Ben Nicholson

All articles by Ben Nicholson

Festivals

Samsara: a transformative sensorial journey

Spanish director Lois Patiño probes spiritual and cinematic boundaries with a symphonic, shapeshifting voyage through a Buddhist temple in Laos and a seaweed farm in Zanzibar.

By Ben Nicholson

Samsara: a transformative sensorial journey
Reviews

Feathers: an overbearing husband morphs into a chicken in this Kafkaesque exploration of Egypt’s power structures

By Ben Nicholson

Feathers: an overbearing husband morphs into a chicken in this Kafkaesque exploration of Egypt’s power structures
Reviews

Portrait of Kaye: charming documentary explores the life of an agoraphobic Londoner

By Ben Nicholson

Portrait of Kaye: charming documentary explores the life of an agoraphobic Londoner
Features

An erotic ellipsis: the ending of Variety (1983)

By Ben Nicholson

An erotic ellipsis: the ending of Variety (1983)
Reviews

Electric Malady: a poignant documentary about electrosensitivity

By Ben Nicholson

Electric Malady: a poignant documentary about electrosensitivity
Festivals

Geology of Separation: this poignant study of migration uses the specific to illustrate global truths

By Ben Nicholson

Geology of Separation: this poignant study of migration uses the specific to illustrate global truths
Reviews

Husband: a pointed, self-reflexive critique of a modern marriage

By Ben Nicholson

Husband: a pointed, self-reflexive critique of a modern marriage
Festivals

Não Sou Nada – The Nothingness Club: a lurid vision of Fernando Pessoa’s inner lives

By Ben Nicholson

Não Sou Nada – The Nothingness Club: a lurid vision of Fernando Pessoa’s inner lives
Reviews

How To with John Wilson: a profoundly funny documentary

By Ben Nicholson

How To with John Wilson: a profoundly funny documentary
Reviews

FIFA Uncovered: a brief history of crime

By Ben Nicholson

FIFA Uncovered: a brief history of crime
Reviews

Midwives: an antenatal clinic is a refuge for the persecuted in this subtle, sensitive documentary

By Ben Nicholson

Midwives: an antenatal clinic is a refuge for the persecuted in this subtle, sensitive documentary
What to watch at LFF

On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World): a compelling, utterly immersive VR experience

By Ben Nicholson

On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World): a compelling, utterly immersive VR experience
What to watch at LFF

As Mine Exactly: a VR experience as poignant as it is ingenious

By Ben Nicholson

As Mine Exactly: a VR experience as poignant as it is ingenious
Reviews

The Rehearsal: Nathan Fielder gets nightmarishly self-reflexive

By Ben Nicholson

The Rehearsal: Nathan Fielder gets nightmarishly self-reflexive
Reviews

The Gold Machine: a reckoning with ghosts

By Ben Nicholson

The Gold Machine: a reckoning with ghosts
Reviews

The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson is a harrowing Australian western told through a feminist, indigenous lens

By Ben Nicholson

The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson is a harrowing Australian western told through a feminist, indigenous lens
Festivals

Please Baby Please serves up a gender-bending musical adventure

By Ben Nicholson

Please Baby Please serves up a gender-bending musical adventure
Reviews

Malintzin 17 captures the rhythms of Mexico City from the director’s balcony

By Ben Nicholson

Malintzin 17 captures the rhythms of Mexico City from the director’s balcony
Reviews

Licorice Pizza: a meandering trip beneath the California sun

By Ben Nicholson

Licorice Pizza: a meandering trip beneath the California sun
Best of 2021

2021: the year in documentary

By Ben Nicholson

2021: the year in documentary
Reviews

C’mon C’mon is a quiet tribute to parenthood

By Ben Nicholson

C’mon C’mon is a quiet tribute to parenthood
Features

The best of Experimenta at BFI London Film Festival 2021

By Ben Nicholson

The best of Experimenta at BFI London Film Festival 2021
Reviews

Il Buco takes viewers on a meditative dive through the caves of Calabria

By Ben Nicholson

Il Buco takes viewers on a meditative dive through the caves of Calabria
10 great

10 great films from 1976

By Sam Wigley, Brogan Morris and others

10 great films from 1976
Reviews

El Father Plays Himself examines the dynamic between actor-father and director-son

By Ben Nicholson

El Father Plays Himself examines the dynamic between actor-father and director-son
10 great

10 great films about drinking

By Ben Nicholson

10 great films about drinking
Reviews

The Filmmaker’s House finds Marc Isaacs working from home

By Ben Nicholson

The Filmmaker’s House finds Marc Isaacs working from home
Reviews

Gunda gets down and dirty with a sow

By Ben Nicholson

Gunda gets down and dirty with a sow
Interviews

Matthew Barney on his new film Redoubt, and why exhibition is the best way to see it

By Ben Nicholson

Matthew Barney on his new film Redoubt, and why exhibition is the best way to see it
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