Category Archives: Cinema

“24 FRAMES” by Abbas Kiarostami (2017) Comments by Cynthia Webb Screening in Brisbane International Film Festival, QLD, Australia,29th August, 6.00pm at Palace Barracks Cinema, and finally, on 3rd September, 12.30pm at Palace Barracks Cinema Cinephiles have long loved and respected … Continue reading →

GRADUATION (or “Bacalaureat”) Cristian Mungiu (Romania, 2017) comments by Cynthia Webb (Screening at Brisbane International Film Festival,(BIFF) QLD, Australia, 27th August, 8.00pm Palace Barracks Cinema) Another fine work by this leading Romanian director, who won Best Director Award at Cannes … Continue reading →

“The Square” directed by Ruben Ostlund (Sweden) (Winner of the Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival, 2017) Review by Cynthia Webb “The Square” was the opening night film for the newly revived Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF). It’s an utterly contemporary … Continue reading →

THE PROMISE (2016) directed by Terry George (Dialogue in English) – review and comments by Cynthia Webb Here is a film well worth seeing, which I viewed today, 15 June 2017. Yes, it’s a political hot-potato between Turkey and the … Continue reading →

Here is an anti-war film with a difference. “Frantz” (directed by Francois Ozon) is a French/German co-production, and made in both languages. The setting is a year after the end of World War One, 1919. We are in a small … Continue reading →

ETERNITE (2016) directed by Tran Anh Hung From a novel by Alice Ferney, this story of a woman and her descendants in France during the early 1900s, this cannot be called “a movie”. It has great stillness, and the feeling … Continue reading →

This film “GOLD” (2016, directed by Steven Gaghan) is currently doing the rounds of multi-plexes in Australia and might turn up in Indonesia too, (a note for my friends there.) This is because it’s loosely ( very loosely) based on … Continue reading →

LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST (1988) Directed by Theo Angelopoulos Today (January 2017) I watched this 1988 masterpiece from the late Theo Angelopoulos. It won the Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival, and many other awards too. It’s an exquisite allegorical … Continue reading →

“LA LA LAND” (directed by Damien Chazelle, 2016) “La La Land” (2016) by Damien Chazelle (Proudly credited as “Made in Hollywood”.) Post-viewing comments by Cynthia Webb “La La Land” is a love-letter to Los Angeles, and to the studio era … Continue reading →

“IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CITY” directed by Tamer el Said (Egypt) (Nominated in APSA’s Cultural Diversity Award, under patronage of UNESCO) There is an experience of immersion while watching this melancholy and poetic film. A young film-maker , … Continue reading →

Photo caption shows: Hussein Hassan, director of “The Dark Wind” “The Dark Wind” by Hussein Hassan of Iraqi/Kurdistan UNESCO sponsored Cultural Diversity Award, at the Asia Pacific Screen Award is a special place in the list, because the heart and … Continue reading →

Caption for photo – This is Leena Yadev, director of “Parched”, the Opening Night film for the film festival. PARCHED directed by Leena Yadav (India) Nominated for Best Screenplay, “Parched” written by Leena Yadav, was the Opening Night film for … Continue reading →

Asia Pacific Screen Awards and Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival “THE STUDENT” (directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia) This film was nominated in APSA’S Best Feature Film category, and tells a cautionary tale for the whole world, not just the director’s … Continue reading →

Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 24th November, 2016.  List of winners of the tenth Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Best Feature Film: “The Cold of Kalandar” from Turkey Best Youth Feature Film: “The World of Us” from Republic of South Korea Best Animated … Continue reading →

Hello film-lovers! Do you live in South-East Queensland? Do you love cinema enough to pay attention to the fact that the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival (BAPFF) is coming up next week? Everyone in Los Angeles knows when it’s time … Continue reading →

A Documentary film by George Gittoes, (Australia) 2.28mins Please go to my review, below the picture…….    Snow Monkey (2015) a documentary film, directed by George Gittoes I sat down this morning to have a look at the opening scenes of … Continue reading →

“EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT’ (Colombia) directed by Ciro Guerra (Best Foreign Language Film Nominee, 2016) “Embrace of the Serpent” is visually ravishing, in black and white, emotionally rewarding, and intellectually satisfying. I’ve been thinking, that if/when director, Terence Malick sees … Continue reading →

A COPY OF MY MIND ( Indonesia, 2015) Joko Anwar’s Jakarta – a huge city where a large majority of the people struggle each day to make a living. They often work for tiny incomes, and they know the way … Continue reading →

      PHOENIX (2014) directed by Christian Petzold (Germany) review by Cynthia Webb Do we ever really know or really see our partners in love and in life? Is the beloved seen in the clear light of reality, or … Continue reading →

(image courtesy of the Producers) The Assassin (Nie Yinniang) directed by HOU Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan, 2015 Review by Cynthia Webb In the recent Brisbane Asia-Pacific Film Festival, the stand-out film for me was Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s “The Assassin”, for which he won … Continue reading →

******************************************************* ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS and BRISBANE ASIA PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL 19-29 November, 2015 History and Philosophy by Cynthia Webb It’s the second year that these two events have been teamed up and the idea is a good one because … Continue reading →

“Partisan”, (Australia, 2015) directed by Ariel Kleiman. Review by Cynthia Webb Watching this film, there is no way to know that it is an Australian-made film. It stars a French superstar, Vincent Cassel, and a group of accented English speakers, … Continue reading →

“The IDOL”(Ya Tayr el Tayer) directed by Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine, 2015) Review by Cynthia Webb The Opening Night film in the Brisbane Asia-Pacific Film Festival, screened last night, 19th November 2015. It was “The Idol”, directed by Hany Abu-Assad of … Continue reading →

“Far From The Madding Crowd” (2015) directed by Thomas Vinterberg By Cynthia Webb “It’s difficult for a woman to define her feelings in a language chiefly made by men to express theirs,” says Bathsheba Everdene – the heroine of Thomas … Continue reading →

Tomorrow is going to be a difficult day for me, said U-Wei bin Haji Saari. When asked why, he answered “because I don’t like competing.” He referred to a day back near the endof 2013 during which the Jury of … Continue reading →

“The Mirror Never Lies” (“Laut Bercermin”) 2011, Indonesia.  Directed by Kamila Andini Review by Cynthia Webb  Photos courtesy of the film producers, Garin Nugroho, Nadine Chandrawinata, Pemda Kabupaten Wakatobi, World Wildlife Fund – Indonesia. I never tire of the breathtaking … Continue reading →

Kamila Andini, emerging young film director, of Java, Indonesia, who had a lot of film festival success with her first feature film “The Mirror Never Lies”, back in 2012. Most of this interview took place before the film travelled the … Continue reading →

(Photo shows Philip Cheah in dark shirt on right, with Garin Nugroho of Indonesia – together in Brisbane, March 2015) Philip Cheah: Promoting Asian Cinema by Cynthia Webb, QLD, Australia “I didn’t talk much”, said Philip Cheah when asked about … Continue reading →

The biography of Indonesia –according to Garin Nugroho Cynthia Webb, Brisbane, QLD, Australia When the Head of Griffith Film School, in Brisbane, Australia, was planning a week of Master-classes for his senior students, Garin Nugroho was the name suggested. Professor … Continue reading →

Photo by Just Loomis, Los Angeles,2014 Between Two Worlds: David Lynch at GoMA, Brisbane Cynthia Webb, Brisbane, QLD, Australia Do you remember watching the twenty-nine episodes of “Twin Peaks” on TV, back in 1990-91? Do you remember the unsettling feeling, … Continue reading →