Don’t Look Now. Except for the clinically crisp Blu-ray picture quality, the film was just as I remembered; melancholy, slow-burning, and reliant on creating an atmosphere of impending doom rather than cheap [...]
By Robert Zak | Film | Tuesday, 28 June 2011 at 11:22 am
Most viewed
|
|
Latest from Independent journalists on Twitter