Amateurs (Teens Only Section)

The small, sleepy Swedish town of Lafors is a textiles and leather manufacturing town where nothing much happens except for the occasional cowboy festival (which is where the story begins… for a moment the viewer feels they are deep in the heart of Texas).

The local council is excited to learn that a German low-cost supermarket chain is planning to open a store there; and decides to produce a video to promote the town. Councillor Musse (Fredrick Dahl) entrusts a class of young teens with the task; but when the entries include a ‘gangster’ movie and a one-girl expression of teen angst, that idea is mooted; and a professional filmmaker is brought in.

Long-time schoolfriends Aida (Zahraa Aldoujaili) and Dana (Yara Aliadotter), who’d thrown themselves heart and soul into the project, are gutted, but continue to make their film anyway.

While, ostensibly, a fun-filled tale of two young would-be filmmakers, Amateurs is also a subtle but extremely affecting look at the minutiae of small-town living – from people struggling to keep their jobs as old industries are wiped out to pensioners waxing lyrical about the good old days; while also laying bare the nitty-gritties of the immigrant experience. It is a charming and poignant film, made even more so by its two young protagonists whose smartphones perfectly capture the uncensored truth of the issues facing their town. 

Anchor and Hope (Official Competition – Feature Films)

Kat (Natalie Tena) and Eva (Oona Chaplin) live a quiet, uncomplicated and carefree life on a narrowboat on London’s canals… until Eva one day announces that she’d like to have a baby.

This throws Kat somewhat, and she is further thrown when her good friend Roger (David Verdaguer) becomes a potential sperm donor, leading to complications within the ladies’ relationship.

The premise of lesbians starting a family with the added complications brought on by the presence of the donor is hardly original. Yet, Spanish writer/director Carlos Marques-Marcet (he wrote the script with Jules Nurrish) teases tenderness and humour from this amiable romcom. He gets winning performances from his cast, as they negotiate the tribulations of the unorthodox parent triangle.

Eva is an excited mother-to-be and the seemingly unreliable Roger becoming surprisingly engaged with the idea, while Kat cannot hide her reluctance at the forthcoming motherhood she feels has been imposed on her.

The actors gel superbly well together and their playful and intimate banter during the good times contrasts realistically with the awkward silences and flashes of anger when things go wrong.  Tena and Chaplin make for a believable couple, while Verdaguer segues from aimless drifter to potential responsible dad with genuine feeling. Geraldine Chaplin, appearing here for the first time with her real-life daughter Oona, has a blast as Eva’s ‘magnificently wacky’ mother.

Angels Wear White

Angels Wear White (Without Borders sidebar)

It is evident from the events that unfold in the haunting Angels Wear White that the #metoo and #timesup movements have yet to reach China.

This Chinese/French coproduction, written and directed by Vivian Qu, takes an unflinching look at the subjugation of women – well, children really – in a sleepy seaside town, as Mia (Wen Qi), a young maid, witnesses two young schoolgirls being assaulted by a middle-aged man in the motel where she works.

Keen to stay out of trouble, she says nothing; while justice for the young victims Xiaowen (Zhou Meijun) and Xinxin (Zhang Xinyue) seems impossible. Their parents are powerless; the police unsympathetic; the perpetrator untouchable. Their only assistance comes from Hao (Shi Ke), an attorney who doggedly fights their corner, even though she knows it is all for naught.

Qu keeps her distance, almost to a fault, letting the blatant abuse, corruption and hopelessness that permeate proceedings speak for themselves. There is little show of emotion, which makes for difficult viewing. Yet, the characters’ plight draws you in (Zhou’s Xiaowen in particular, whose stoicism throughout is heart-breaking). The sunny beach setting fails to hide the ugliness beneath. And, what about the gigantic statue of an immediately recognisable iconic figure that looms over the sand? She wears white, but it is not the colour of innocence. Just another accessory to emphasise the degradation of women. 

Shoplifters (Without Borders sidebar)

In what the organisers describe as a coup, the Valletta Film Festival will be screening Japanese film Shoplifters within the Without Borders sidebar, weeks after it won the coveted Palme D’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.  

Directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda, this family drama charts the course of shoplifter Osamu (Lily Franky).

After one of his shoplifting sessions, he and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them…

Shoplifters will be screened on June 17 at the close of the Festival.