
In-Conversation with Eiza González
SHOWTIME
Other movies

AGORA
Director: Ala Eddine Slim
A blue dog and a black crow narrate the strange story of three revenants – people who are not quite dead, but not alive either – who resurge in a remote town, reviving the unsolved mysteries around their respective disappearances. Fathi, the local police inspector, is on the case, assisted by his friend Amine, the local doctor. What begins as a conventionally recognisable crime thriller, however, becomes more of a mood piece once Omar, a police investigator from the city, arrives to shine a light on what has happened and is overwhelmed by the irrationality of the chain of events. At once absurd and disturbing, Agora gradually reveals itself as both poetic fable and a political commentary on the state of Tunisia.

PANDA BEAR IN AFRICA
Director: Richard Claus
When Panda Ping’s best friend, Jielong the Dragon, is kidnapped by a baboon and smuggled to Africa, Ping sets off from their forest home in South China to rescue him - stowing away on a junk ship, he lands in East Africa and gets captured. Alongside the monkey Jojo, Ping escapes, and they cross deserts and mountains facing down the hippopotamus, an army of meerkats and a suspicious hyena before discovering Jielong at the court of King Ade, a spoilt teenage lion. But Ade is not safe either: his uncle, evil Malume, is plotting to dethrone him and destroy the neighbouring jungle home of Niala, Ping’s new hyena friend. Ping is just one small panda. Can he save everyone?

FRONT ROW
Director: Merzak Allouache
Zhola Bouderbala and her five children wake up at dawn on a hot day and prepare to spend their first summer’s day at the beach. It is imperative to get there early, in order to get a spot in “the front row”, with an uninterrupted view of the beautiful sea. As the first to arrive, the family settles at the water’s edge; an idyllic day beckons. Then, when another family arrives, there is an unexpected disaster. Merzak Allouache, whose earlier film Omar Gatlato marked a turning point in Algerian cinema, gives us characters with wit, zest for life and an and endearing innocence. His ongoing exploration of contemporary Algeria, in all its charm and complexity, confirms his status as a cinematic pioneer.