Islam
7500 review - a turbulent rideThursday, 18 June 2020
Thank goodness no-one’s going anywhere this year, because 7500 does for planes what Jaws did for bright yellow lilos. Set entirely within the cockpit of a passenger jet, this thriller trims all the fat, leaving a taut nightmare that pulls no punches... Read more... |
Album: Fra Fra - Funeral SongsSaturday, 18 April 2020
Rituals of death call for music: to see the spirits of the dead off on their journey to the other side, to express the grief of those left behind or to celebrate the cycle of life and death. Fra Fra are a quartet from the predominantly Muslim... Read more... |
Drawing the Line, Hampstead Theatre online review - modern history becomes dark farceTuesday, 14 April 2020
This week’s gem from the Hampstead’s vaults is Howard Brenton’s political drama from 2013, telling the extraordinary, stranger-than-fiction story of Cyril Radcliffe and his 1947 mission: to arrange the Partition of India in just five weeks. A tale... Read more... |
Imran Perretta, Chisenhale Gallery review - a deeply affecting filmTuesday, 04 February 2020
“I forgive you,” he said. “I forgive you… for the bombs.” Spoken by a young Muslim in measured tones that can’t hide his fear, these chilling words recall a random encounter with a stranger. Written and directed by Imran Perretta and based on... Read more... |
Sons of Denmark review - political thriller stirs cauldron of hot-button issuesWednesday, 11 December 2019
The first feature by Copenhagen-born director Ulaa Salim dives boldly into a cauldron of hot-button issues – terrorism, racism, nationalism and fascism. It’s set in 2025, in a Denmark suffering from bomb attacks and violently polarised politics.... Read more... |
Permission review - suspenseful melodrama of a true-life eventThursday, 21 November 2019
Permission tells the story of Afrooz, the captain of Iran's National Futsal Team, who is stopped from joining her team at the Asia Cup Final because of the last minute whim of her estranged husband. It is based on Iranian football... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: The Blood of HussainTuesday, 23 October 2018
Jamil Dehlavi is a filmmaker whose work straddles two worlds. His native Pakistan is certainly the key element in the two early films on this BFI dual-format release – it follows on from the director’s August South Bank retrospective, the first... Read more... |
Alkaline, Park Theatre review - faith, friendship and failureSaturday, 14 July 2018
Britain is rightly proud of its record on multiculturalism, but whenever cross-cultural couples are shown on film, television or the stage they are always represented as a problem. Not just as a normal way of life, but as something that is going... Read more... |
Lisa Halliday: Asymmetry review - unconventional and brilliantSunday, 04 March 2018
Lisa Halliday’s striking debut novel consists of three parts. The first follows the blooming relationship between Alice and Ezra (respectively an Assistant Editor and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer) in New York; the middle section comprises a... Read more... |
DVD: In BetweenTuesday, 06 February 2018
In Between didn’t get nearly enough attention on its cinema release in the UK last autumn, hampered perhaps by its nothingy title and a synopsis that can make it sound like it will be a worthy evening out when in fact it’s anything but. One of the... Read more... |
The Prince of Nothingwood review - come for the man, stay for the countryTuesday, 12 December 2017
In the most unlikely of places, there is one of the world’s most prolific directors. He has produced over 110 films, he’s mobbed wherever he goes, and he inspired people through the darkest of civil wars; yet outside of Afghanistan, no-one knows the... Read more... |
Reza Aslan: God - A Human History review - on being 'sapiens', and believingSunday, 03 December 2017
It is not just the season of holidays and holy days in the monotheistic religions; the art galleries and museums are busy reminding us of worlds beyond, with Imagining the Divine at the Ashmolean in Oxford, and Living with Gods at the British Museum... Read more... |
