Oh yeah, MIFF 2016 is almost here! Looks like I never got around to finishing my summary of last year’s festival, but we all know I’m pretty much writing this for myself, so if anyone’s upset, it should be me. Interestingly, I looked through Netflix to see how many films of the ones that I thought looked interesting last year are currently available, and it’s not too many. Worth noting then, that MIFF can be a treasure trove of stuff that you mightn’t easily find at cinemas, or streaming, even a year later. Looking forward to seeing what’s in the new program real soon. More posts to come!

THEEB ★★★★

If The Assassin was the biggest disappointment of the festival, this was the nicest surprise. I didn’t originally have this one booked, but after having heard good things about it, decided to give it a try. An engaging Arabic film about a boy who follows his brother who’s asked to guide a British soldier to Mecca in World War I, the pacing, suspense and emotional connection with the characters was spot on. See it if you can.

THE LIAR ★☆

I think I’m being generous with this rating. A film about an unlikeable girl doing shitty things to people with little to no narrative. Wish I’d walked out.

THE ASSASSIN ★★★

The biggest disappointment of the festival for me, though certainly not the worst film. I was really excited to see this, having loved a lot of the martial arts films shown in previous years at MIFF. The cinematography was incredible, gorgeous, and almost worth seeing the film for alone, but unfortunately I couldn’t follow the story, and its slow pace wasn’t enough to keep me there till the end, in part due to my disappointment in the film earlier in the day.