Abi Aherne

Premiering at the London Film Festival this year, Martyn Robertson’s Ride the Wave follows the life of a 14-year-old surfer, Ben Larg. Hailing from the Island of Tiree in Scotland, at such a young age Ben has already grown a strong love for water sports and a passion to make it in life as a professional competitive surfer. Following Ben’s story throughout the ages of 12 to 14, we get a glimpse at what it’s like to be one of the youngest competing surfers in one of the world’s most dangerous s...

“The old man I slept with for 15,000 francs…it gives me goosebumps” 30-year-old Delphine confesses in one scene. She is telling the story of how she sold her body as a teenager to pay for hospital treatment for her niece who was sick with malaria. Despite Delphine’s efforts, her young niece passed away before Delphine could take her to the hospital – leading Delphine’s entire family to blame her for the death. This is a short snippet of one of many interviews by Delphine compiled together in ...

We watch a young boy wander along a windy shoreline in the middle of the night. With him, he’s got his dog, a backpack, and a torch which he shines out onto the sea. He’s looking for the mythical creature that supposedly lurks in these waters. This is the last time we (or anyone else) see Dennis (Jeremías Kuharo). Many months later his father Bruno (Marcelo Subiotto) is in Dennis’s bedroom, pulling Dennis’s washed-up backpack out of a police evidence bag. Alongside binoculars, books, and dino...

Wandering around a car park, Jeffrey McCall approaches strangers offering to pray with them. With him, he’s holding a placard reading ‘trans 2 Christ’ which shows before-and-after photos of when Jeffrey used to live his life as a trans woman and now where, after discovering Christianity, he lives his life as a straight cisgender man. ‘This is me’ he says to shoppers passing by, pointing to the photos of himself; he talks of previously being ‘really deep in sin’ and how Christianity led him on...

On the set of her 2017 film Our Time Will Come, Ann Hui is slapping wet mud all across the backs of actors. Her other hand is clutching a walking cane. She stands in the pouring rain, puffing cigarettes, and yelling orders. Reaching 70years of age – and spending the past 40 plus years working in film – you’d think Hui’s love of film might have dwindled, but it’s brighter than ever. Upon seeing the final shot, Hui’s face beams – lighting up with joy as if it were her very first film. This is o...

Wai Bhone (Okkar Dat Khe) sits across from his producer in his office. His producer pours over Wai Bhone’s latest film script. He crosses out lines and spits out suggestions – cut out smoking scenes – they set a bad example, make the criminals more polite – we must show how polite Burmese people are, and put a disclaimer amongst the credits that criminals shouldn’t be allowed to escape conviction. All this he cites in reference to Myanmar’s strict censorship laws. Working under censorship reg...

Before he had started to notice his hearing deteriorate Ruben (Riz Ahmed) had been clean off heroin for four years, since around the same time he started to date his girlfriend and bandmate Lou (Olivia Cooke). Ruben is the drummer of the duo’s heavy metal band, Blackgammon. The pair drive around the country together in their RV, playing gig after gig every night in a different city. Usually, Ruben starts his mornings off with turmeric smoothies, squats, and slow dances with Lou around their t...

Cassie (Carey Mulligan) lays sprawled across her seat at a local dive bar – lulling her head and slurring her words. She’s blistering drunk, all alone, and attracting the stares of a group of guys. ‘That is just asking for it’ one of them huffs, another one decides to go over to Cassie and offer her a ride home; believing he’s struck gold. Or at least, that’s what he thinks. Once back at the guy’s place – and after some appalling attempts by the guy to sexually assault Cassie – Cassie flips a...

In Brazil, 82% of trans kids will drop out of school at some point during their education. Among these children is Valentina (Thiessa Woinbackk) a 17-year-old girl who’s just moved across the country with her mother Márcia (Guta Stresser) to start afresh in a new town and retake her sophomore year. However, problems arise when Valentina requires the signatures of both her mother and father – who she has been unable to contact for months – to register her social name at her new school. Terrifi...

Autumn-time 1958, two individuals have broken into the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City and made off with thousands of dollars’ worth of luxurious Italian wigs. The accused are the two drag queens Claudia – Claude Diaz – and Josephine Baker – Robert Perez - who stole the wigs for their own drag acts as well as to flog backstage. In a letter to a so-called ‘Reno’, Josephine confesses all; signing off with a cautious ‘P.S. burn this letter please’. This is one of many letters addressed to ‘Reno’ written by 1950’s drag queens found in an LA storage unit in 2014.

The year is 2092. All of the forests on Earth have vanished and the planet is overrun with sprawling deserts and an acidic soil which causes plants to perish. An organisation titled UTS Corporation have stepped in to offer individuals refuge aboard their luxurious spaceship – that is, if you can afford it. UTS is spearheaded by an Elon Musk-esque supervillain James Sullivan (Richard Armitage) – a 152-year-old man who looks like he’s still in his 40s thanks to his own questionable scientific r...

Winner of one of the two Special Jury Awards at this year’s IFFR, I Comete – A Corsican Summer is an ambitious and intricate observation of life on the sun-soaked French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. The feature debut of director and writer Pascal Tagnati, I Comete is a lulling but earnest exploration of the small town of Tolla situated in the very heart of the island. Examining romance, friendships, family conflicts, and everyday snippets of life – Tagnati samples cinéma vérité aes...

The French noun for archipelago – an extensive collection of islands, Archipel is a murmuring and drifting exploration of the Saint Lawrence River that runs from The Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Archipel blends the real with the dreamed as it weaves history together with imagination in the form of animation to explore Quebec and all of its past. Pondering the great question of ‘what is a territory?’ Archipel thoughtfully contemplates language, history, politics, and culture to consider what defines a region.

Therapists are often seen as omniscient emblems of level-headedness, reassurance, and wisdom. Enigmatic individuals who soak up your life story and provide answers to all your burning existential problems; all while you barely know anything about their own lives. It’s almost easy to believe that they have no problems at all – but this is a myth sharply debunked by Zach Woods (The Office, Silicon Valley) in his short film David. Woods’ directorial debut follows therapist Paul (Will Ferrell) as...

The directorial debut of British-Palestinian writer and director Farah Nabulsi, The Present follows the story of Palestinian father Yusef (Saleh Bakri) and his young daughter Yasmine (Mariam Kanj) as they set off across the West Bank to pick up groceries and find an anniversary present for Yusef’s wife. Facing relentless roadblocks, checkpoints, and apathetic IDF soldiers – what should be a harmless day out turns out to be an exhausting and discouraging trudge to get home. Reflecting the ever...