THE GRAVITY
Other movies
SABA
Director: Maksud Hossain
Saba, 25, lives in Dhaka with her demanding mother Shirin, a paraplegic whose frustrations and rage often find a target in the daughter who cares for her. When Shirin’s worsening condition requires surgery it falls to Saba to find the money to pay for it. Securing a job at a seedy Shisha bar, Saba befriends the manager Ankur and, for the first time, pictures what a life of her own could look like. Maksud Hossain’s debut feature is a close-up look at a complicated bond between mother and daughter that lurches between love and guilt, co-dependence and the longing for autonomy - but it is also a social drama, detailing the hardships that underlay the riots in Bangladesh earlier this year.
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?
SOMEBODY
Director: Yeo-Jung Kim
This exceptional psychological thriller from South Korea poses dark questions about the complex relationship between mothers and daughters. Swimming instructor Young-eun (Kwak Sun-young) is disturbed and embarrassed by the increasingly violent behaviour of her seven-year-old daughter So-hyun. When Young-eun realises that she cannot change her daughter's disposition she decides to take matters into her own hands with bloody results. Co-directors Kim Yeo-Jung and Lee Jung-chan show a mastery of suspense in these eerie scenes before they produce their biggest shock when the action jumps forward two decades and new characters emerge. Min (K-Pop superstar Kwon Yu-ri) and Hae-yeong (Lee Sul) are flatmates with their own devastating psychological family traumas, and dark secrets being to emerge keeping the audience guessing to the end.
SIMA’S SONG
Director: Roya Sadat
Afghanistan in 1972 is a cauldron of opposing political forces. Suraya, part of an influential political family, becomes head of the dominant Communist Party’s women’s organisation, believing it is the best hope for equal rights. Her friend Sima is sceptical of all politics and, as a talented musician, is dedicated to her traditional art and its romantic themes. Despite their differences, these two young women remain best friends through university, even when Sima marries and starts attending Muslim Youth meetings. When the army starts arresting Muslim activists, Suraya helps her friends escape to the mountains and the protection of the mujahadeen, but war follows them. The film is a marvellous testament to the courage and loyalty of Afghani women in the face of constant adversity.