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Photo by Raymond Yeung via Unsplash Teenagers of today exist within a technological autocracy - they are governed by their online existence and forget to literally touch grass. I think there has been a huge cultural shift in the Gen Z stratosphere which has made children (and yes, I do mean children) grow up too fast. Everyone from the ages of 10 to 18 wants to be an adult. This desire to exist outside their childhood has impacted vital childhood experiences. I worry about th

Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona via Unsplash London Palestinian Film Festival returns to London, exploring the history, depth, urgency and unknown parts of Palestinian life and cinema. Epicly Palestine’d  (2015) and EXIST  (2025) form a conversation across time. Two films filmed nearly a decade apart, documenting the same fragile miracle: the emergence of skateboarding in Palestine, not as just a hobby, but as a language of resistance, identity, and breath. These are not

Once Upon A Time in Gaza , (Tarzan and Arab Nasser, 2025); Image courtesy of London Palestine Film Festival When I heard that the London Palestine Film Festival was showing a film with a plot involving a falafel shop and a drug operation, I was all ears. Add to the fact that it happens to be a black comedy directed by acclaimed filmmakers Tarzan and Arab Nasser, and I knew it would be worth the ride.  Bizarrely, the movie begins with a recent quote from Donald Trump musing on

Photo  by Brett Jordan via Flickr  (licensed under CC BY 2.0 ) Amongst the noise of Dylan and Presley, Elton and Williams, Deliver Me From Nowhere  lands quietly, unfurling more than just a tale of hedonistic, rockstar excesses, but rather, something much deeper. Springsteen is immortalised in an intimate, slow-paced, introspective take on the ghosts we carry, how they haunt our daily lives, and the ways we choose to escape them. Jeremy Allen White brings life and depth to Sc

Photo by aj_aaaab on Unsplash A relative of mine recently said to me: “Films aren’t the same anymore, I don’t want to see anything at the cinema nowadays.” She worked in the film industry for 50 years. I had just finished asking her about her career and she reflected fondly, but to see her disappointment at what was once her scene saddened me. I thought back to the last time we had been to the cinema together. We saw The Naked Gun (2025), a legacy sequel to the original fra

The Voice of Hind Rajab (Kaouther Ben Hania, 2025); Image courtesy of London Palestine Film Festival When the world around you is burning and you feel all alone, what do you have left? What sustenance keeps you going? What cannot be taken from you?  Your voice.  Your voice is the most powerful tool you have when you are the voiceless figure, spoken for by those who do not know you. The Voice of Hind Rajab  (2025) acts as this protest, a protest against letting the voices of P

Will romance survive the age of instant gratification?

Oscar Isaac in Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro, 2025); Image courtesy of BFI London Film Festival 2025 Headlining the London Film Festival, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein  (2025) was one of the most highly anticipated premieres. Starring Oscar Isaac as the titular scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and Jacob Elordi as The Creature, the film’s supporting cast also features Christopher Waltz, Mia Goth, David Bradley, and Lars Mikkelson, who bring a mixture of warmth, melancho

Josh O’Connor in The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt, 2025); Image courtesy of BFI London Film Festival 2025 The recent Louvre robbery has caught the world’s attention. This short eight-minute heist reads like a movie – speedy and brazen. Does our fascination with this crime reveal how drawn we are to such plots? Clearly, the allure of such a heist captures our interest. And coincidentally, Kelly Reichart’s recent feature, The Mastermind , shown at the BFI London Film Festival an

The Vile (Majid Al Ansari, 2025); Image courtesy of BFI London Film Festival 2025 Emirati director Majid Al Ansari’s latest feature, The Vile (2025), is a masterclass in bringing the modern Gothic to your doorstep. When Amani, a loving wife and mother, finds herself playing second fiddle to the new (and younger) bride her husband ushers in without telling her, her life begins to unravel from the inside out, outside in. The hour and a half that follows narrates the lives of A