Distance and intimacy: a welcome festival of new music

Posted on by Geoff Andrew

Names like Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007) and Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) often sound alarms in the minds of music-lovers attuned to Mozart or Mendelssohn, Bach, Beethoven or Brahms, or, perhaps still more off-puttingly, in those who favour pop, rock, jazz, soul, hip-hop or all manner of ‘popular’ music. It’s perhaps hardly surprising if most … Continue reading Distance and intimacy: a welcome festival of new music

My best of the 2019 Berlin Film Festival

Posted on by Geoff Andrew

In writing about my favourite films at last year’s Berlin Film Festival – which I confessed from the start was not in my opinion a vintage edition – I felt able to select 10 films to recommend you look out for. In retrospect, now that the 2019 edition has come to an end, selecting that … Continue reading My best of the 2019 Berlin Film Festival

A plug for ‘Mug’ (Don’t let that title put you off a terrific new movie!)

Posted on by Geoff Andrew

There’s a new movie out in the UK this week – Mug – though, as is now so often the way with foreign-language titles, it is receiving a disappointingly limited release. I imagine it will probably end up appearing on other platforms, however, so I’d like to draw attention to the film now. It’s well … Continue reading A plug for ‘Mug’ (Don’t let that title put you off a terrific new movie!)

The 2018 Berlin Film Festival – my top ten movies

Posted on by Geoff Andrew

The 2018 edition of the Berlin Film Festival was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a superior vintage; like myself, most critics I spoke with agreed that there were few if any truly outstanding films, though a couple whose opinions I respect did tell me they had discovered a masterpiece in  the Forum strand … Continue reading The 2018 Berlin Film Festival – my top ten movies