Past Weekenders

A look at some of the recent, wonderful films that have been directed by women and how Birds Eye View supported them!

  • Just Do It

    The world of environmental direct action has remained a secretive one...until now!

  • Countdown to Zero

    A compelling investigation into nuclear arms proliferation from internationally acclaimed and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker

  • The Round Up

    Based on the true story of a young Jewish boy, the film depicts the mass arrest of Jews by French police who were Nazi accomplices in Paris in July 1942.

  • Love Like Poison

    Small-town life, love and religion: a familiar formula given a tender, distinctive treatment in this award-winning debut from young French director Katell Quillévéré.

  • Amreeka

    A universal journey into the lives of a family of immigrants and first-generation teenagers caught between their heritage and the new world in which they now live and the bittersweet search for a place to call home.

  • My Dog Tulip

    A bittersweet retrospective account of author J. R. Ackerley’s 16-year relationship with his adopted German shepherd, Tulip.

  • Sweetgrass

    This breathtaking chronicle follows an ever-surprising group of modern-day cowboys as they lead an enormous herd of sheep up and then down the slopes of the Beartooth Mountains in Montana on their way to market, one final time

  • Island

    Based on 'Jane Rogers' acclaimed novel, Island is about a woman who seeks revenge for a childhood spent unloved in care. A tale of yearning and retribution.

  • A Small Act

    A young Kenyan's life changes drastically when his education is sponsored by a Swedish stranger. Years later, he founds his own scholarship program to replicate the kindness he once received.

  • Red Riding Hood

    Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.

  • Meek's Cutoff

    A starkly modern drama of faith and survival set on the 19th century pioneer trails across the American midwest, starring Michelle Williams.

  • My Kidnapper

    Trekking in the Columbian jungle, Mark Henderson was kidnapped and held captive for 101 days. Months after his release, he was contacted by two of his captors and embarked upon a correspondence which eventually compelled him to return to Colombia and confront them.

  • Men on the Bridge

    Winner of Istanbul's prestigious Golden Tulip award, Men on the Bridge tells the story of three men whose lives are inextricably yet contrastingly dominated by Turkey's Bosphorus Bridge, a connecting link between Europe and Asia.

  • Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould

    Telling the story of world-renowned pianist Glenn Gould, Genius Within weaves personal memories with never-before-seen footage to produce an enthralling portrait of a musical legend.

  • Amer

    A stylish homage to Dario Argento and the ‘giallo' genre, Amer is the debut feature from filmmaking duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani. Blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, Amer takes the viewer on a surreal journey through three phases of a girl's sexual evolution.

  • Somewhere

    Academy Award-winner Sofia Coppola won the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for Somewhere, her tale of hard-living Hollywood actor Johnny Marco, who is forced to re-examine his life after his 11-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit.

  • Miral

    Adapted by journalist and broadcaster Rula Jebreal from her novel of the same title, Miral tells the story of an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the conflict.

  • Slackistan

    Dubbed 'Pakistan's first slacker movie', Slackistan follows a group of westernised twenty-something friends as they drift aimlessly around town, partying, surfing the internet and smoking shisha pipes - until Hasan realises that Aisha and his filmmaking dreams could drift away too.

  • The Kids Are All Right

     A breakout hit from the Sundance Film Festival, Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right is a delightful, wry, intelligent story about two children, conceived by artificial insemination and raised by a lesbian couple, who seek out their birth father.

  • Out of the Ashes

    Best of the Fest - Edinburgh Film Festival.

    This enchanting, insightful, collaborative documentary follows Afghanistan's national cricket team as it sets out to hit some boundaries and rebuild a nation's pride. Without any real facilities or much in the way of talent, the Afghans attempt to defy overwhelming odds against established cricketing nations to qualify for the 2011 World Cup.

  • Africa United

    Billed as a 'road trip through the heart of Africa', this delightful, inspiring story follows three Rwandan children on a journey to the 2010 World Cup. The incredible journey takes them through the Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with a host of characters offering insight into a side of Africa few people ever see.

  • The Arbor

    Stop press: Clio Barnard wins London Film Festival's Best Newcomer and Sutherland Awards for The Arbor.

    Artist/filmmaker Barnard's extraordinary and imaginative portrait of Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar weaves together documentary footage and interviews gathered over two years' research - strikingly reproduced by lip-synching actors - alongside a staging of Dunbar's play The Arbor outside her childhood residence, Bradford's Buttershaw Estate. Compassionate, brutal and deeply moving.

  • Pianomania

    Check out our exclusive interview with Director Lilian Franck, on the Birds Eye View Blog .

    Pianomania The story of the unsung hero of musical perfection.

    "The tone isn't breathing" complains pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, distraught. This is a typical sentence in Steinway & Sons' chief technician and Master Tuner Stefan Knüpfer's usual working day. A piano has its own personality, each piece demands its own timbre and every interpretation has a particular temperament.

  • Beautiful Kate

    Look out for our exclusive interview with Director and Screenwriter Rachel Ward, coming soon to the Birds Eye View Blog.  

    Beautiful Kate is an evocative tale of love and desire.  The film recounts the sexual awakening of three siblings growing up in isolation, interwoven with the emotional journey of reconciliation between a father and son.  Shot through with an ethereal beauty, the past is brought sharply into focus as guilt and recriminations finally give way to forgiveness.

  • Bluebeard (Barbe Bleue)

    Check out our exclusive interview with Director and Screenwriter Catherine Breillat, on the Birds Eye View Blog.

    In the 1950s, Bluebeard was the favourite tale of good little girls, one of whom is Catherine, who loves to frighten her older sister Marie‐Anne by reading this fairy tale to her until she starts to cry.

  • Leaving

    Check out our exclusive interview with Director Catherine Corsini, on the Birds Eye View Blog.

    Kristin Scott Thomas brings another extraordinary performance to the big screen, with a role that has already earned her a nomination for France's highest accolade for an actress - Best Actress at the Cesar Awards 2010. This is Kristin's first French speaking lead role since I Loved You So Long, which garnered high critical praise and earned over one million pounds at the UK box office.

  • London River

    Check out our exclusive interview with Screenwriter Zoe Galeron, on the Birds Eye View Blog.

    Issues of race, nationhood, community and kinship lie at the heart of the new film London River. With brilliant cast like Brenda Bleythn who plays Elizabeth and Sotigui Kouyate playing Ousmane the film has a great impact on the public.

  • The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

    In The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third chapter in Stephenie Meyer's phenomenally successful series, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. 

  • White Material

    Check out our exclusive interview with Director Claire Denis, on the Birds Eye View Blog.

    "No more smirking. We're stopping the bullshit right now and staying put." The regular army is preparing to reestablish order in the country. To clean up. To eliminate the rebel officer also known as The Boxer and rid the countryside of roving child soldiers. All the expatriates have gone home, getting out before things turn nasty.

  • Wild Target

    Wild Target a new British comedy about an uptight hit man, starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint and Rupert Everett.

  • Please Give

    Check out our exclusive interview with Director and Screenwriter Nicole Holofcener, on the Birds Eye View Blog.

    As Kate, Alex, and Abby interact with the people next door, with each other, and with their New York surroundings, a complex mix of animosity, friendship, deception, guilt, and love plays out with both sharp humor and pathos. Please Give is writer/director Nicole Holofcener's perceptive-and devastatingly funny-take on modern life's contradictions, good intentions and shaky moral bearings.

  • H2Oil

    Read our exclusive interview with Director Shannon Walsh on the Birds Eye View Blog.

    Ever wonder where America gets most of its oil? If you thought it was Saudi Arabia or Iraq you are wrong. America's biggest oil supplier has quickly become Canada's oil sands. Located under Alberta's pristine boreal forests, the process of oil sands extraction uses up to 4 barrels of fresh water to produce only one barrel of crude oil.

  • Women Without Men

    Read our exclusive interview with director Shirin Neshat on the BEV blog. 

    In her feature-film debut, renowned visual artist Shirin Neshat offers an exquisitely crafted view of Iran in 1953, when a British- and American-backed coup removed the democratically elected government. Adapted from the novel by Iranian author Shahrnush Parsipur, the film weaves together the stories of five individual women during those traumatic days, whose experiences are shaped by their faith and the social structures in place.

  • Kicks

    A markedly assured feature debut from Lindy Heymann. An intelligent and witty comment on modern celebrity culture and the darker side of obsession.  The story captures the intense chemistry between two friends as well as the vulnerability and yearning of adolescent emotions.

  • The Girl On The Train

    Check out our exclusive interview with screenwriter Odile Barski on the Birds Eye View Blog.

    French auteur Téchiné returns to the screen with a powerful interpretation of a true story that shocked the French consciousness.

  • The Happiest Girl In The World

    The latest high profile feature from the Romanian new wave, The Happiest Girl in the  World is an acerbic comedy that tells the story of Delia (Andreea Bosneag), a girl who wins a car in a competition and the subsequent arguments with her parents about what to do with it. Combining rich irony with familial acrimony, the film's simple story magnifies the social tensions of a country embracing capitalism and all its shiny promises.The first feature from Radu Jude, The Happiest Girl in the World has attracted awards and acclaim from the festival circuit with its sharp dialogue and superb performances.

  • Street Dance 3D

    Things couldn't be going better for street dancer Carly (Nichola Burley-see her next month in Kicks). She's in love with charismatic boyfriend Jay (Ukweli Roach) and their dance crew has just made it through to the finals of the UK Street Dance Championships. But everything changes when Jay walks out on Carly and the crew, breaking her heart and leaving the street dancers' dreams in jeopardy.

    Read our exclusive interview with Dania Pasquini on the BEV blog.

  • Gentlemen Broncos

    From the director of Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite comes another unique view of the world.

  • The Back-Up Plan

    A comedy that explores dating, love, marriage and family - but not in that order!

  • The Milk of Sorrow

    The Milk of Sorrow is the story of a search for re-awakening and a journey from fear to freedom.

    Read our exclusive interview with director Claudia Llosa on the BEV blog.

  • The Last Song

    A tale of family, friendship, secrets and salvation.

  • Erasing David

    He has nothing to hide but does he have nothing to fear? A documentary about privacy, surveillance and the database state.

    Read our exclusive interview with director Melinda McDougall on the BEV blog.

  • Cherrybomb

    For best friends Luke and Malachy the summer is here and they are ready to enjoy a relaxing vacation...

  • It's A Wonderful Afterlife

    Finding the perfect son in law can be murder.

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Shaun of the Dead meet in this charming and fun comedy romp about an Indian mother taking her obsession with marriage into frightening territory. This wonderfully amusing and fresh story of funny ghosts searching for the perfect man takes comedy to a new spirit-level (geddit?).

  • Whip It

    Drew Baryrmore's directorial debut is a riotus coming of age tale that will leave you rollerskating out of the cinema!

  • Kakera: A Piece of our Life

    Haru is a college student who is frustrated by the lack of any real spark between herself and her idle, indifferent boyfriend, who only seems to be interested in her for sex. One day, while brooding over a cappuccino in a cafe, she catches the eye of Riko. Riko joins her, and the two strike up a conversation. They start to discuss life and Riko mentions that she has a job as a medical artist, creating body parts that attempt to emulate the function of those lost through accident and disease. Riko's role is to cure the psychological traumas arising from the patient's physical deficiencies by balancing body and soul.

  • Kick Ass

    "How come nobody‘s ever tried to be a superhero".  When Dave Lizewski, an ordinary New York teenager, dons a green and yellow internet-bought wetsuit to become the no- nonsense vigilante Kick-Ass, he soon finds an answer to his own question: because it hurts. But, overcoming all the odds, the overly eager Dave quickly becomes a phenomenon, capturing the imagination of the public.

  • Lourdes

    Winner of the Best Feature award at this year's Festival

  • Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang

    Oscar®-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson returns to the role of the magical nanny who appears when she's needed the most and wanted the least in the next chapter of the hilarious and heartwarming fable that has enchanted children around the world.