Mohamed Khan – A visionary Egyptian film maker Mohamed Khan, (born on 26-10-1942), an Egyptian film director, script writer, and actor died on 26-7-2016 in Cairo following a short illness. He was one of the eminent film makers who led the 80’s wave of social realism in Arab cinema. Born to a Pakistani […]
Category: Film and Media
Film Review: Notes on Blindness
Image courtesy of Curzon Artificial Eye Seeing blindness in the eye: Film review of Notes on Blindness, UK, 2016, directed by Peter Middleton and James Pinney Currently in UK cinemas Review by: Dr Khalid Ali, Screening room editor Literary work exploring visual impairment and blindness has always been rewarded by great critical reception–All the […]
Film Review: The Fugitive Doctor in ‘River’
‘River’, Canada, Laos, 2015, directed by Jamie M. Dagg Released on DVD and digital download on 18th July 2016 Reviewed by Dr Khalid Ali Doctors and crimes of professional misconduct have been the focus of films such as ‘Coma, USA, 1978’, and ‘Shutter Island, USA, 2010’, while doctors volunteering in NGOs in troubled zones […]
Film Review: stories from Arab women during the Spring Revolutions
‘Our oath’ short film, 2015, directed by Laura Finney I was intrigued and moved by ‘The trials of Spring’, a documentary film depicting the fight of Arab women during the Spring Revolutions in 2010 (http://www.trialsofspring.com/). The film portrays heart-felt human stories of women from Syria, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, Tunisia, and Egypt. Filming took place […]
The Screening Room: old age, loneliness and cinema
Loneliness, and Belonging in the Age of Photoshop Short film, directed by Amjad Abu Ala Review by Professor Robert C Abrams, Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York There is a world of life portrayed in the few brief minutes of the poignant but joyous short film, ‘Studio’, by Amjad Abu Ala (in Arabic […]
The Screening Room: a review of the Lebanese film Ghadi
Music overcoming disability – Ghadi, Lebanon, 2013, directed by Amin Dora Reviewed by Dr Reem Gaafar, a Sudanese doctor, writer, filmmaker and graphic designer A special screening will take place at the Polish Cultural Centre, 238 King Street, Hammersmith, London W6 0RF, Sapphire Room, 2nd Floor, at 8pm Friday 3rd June 2016. To book […]
The Screening Room: Cannes Film Festival Preview
Cannes, films and Medicine The forthcoming Cannes Film Festival (11-22nd May 2016) is described by its director Thierry Fremaux as ‘A celebration of cinematographic art’ http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html. If you are lucky enough to be attending the glittering, entertaining and thought-provoking extravaganza, here are five films in the official selection exploring the lives of patients and […]
The Screening Room: The Aftermath of Stroke
Building bridges: two films about self-discovery after stroke Dr Khalid Ali Two recent films portray the aftermaths of stroke from different viewpoints: that of a stroke survivor in My Beautiful Broken Brain (UK 2016, directed Lotje Sodderland and Sophie Anderson, currently showing on Netflix) and that of the daughter of a stroke survivor in You See Me […]
Khalid Ali: ‘Let’s talk about death: a review of ‘Last cab to Darwin’, Australia 2015’
Let’s talk about death: a review of ‘Last cab to Darwin’, Australia 2015 5*, Directed by Jeremy Sims based on stage play by Reg Cribb Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) December 2015, possible release in UK cinemas 2016/17 The controversial subject of ‘euthanasia and assisted suicide’ has been a rich source for films; ‘Whose life […]
Franco Ferrarini: The Past: a Friend or Foe? Different Perspectives from ‘Spectre’ and ‘45 years’.
The Past: a Friend or Foe? Different Perspectives from ‘Spectre’ and ‘45 years’. Spectre- directed by Sam Mendes, UK, 2015 45 years- directed by Andrew Haigh, UK, 2015 By Franco Ferrarini, Gastroenterologist and film reviewer In the words of the French philosopher Henri Bergson: ‘The pure present is an ungraspable advance of the past devouring […]