“It’s a brilliantly evocative film with the constant threat of harm lurking in the shadows of the oppressive apartment complex and the hidden realm of the local forest, the adult world kept at bay as the children’s predicament plays out like an urban Lord of the Flies.” – Shane O’Reilly

The Dean Arts Studio has just announced recipients of the highly coveted year long free artist and culture practitioner spaces.

Casablanca Beats is very much about a culture clash and wears its heart quite clearly on its sleeve. The teenagers desperately want to excel and break from traditional Muslim custom by grasping hip hop culture as their means of doing so. But of course, not everyone, parents especially, tolerates this stance.

Prayers for the Stolen is a taut, claustrophobic and tightly directed film that heralds great things for its cast of talented young leads.

We’ve seen elements of this film many times before but it’s a remarkable story nonetheless, told with a delicate touch by first time director Blerta Basholli.

The trailer gave us a glimmer of hope that Wolf could develop on this intriguing premise and take it somewhere unexpected, somewhere shocking perhaps like a Yorgos Lanthimos film, but it feels like a missed chance in retrospect.

Amin’s journey, both the physical one and the one inside him seeking his true self, is long and arduous and takes several years, featuring a cast of merciless and predatory characters, but there’s more than enough heart here to carry the weight.

Vive la différence! Leos Carax’s surreal, Sparks-scripted musical stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard as ill-fated lovers. It’s tremendously silly and entertaining.

A surprisingly powerful and delicately crafted film.

Austrian director Jessica Hausner returns after a five year absence with sci-fi feature Little Joe, a detour from her usually quite dour subject matter.

Greenfield’s remarkable film uses a mix of archival footage and one-on-one interviews with Imelda Marcos to build a fascinating picture of the Philippines over the last 70 years.

“A modern day Chinese masterpiece, there have been few films of equal stature released this year.”

“A fascinating and humanising portrayal of a pivotal figure in world history.”

The Kitchen starts off well but quickly collapses under the weight of its soundtracked girl power montages, contrived plot mechanics and occasionally absurd script. It’s such a pity.

A meaty bit of drama and a fine addition to the succession of man and beast partnerships on screen.

Following the brilliant 2016 documentary on LeRoy, this is director Justin Kelly’s Hollywood retelling.

Between the wonderfully rendered artistic processes and the devastating historical backdrop that shrouds every character in the film, Never Look Away is just that; hard to look away from.

We The Animals may feel small and simple but it’s a beautifully made coming-of-age drama.