
OK. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Anora does a great job of insisting you’re not watching what you think you’re watching. Aside from the impeccably kind and respectful handling of sex workers, you are going to be told, nay, rallied into ignoring your first instincts.
by Umnia El-Neil
I’m not going to say this film won’t surprise you. It truly will, in ways you cannot comprehend yet. The intrigue and passion and speed and patience and beauty alone will astound you. What I will say is whatever prediction you make at the start, will probably be
by Umnia El-Neil
The first beat of Blitz immediately signals to you that you are in danger. Far away from heroic depictions of a London on the defensive, we are instead confronted with immediate and benign terror. Sure, it’s an air raid - but we’re following firefighters. And the enemy they
by Umnia El-Neil
TW: Sexual Assault, R*pe, the UK Justice System On the surface, this play is quite one dimensional - incredibly predictable, even. You know, even just from the warnings, what is about to happen. The play doesn’t need to surprise you to make you think, though. The story becomes
by Umnia El-Neil
There aren’t really ever going to be enough stories about addiction - but there certainly aren’t enough that are unglossed, unfiltered, and grounded the way that ‘The Outrun’ is. Aside from beautiful cinematography, and a star turn from Saoirse Ronan, the story is a patient one, and it
by Umnia El-Neil
Jesse asks, what does it mean to “feel your feelings”? From every angle - from the ancestral wound all the way down to the familial bond - from personal despair to community responsibility, what do we owe one another? And what do we suppress to ensure we keep the social
by Umnia El-Neil
I don’t need to hear rapturous applause or raving reviews in the lobby to know a film’s importance. Dahomey serves a very specific, very important, very beautiful purpose - to document the moment the Beninoise got 26 of their Treasures back from the French, and the conversation they
by Umnia El-Neil
OK. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Anora does a great job of insisting you’re not watching what you think you’re watching. Aside from the impeccably kind and respectful handling of sex workers, you are going to be told, nay, rallied into ignoring your first instincts.
by Umnia El-Neil
An immediate cult hit that's about to take over and revive local storytelling as global conversation -- gorey, funky and satisfying from start to finish.

Watch the Paid Aficionados Extended Version Here Written and Recorded by Umnia El-Neil, Edited by Valeria Schumann.

In a tenuous era of cultural history, some divas just can't be silenced.

You're always a little bit scared, but you're never deterred.

One of my most anticipated of the festival did not disappoint - a thoroughly satisfying, moving exploration of how hidden joy can be as corrosive as hidden pain.

Perhaps my biggest concern with sci-fi as a genre is the accidental tendency to focus so much on a concept that the characters’ personality gets lost in the process... However, the entire cast – including major and minor characters – shine brightly.

A lot of people are citing the return to recession pop as the scary factor, but I say, dear reader, that the return to slightly off-key synths and cassette sounds should be far scarier.

Come get your bets in early for bragging rights in December!

OK. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Anora does a great job of insisting you’re not watching what you think you’re watching. Aside from the impeccably kind and respectful handling of sex workers, you are going to be told, nay, rallied into ignoring your first instincts.
by Umnia El-Neil
I’m not going to say this film won’t surprise you. It truly will, in ways you cannot comprehend yet. The intrigue and passion and speed and patience and beauty alone will astound you. What I will say is whatever prediction you make at the start, will probably be
by Umnia El-Neil
The first beat of Blitz immediately signals to you that you are in danger. Far away from heroic depictions of a London on the defensive, we are instead confronted with immediate and benign terror. Sure, it’s an air raid - but we’re following firefighters. And the enemy they
by Umnia El-Neil
TW: Sexual Assault, R*pe, the UK Justice System On the surface, this play is quite one dimensional - incredibly predictable, even. You know, even just from the warnings, what is about to happen. The play doesn’t need to surprise you to make you think, though. The story becomes
by Umnia El-Neil
There aren’t really ever going to be enough stories about addiction - but there certainly aren’t enough that are unglossed, unfiltered, and grounded the way that ‘The Outrun’ is. Aside from beautiful cinematography, and a star turn from Saoirse Ronan, the story is a patient one, and it
by Umnia El-Neil
Jesse asks, what does it mean to “feel your feelings”? From every angle - from the ancestral wound all the way down to the familial bond - from personal despair to community responsibility, what do we owe one another? And what do we suppress to ensure we keep the social
by Umnia El-Neil
I don’t need to hear rapturous applause or raving reviews in the lobby to know a film’s importance. Dahomey serves a very specific, very important, very beautiful purpose - to document the moment the Beninoise got 26 of their Treasures back from the French, and the conversation they
by Umnia El-Neil



