Film & TV

During my studies for my Masters degree on Indian cinema I have come across a few issues with the country’s film industry. The emergence of powerful global campaigns for equality in recent years have strengthened movements against age-old discrimination. In Indian cinema in particular, the casting process for many Bollywood films is prone to neglecting diversity and having questionable requirements for the actors performing in the films, most commonly the desire for lighter-skinned Indians who are viewed as more ‘sellable’. ‘Brownfacing’ in Indian culture has been apparent for many years, even dating back to the depictions of deities as light-skinned, and lower caste people depicted as very dark-skinned, in order to enforce a skin colour hierarchy as part of tradition. As with many pro...

Doubts surrounding the capability of organising the national film festival this year have been subdued by the efforts of the BFI (British Film Institute) as the annual London Film Festival (LFF) transferred from the big screen to a fresh online streaming service. Despite the flurry of cancelled film and cultural events across the globe in the midst of the pandemic including the Tribeca Film Festival, pop-culture titan Comic-Con and the glorious Cannes, the LFF led the way with a new platform for virtual festival-goers. The wealth of industry events available included revealing behind-the-scenes footage and talks with directors and producers that were very satisfying for anyone seeking the means to break into the business. I would recommend making the most of available talks and spotlig...

Can the film industry survive in the post-pandemic world? In the midst of a global crisis that has ravaged economies and industries worldwide, how can cinema prevail against suffocating lockdown measures and rivalling threats with little leg-room for social-distancing? Since the UK and most of the world effectively halted in March in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, the repercussions and restrictions dealt to the public have had dire consequences for us as individuals but also for the industries and workers dependent upon an active society. The film industry and cinemas survive upon the millions of moviegoers who flocked to the pictures before lockdown barred the doors to a summer of blockbuster releases. But the survival of cinema in its current form where chain venues like Od...

As we near 2020, there's a lot of talk on the 'top shows of the 2010s', but it's rare to see Sam Esmail's show, Mr Robot, get a mention. Warning: the second half of this post contains spoilers. We've made it clear where they start. If you're planning on watching the show, avoid avoid avoid! Mr Robot is a show, produced by USA Network, following the life of hacker-vigilante Elliot Alderson. The programme, loved by many film and TV nerds, has gained notoriety for its many unexpected twists and turns, character portrayal, and creative use of cinematography that is hard to illustrate without spoiling the series. Perhaps what I find most captivating about this show is the storytelling. Elliot, who is introduced to us as the show's narrator, has an unusual view of the world. As an au...

Michael Ware gained a reputation in Iraq for being one of the few journalists to live in the country near-continuously for the duration of the American occupation. He also was not only embedded with American forces but also with insurgent groups. The film itself is a compilation of footage filmed on a Handycam by Ware and a fellow journalist. It is simply a taste of the hundreds of hours of footage he accumulated over the almost decade he was there. This leads to an outlook on war, those who have not been privy to first-hand, have never had. You are drawn into intense firefights, terrifying insurgent meetings and the shocking and often gruesome aftermath of suicide bombings. The sounds of the war are occasionally drowned out by a smooth Australian drawl as Ware offers commentary to make se...