Cert 15
This beautifully shot film set in South Dakota tells the story of a young bronco rider Brady Blackburn [Brady Jandreau] who has been disabled by a life changing injury which prevents
him pursuing his riding career. It takes us into his rural community and their struggles to make a living from their land where opportunities are
hard to find. Brady continues to train horses and his love and talent in this regard are at the heart of the story. Director Chloe Zhao cast actors
whose real life stories mirror those shown in the film, giving it a documentary quality.
Dir: Chloe Zhao, USA, 104 mins, 2017
Neo-realism at its best, as this hard hitting film about a 12 year old boy Zain [Zain Al Rafeea] shows, whose neglectful and criminal family struggle to survive in post-conflict Beirut. Director Labaki cast non-professional actors, which gives the film a documentary feel, with a cameo by herself as the lawyer who represents the jailed Zain from where he sues his parents for neglect. A film about how humanity can elude individuals but, as seen in our earlier film Shoplifters, still be evident in circumstances of extremis. Labaki shines a spotlight on the refugee crisis in the Middle East, the consequences of being unregistered and stateless and its effects on the children who live there.
This documentary by Felipe Bustos Sierra, whose father was an exiled Chilean journalist, is about the act of solidarity in 1974 by Rolls Royce engineers in Scotland’s East Kilbride who, upon seeing that the Chilean dictator Pinochet was using Hawker Hunter jets to attack his own people, refused to service the planes’ engines. This action lasted for 4 years. Sierra interviews some of the engineers who recall their stories and roles in the protest,with much integrity, wit and humour.