MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
Latest editorial
Film round-up: February 25, 2022
The Star's critics Van Connor and Maria Duarte review of La Mif, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Cyrano, Studio 666, F@ck This Job, and Rurangi
Fred Baillif's La Mif
MATTHEW HAWKINS rakes through un-fancy words and flair-free summaries to find who and what might be flamboyant
PETER MASON is exhilarated by an exciting, well-considered and historically minded tribute to the great Trinidadian instrument
Reducing historical lives to ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles, we lose the nuance of those lives and a clearer understanding of past societies, suggests CLAIRE ISABELLA GILMOUR
CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
La Mif (15)
Directed by Fred Baillif
★★★★
SOCIAL worker turned filmmaker Fred Baillif examines the shortcomings of an outdated social care system in this absolutely compelling film set in a Swiss residential care home for at-risk teenagers, which blurs the lines between drama and documentary.
La Mif (French slang for family) opens with a violent fight scene involving a group of teenage girls, later revisited from each of the participants’ points of view in a non-linear structure, as you glimpse life in this community of youngsters and social workers.
Developed over the course of two years through extensive improv workshops, the ensemble cast of impressive non-professional actors is made up of real-life residents and social workers of a children’s home.
Similar stories
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
MARIA DUARTE, JAMES WALSH and ANDY HEDGECOCK review The Invite, My Father’s Island, Nirvanna: the Band, the Show, the Movie, and Oh My Goodness!
LEO BOIX, ANGUS REID and MARIA DUARTE review Night Stage, Two Women, Kim Novak’s Vertigo, and Fuze
LEO BOIX, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MARIA DUARTE review Dreamers, It Was Just An Accident, Folktales, and Eternity