The most socially acceptable collection It started, as many things do, with a coin. That first coin wasn’t even currency; it was a coin-shaped token thanking me for my participation in a Terry Fox Run at age thirteen or so. I don’t remember where the others came from, but they trickled in, qian by penny by cent, … Continue reading The joy of collecting: on tangible emotions
There is a known absence of people from working-class backgrounds in the creative arts. As of 2020, only 16% of the workforce in creative industries are from working-class backgrounds. The Working Class Creatives Database (WCCD) manifesto I recently joined the WCCD, which describes itself as “a platform to share and highlight the work of working … Continue reading The working class in the arts: where are they?
Review originally published here. Beata Gårdeler’s Flocking (Flocken) is a pared-back Swedish thriller and winner of the prestigious Crystal Bear at Berlin’s International Film Festival earlier this year. With Sweden’s rise to notoriety in recent years for its disproportionately low conviction rate of sexual offenders, it seems likely that quite a few of the audience members … Continue reading Flocken (Flocking) London Film Festival review
Review originally published here. Making geology sexy is the order of the day in new Norwegian disaster movie The Wave, a high-action thriller which explores the effect of a possible tsunami on a small coastal tourist town. Spectacular fjords and mountains form the backdrop to the Eikfjord family home. Geologist father Kristian (Kristoffer Joner) and … Continue reading “The Wave” London Film Festival review
Review originally published here. There’s a lady: her name is Belfast and she wants to tell her story. Festival favourite Mark Cousins writes and directs this dreamlike exploration of Belfast’s past, present and possible future. Part documentary, part drama and part old-fashioned storytelling, Cousins’ latest film takes a gentle pace through the life of this … Continue reading “I Am Belfast” London Film Festival review
Review originally published here. David (Colin Farrell) finds out his wife doesn’t love him anymore. He is sent to a hotel and given 45 days to find another partner. If he isn’t successful, the staff at the hotel will turn him into the animal of his choosing – in this case, the titular lobster – … Continue reading “The Lobster” London Film Festival review
Review originally published here. A study in unassuming observation, In Jackson Heights is director Frederick Wiseman’s 40th documentary, taking in the changing face and heart of the diverse New York neighbourhood of Jackson Heights, Queens. It would be tempting to label this film as simply a portrait of yet another lively neighbourhood being squeezed in … Continue reading “In Jackson Heights” London Film Festival review
Review first published here. Singing, dancing, joke-cracking musical comedy trio The Midnight Beast (or “TMB” to those in the know) played live to a rapturous crowd at Camden’s Underworld last night, a warm-up for their fans preceding the group’s soon-to-be-realeased EP, Self-Deprecation Nation. One look around the low-ceilinged basement venue revealed TMB’s main demographic: late … Continue reading The Midnight Beast live music review
Still don't fancy the potentially toxic miasma of enclosed spaces in 2020? Here are some online options to satisfy your craving for fresh film. Locarno 2020, 5-15 August 2020 Locarno Film Fest has been running since 1946. The Piazza Grande won't be full of eager art house film enthusiasts this year, but there are still … Continue reading 2020 film festivals you can watch from home
Three published poems
J.A. Clarke 