At the end of an unusual year for cinemas, Film Hub South Wests’ tradition of calling on our members to share their favourite films of the year is a sure certainty.
The list below features the top ten feature films that our members loved this year. However, the top ten is by no means definitive. Of the 85 votes cast this December, 32 different films were featured; demonstrating that the tastes of South West film exhibitors are nothing if broad.
Patrick Bliss, The Roses
Drawing on the films that I saw at LFF, there are a great many that I will be programming. Skipping over some of the very obvious award contenders, here are some others that caught my eye which I believe now have distribution. In no particular order:
Playground A school playground becomes the stage for an immersive tale of bullying, shifting loyalties and loss of innocence. This was one of the real unexpected discoveries of the festival for me. I imagine this will be a future contender for Into Film support – every schoolchild should see this.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy Following Drive My Car, which is currently wowing audiences and critics, comes another film from Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, a triptych of beautifully written and performed stories of love, betrayal and human connections in modern Tokyo. These portamento/anthology type films can often feel disjointed and let down by their weakest link, but that just doesn’t happen here, with each story unfolding in a cinematic universe of change encounters, twists of fate and unpredictable outcomes that feel real and believable.
Phantom of the Open Another unexpected gem, the Roses audience will love this crowd-pleasing, thoroughly British true (ish!) underdog story with a wonderfully endearing performance from Mark Rylance.
Luzzu A rare film from Malta following a fisherman who faces a tough moral decision of whether to repair his traditional Luzzu (wooden fishing boat) and continuing in to eke out a living from the nearly fishless waters that surround him, or trade it in for an EU handout. Coming across like a Mediterranean Ken Loach, this compelling story of one man’s struggle to do the right thing in the face of powerful external forces juxtaposes vibrant scenes of him at sea in his brightly coloured Luzzu with the painful reality of surviving in a corrupt and rapidly changing world.
Mass Actor Fran Kranz’s debut feature unfolds in real-time and is mostly set in one room, where two sets of parents meet to discuss a tragic event in their lives. It sounds like a stage play, but was conceived as a film and thanks to four impeccable performances and an incisive script, it was one of the most gripping films I’ve seen this year. If you caught Disclosure (the Australian film, not the US film on Netflix) at Cheltenham International Film Festival (and drop me a line if you want to see it) then this will give you a good idea of where this is going.
Red Rocket From the director of Tangerine and The Florida Project, another beautifully rendered slice of edge of America realism that has the same keen-eyed location work and snappy dialogue as its predecessors, most of it delivered at breakneck speed by an initially irritating and obnoxious lead character, who slowly draws us into his murky washed-up porn star world.
Emma Ingledew, The Little Theatre
I can’t wait for ‘Licorice Pizza‘, the latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson. I’m excited to see Alana Haim’s debut role, as well as Cooper Hoffman (the son of the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman) act alongside her.
Mark Cosgrove, Watershed
Andrea Arnold’s Cow because it may appear a change in direction for Arnold but her films have always featured a lyrical relationship with nature plus the ‘green’ subject matter will play well in Bristol. Mika Kaurismaki’s Master Cheng because of its warmth, humanity and humour. Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava because of its optimism, Lingui: The Sacred Bonds which sees Chadian Mahamat-Saleh Haroun return to his home country to tackle the oppressive and fragile status of women. And Francois Truffaut restorations/re-issues to remind us of the vitality and influence of that moment of French filmmaking
Lorena Pino, Trowbridge Town Hall
Costa Brava Lebanon, a debut film portraying the role of women from different generations which destinies are marked by a volatile political context.
Luzzu, a rare chance of seeing a film from Malta and getting close to their reality through a non-professional cast.
John Morrish, Freelance
I would like to see some of the excellent young-director films I saw online this year make their way into cinemas. I would particularly like to see Summer Survivor, Maya and The Keeper, and if no-one else puts them on, I may have to.
These films have been voted for by our Members in the South West – thanks to everyone who shared their lists with us!
Happy holidays everyone and here’s to many more great films in 2022.
Image, Ben Robers BFI CEO at Chagford Film Festival 2020, c/o @bfiben