1) Fire of Love (2022); dir. Sara Dosa
Where to Watch: Disney+
The National Geographic Documentary about a married couple of volcanologists, Katia and Maurice Krafft, will blow you away. Although the Krafft’s have fascinated film-makers before, and even featured in a 2016 documentary by Werner Herzog, this is the first time their story truly takes centre stage. Using a masterful blend of archive film and a narration by the brilliant Miranda July, the film will hold your attention hostage for the entire run time. It also features some of the most stunning shots of lava and pyroclastic flow ever put to film. Overall, the documentary is a sensitive and thoughtful celebration of the couple’s incredible lives and careers, and acts as a reminder of just how vast and dangerous our environment can be.
2) After Yang (2021); dir. Kogonada
Where to Watch: Sky Cinema
Kogonada’s debut film Columbus (2017) scored rave reviews from critics, and despite being well received at its Cannes premiere, After Yang isn’t talked about as much as it deserves to be. For fans of Sci-Fi, it’s a brilliant study of a potential future, but it’s also a melancholic study of Artificial Intelligence, the ethics and grief of it. Like always, Kogonada tells his narrative with steady control, everything is measured and balanced, even in the wake of turmoil. The score by Aska Matsumiya is gorgeous, with an additional piece of music by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. It features a great performance by Colin Farrell and a killer opening dance sequence. What more could you want?
3) A Bunch of Amateurs (2022); dir. Kim Hopkins
Where to Watch: BBC iPlayer
The only way to describe A Bunch of Amateurs is that it’s a delight from start to finish. Winner of the Audience Award at last year’s Sheffield Doc-Fest, I’ve been eagerly awaiting its digital release, and it’s finally available to watch on BBC iPlayer. The documentary follows one of the oldest surviving amateur film-making clubs in the world: Bradford Movie Makers. Limited funding has meant the club has struggled to stay afloat over the years, so they embark on an ambitious remake of a classic musical in the hopes of raising their local profile. The film is a joy, but it’s also incredibly moving. It shows us the vital role cinema and film-making plays in the building of community and why it’s so important we must do everything we can to protect it.
4) The Quiet Girl (2022); dir. Colm Bairéad
Where to Watch: BFI Player
As a plot, The Quiet Girl feels very familiar to audiences. But it takes a lot for a film to take a story we know well and make it feel brand new. What I didn’t know going into this film is that it is based on the Irish novel Foster by Claire Keegan, and although I cannot judge how good of an adaptation it is, as a film it’s filled with so much love and care. It follows the shy Cáit as she’s sent to stay with distant relatives over the summer while her mother gives birth. She has no idea of when she is meant to return home, but during her visit she discovers a new and kinder home life outside of her normal family dysfunction. It’s an Irish Language film and has recently been long-listed for Best International Film at the Oscars. It is probably one of the best independent Irish films in years.
5) Cette Maison (2022); dir. Miryam Charles
Where to Watch: Curzon Home Cinema
If there’s one film you can watch from last year that will have a lasting impact, it has to be Miryam Charles’ stunning elegy, Cette Maison. This debut feature is based around the tragic death of Charles’ teenage cousin Tessa who died in 2008. Although officially described as a drama film, it is more of a magical-realist documentary blended with scripted sections that examines the very nature of reality after the unimaginable happens. It follows the family’s grieving process alongside an imagined older Tessa in a limbo between life and death. This narrative decision gives both Charles’ own family space to grieve as much as Tessa herself. Filmed on 16mm film, it is a masterclass in film-making and displays how powerful film can be in articulating heartbreak when words simply aren’t enough.