Archive: Keswick Film Festival

disABILITY

In researching candidates for the Best of the Fests strand, it became clear that there have been a number of films recently that explored different elements of disability. Despite this common theme, three more different films would be hard to find.

Come As You Are is a comedy which features striking performances and has already been well received at the 2012 Montréal World Film Festival, where it won three awards including the prestigious Grand Prix des Amériques as well as at the European Film Awards, winning the Audience Award.

The Tribe, which makes for some challenging viewing both in terms of content and the absence of conventional speech, has been shown at Cannes and the London Film Festival and Blind, a moving exploration of that condition, has been a favourite at Sundance and Berlin.

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Friday 27th February 3:00 PM - Alhambra

Blind

Eskil Vogt (2014) Norway 91 mins 18

"It's not important what's real as long as I can visualize it," notes the narrator heroine early on in Blind, aptly setting the stage for a lithe, quicksilver portrait of a woman whose loss of sight only serves to sharpen her creative imagination. Blindness is a difficult affliction to understand. By simply closing your eyes and walking around, you might comprehend the act of not being able to see, but you would probably be unable to grasp the loneliness and isolation that occurs when the world is permanently cast into darkness. Eskil Vogt, whose debut feature this is, has provided viewers with a thorough exploration of Ingrid (played by Ellen Dorrit Petersen)and the ailment that confines her to her apartment. His character study is immensely thoughtful, and it allows the viewer to immerse oneself in Ingrid’s version of reality.

Thanks to Axiom

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Friday 27th February 8:15 PM - Theatre By The Lake

The Tribe

Plemya

Miroslav Slaboshpitsky (2014) Ukraine 130 mins 15

One of the most astonishing films you will ever see. It may help to remember that the cast is deaf and you hear things they do not. Other than that you will find yourself immersed into their world, set in a crumbling State Boarding School for deaf adolescents, where the staff have effectively handed control to the gangs and cliques of students. Whilst at times uncomfortable viewing it is testament to the power of the film that it will remain with you long after the final credits.

Thanks to Metrodome

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Saturday 28th February 5:00 PM - Studio (TBTL)

Come As You Are

Hasta la Vista

Geoffrey Enthoven (2011) Belgium 115 mins 15

One of a trio of Belgian lads Philip (Robrecht Vanden Thoren), paralysed from the neck down, has heard about a Spanish brothel catering to the sexual needs of those with special needs. He tells his two friends, partially sighted Josef (Tom Audenaert) and Lars (Gilles De Schrijver) whose aggressive brain tumour has confined him to a wheelchair, that this is the chance of a lifetime to lose their virginity.

Filmed with humour and compassion Come As You Are could be the unexpected hit of the Festival

Thanks to Cinema For All