The British “feel good” movie seems to have become somewhat of a trend in recent years; the kind of “tear jerkers” that deal with a sad subject matter, but conjure up an uplifting message which encourages everyone to believe that, through trial and tribulation, everything will work out in the end. Naturally, this is the Read More
Drawing her New South Wales trilogy to a stunning conclusion, Kate Grenville’s latest novel, Sarah Thornhill, appeals to the romantic soul and the aesthete alike. Once more South-east Australia’s Hawkesbury River provides the mise-en-scène in which the Sydney-born author’s drama unfolds – an untamed coastline that exhibits as much personality as any one of the novel’s Read More
This collaboration between Tessa Ransford and Iyad Hayatleh, both poets and translators, offers a creative amalgam that weaves religion, ritual and culture to produce some remarkable poems. Ransford, a founder of the Scottish Poetry Library met Hayatleh, a Palestinian from Syria, through the “Writers in Exile” committee of Scottish PEN. From a few translations of Read More
Robot and Frank, the feature debut from director Jake Schreier and screenwriter Christopher D. Ford, is something rare; a science-fiction movie with real human warmth at its core. Set in the not-too-distant future, the tale of ageing former cat burgler Frank Weld (Frank Langella) and his robot carer is both comic and at times poignant. Read More
Chris Dolan’s new book, Redlegs, relocates from the Glasgow of his previous work, Ascension Day, to the seemingly exotic location of the Caribbean. Set in 1830, the novel follows the history of the poor whites (redlegsis the pejorative term used to describe them) as they leave Scotland to work in sugar plantations. The plantation becomes the new home Read More
Véronique Tadjo; author, scholar, artist, educator, brings us her unique take on the original myth of the Baoulé people of Côte D’Ivoire Queen Pokou: Concerto for a Sacrifice; it won the 2005 Grand Prix Littéraire D’Afrique Noire. Parisian-born Tadjo was brought up in Abidjan by her French mother and Ivorian father; such a cultural heterogenity may Read More
Contemporary Germany is rightly celebrated for the healthy way that it continues to deal with its dark past of tyranny and genocide under the Nazis. Conspicuous public memorials and museums throughout Germany demonstrate the nation’s commitment to ensuring that the history of The Holocaust is not glossed over or forgotten. While the Third Reich and Read More
A Liar’s Autobiography is based on the autobiography of Graham Chapman, the most enigmatic member of the Monty Python team. Reflecting Chapman’s inimitable style, the film visually displays the random, disparate nonsense that inhabited the comedian’s consciousness. These wild, surreal fabrications come together to form some semblance of an autobiography; the commentary is provided by Chapman Read More
Hardeep Singh Kohli is a rare breed of comedian insofar as his act neither hinges upon nor hides from his cultural heritage. Political and cultural difficulties of the legacy of empire and migration are ever present, but Singh Kohli’s work refuses to be defined by its conflicts, and instead reflects a celebration of multiculturalism and also Read More
No archetype of recent Hollywood cinema is quite as insufferable as the idealised child, usually portrayed as unblemished, heavenly little bundles of perfection, too flawless, precocious and squeaky-clean to be genuine or sympathetic. So when a film arrives that paints children in a totally unsentimental light, thanks in large part to a young ensemble cast Read More