TIFF21 REVIEW: Ali & Ava [2022]

From stop to seventy. Their differences are plenty. Her heritage is Irish. His is Pakistani. She lives in a part of Britain where he knows to worry about getting stones thrown at him while he lives amongst a diaspora of immigrants from Europe and Asia. She has four kids and five grandkids. He has a wife with whom he’s separated yet still unable to admit it to his family because they wouldn’t approve of letting her stay while she finishes school. The one thing Ava (Claire Rushbrook) and Ali (Adeel…

Read More

REVIEW: The Selfish Giant [2013]

“Did you lose that baby or your dad sell it?” A contemporary fable thematically adapted from Oscar Wilde‘s short story of the same name and inspired by the world writer/director Clio Barnard entered while filming her documentary The Arbor in Bradford, Northern England, The Selfish Giant proves a stark drama wherein emotional growth blossoms through the aftermath of tragedy. It’s no surprise, however, considering the lengths poverty and a void of trusting role models drives young Arbor (Conner Chapman) and Swifty (Shaun Thomas) into a life far removed from the…

Read More