Movie: Nitram
Released: September 2021
Rating: 3/5 stars
We approached this film with a keen interest, fully aware of the controversy and sensitivities around its delicate subject matter. It portrays the life of the convicted perpetrator of the tragic mass shooting incident in 1996 at Port Arthur in Tasmania. As someone who wasn’t living in Australia at the time of this incident, it was interesting for me to delve into it from a historical perspective. And a timely emergence of this movie at first seemed like a good way to become acquainted with this history.

Director: Chloé Zhao
Released: 2020 (USA)
Rating: 4/5 stars
After her husband dies in the rural town of Empire in Nevada, Fern—played by the incomparable Francis McDormand—sets off on the road in her van which serves as her mobile home. The gypsum plant the couple worked in has shut down in the economic downturn and the town is now depopulated and has all but disappeared. As a modern day nomad, Fern seeks temporary employment, shelter and social support of other similar nomads. Most of them are real characters playing themselves.

Director & Writer: Ben Sharrock
Released: 2021 (UK)
Rating: 4/5 stars
This was an unexpectedly poignant and provocative film which had us captivated throughout. Set on a fictional remote Scottish island, this film written and directed by Ben Sharrock tells the story of a motley group of asylum seekers awaiting the dreaded official results of their application for asylum.