Ranking of films I saw at the 2021 Leeds International Film Festival
Here is a list of the films that I saw at the 2021 Leeds International Film Festival and how I ranked them.
List activity
338 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
45 titles
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsJoséphine SanzGabrielle SanzNina MeurisseNelly has just lost her grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods. One day she meets a girl her age building a tree-house.
- DirectorLucy HarveyDanielle KummerStarsJason HillLydia HaywardJacqui RoeA very amateur dramatics group of Dorset Bus Drivers spent a year creating a serious stage adaptation of the sci-fi, horror film, Alien. With wobbly sets, awkward acting and special effects requiring more luck than judgement.
- DirectorYasuhiro YoshiuraStarsTao TsuchiyaHaruka FukuharaAsuka KudôThe story of a new transfer student interested in her surroundings and a song that brings happiness to her and her classmates.
- DirectorMaria SødahlStarsAndrea Bræin HovigStellan SkarsgårdElli Rhiannon Müller OsborneThe relationship between artist-partners Tomas and Anja is put to the test after Anja gets a life-threatening diagnosis.
- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsFilippo ScottiToni ServilloTeresa SaponangeloIn 1980s Naples, young Fabietto pursues his love for football as family tragedy strikes, shaping his uncertain but promising future as a filmmaker.
- DirectorMaria SpethStarsDieter BachmannAynur BalÖnder CavdarHow does one feel at home? In Stadtallendorf, a German city with a complex history of both excluding and integrating foreigners, genial teacher Dieter Bachmann offers his pupils the key to at least feeling as if they are at home.
- DirectorKeith MaitlandStarsRenee BrodyMichael AroninMelissa Robyn GlassmanA documentary about Michael Brody Jr., a 21-year-old hippie millionaire who in 1970 promised to give away his $25M inheritance in an effort to usher in a new era of world peace.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsKristen StewartTimothy SpallSally HawkinsDiana Spencer, struggling with mental-health problems during her Christmas holidays with the Royal Family at their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, decides to end her decade-long marriage to Prince Charles.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsLucie ZhangMakita SambaNoémie MerlantÉmilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. Three girls and a boy - they're friends, sometimes lovers and often both.
- DirectorEskil VogtStarsRakel Lenora Petersen FløttumAlva Brynsmo RamstadSam AshrafDuring the bright Nordic summer, a group of children reveal their dark and mysterious powers when the adults aren't looking. In this original and gripping supernatural thriller, playtime takes a dangerous turn.
- DirectorTakahide HoriStarsTakahide HoriAtsuko MiyakeYuji SugiyamaIn a distant future, humanity has lost its ability to reproduce. An expedition is sent to an underground city where artificial humanoids are still fertile.
- DirectorJessica KingdonThe absorbingly cinematic Ascension explores the pursuit of the "Chinese Dream." This observational documentary presents a contemporary vision of China that prioritizes productivity and innovation above all.
- DirectorJoanna HoggStarsTilda SwintonHonor Swinton ByrneJames Spencer AshworthIn the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction.
- DirectorJonas Poher RasmussenStarsDaniel KarimyarFardin MijdzadehMilad EskandariFLEE tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time.
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsLin GallagherA close-up portrait of the daily lives of two cows.
- DirectorPanah PanahiStarsPantea PanahihaMohammad Hassan MadjooniRayan SarlakFollows a chaotic, tender family that is on a road trip across a rugged landscape and fussing over the sick dog and getting on each others' nerves. Only the mysterious older brother is quiet.
- DirectorRyûsuke HamaguchiStarsHidetoshi NishijimaTôko MiuraReika KirishimaA renowned stage actor and director learns to cope with a big personal loss when he receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima.
- DirectorAleksandre KoberidzeStarsAni KarseladzeGiorgi BochorishviliOliko BarbakadzeA chance encounter on a street corner has Lisa and Giorgi fall in love at first sight, but an evil spell is cast on them. Will they ever meet again?
- DirectorJane CampionStarsBenedict CumberbatchKirsten DunstJesse PlemonsCharismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.
- DirectorSebastian MeiseStarsFranz RogowskiGeorg FriedrichAnton von LuckeIn post-war Germany, liberation by the Allies does not mean freedom for everyone. Hans is repeatedly imprisoned under Paragraph 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. Over the decades, he develops an unlikely bond with his cellmate Viktor.
- DirectorMichael ShowalterStarsJessica ChastainAndrew GarfieldCherry JonesAn intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
- DirectorRichard PeeteRobert YapkowitzStarsNick CaveLacy J. DaltonRick MoodyA portrait of blues and folk singer Karen Dalton, a prominent figure in 1960s New York, who discarded the traditional trappings of success.
- DirectorGaysorn ThavatStarsEssie DavisThomasin McKenzieLively NiliA triumph over adversity tale about women fighting their way back from the bottom of society.
- DirectorJuho KuosmanenStarsSeidi HaarlaYura BorisovDinara DrukarovaAs a train weaves its way up to the arctic circle, two strangers share a journey that will change their perspective on life.
- DirectorEva HussonStarsOdessa YoungJosh O'ConnorColin FirthJane Fairchild is a maidservant who, between the wars, works for the wealthy Niven family. On Mothering Sunday, Jane is given the day off to spend as she likes. To her surprise, Paul Sheringham, the son of wealthy neighbours, invites her to spend the day with him at his family's house while his parents are out having lunch with the Nivens and the Hobdays.
- DirectorChloé ZhaoStarsGemma ChanRichard MaddenAngelina JolieThe saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.
- DirectorFranz BöhmThree young female activists in Hong Kong, Chile, and Uganda cope with the staggering personal impacts of their activism.
- DirectorValdimar JóhannssonStarsNoomi RapaceHilmir Snær GuðnasonBjörn Hlynur HaraldssonA childless couple discovers a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland.
- DirectorMarí AlessandriniStarsLara TortosaSantos CurapilCirilo WesleyMora is 13 years old and intends to become a "gaucho". She questions school and asserts her individuality towards her parents, two environmentalists from Italian-speaking Switzerland whose dream of autonomy turns into a nightmare.
- DirectorRadu MunteanStarsMaria PopistasuIlona BrezoianuAlex BogdanA group of people on a humanitarian mission arrive in a remote area of Transylvania to offer the inhabitants various goods. Apart from a few quarrels and conflicts between the group members, everything seems to be going well for Maria and Dan. But soon after they stumble upon a disoriented local and try to help him, things go wrong.
- DirectorNathalie Álvarez MesénStarsWendy Chinchilla ArayaAna Julia Porras EspinozaDaniel Castañeda RincónIn a remote village in Costa Rica, Clara, a withdrawn 40-year-old woman, experiences a sexual and mystical awakening as she begins a journey to free herself from the repressive religious and social conventions which have dominated her life.
- DirectorLuke HollandAn urgent portrait of the last living generation of Hitler's Third Reich in never-before-seen interviews raising vital questions about authority, conformity, national identity, and their own roles in the greatest human crimes in history.
- DirectorMark CousinsStarsMark CousinsMark Cousins offers hope and optimism while he explores different movies and talks about how technology is changing the course of cinema in a new century and how Covid continues the process.
- DirectorJulia DucournauStarsVincent LindonAgathe RousselleGarance MarillierFollowing a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for ten years.
- DirectorDina AmerStarsLorenza GrimaudoIlonna GrimaudoMouna SoualemWhen two young sisters are torn apart, the eldest loses her identity and transforms into someone new in the name of belonging and resistance.
- DirectorClio BarnardStarsAdeel AkhtarClaire RushbrookMacy ShackletonAli and Ava, both lonely for different reasons, meet and sparks fly. Over a lunar month a deep connection begins to grow, despite the legacy of Ava's past relationship, and Ali's emotional turmoil at the breakdown of his marriage.
- DirectorDominik GrafStarsTom SchillingAlbrecht SchuchSaskia Rosendahl1930s Berlin. Dr. Jakob Fabian, who works by day in advertising for a cigarette company and by night wanders the streets of the city, falls in love with an actress. As her career begins to blossom, prospects for his future begin to wane.
- DirectorPaola CalvoPatrick JasimStarsLady CandyMiss KathMini SirenitaThe courageous female wrestlers of Ciudad Juárez, a city known for its high murder rate against women - who fight in the ring and in their daily lives to redefine the image of what it means to be a woman in Mexico.
- DirectorJessica BeshirStarsDJ ExpressKawa SherifSalih SigirciA spiritual journey into the highlands of Harar, immersed in the rituals of khat, a leaf Sufi Muslims chewed for centuries for religious meditations - and Ethiopia's most lucrative cash crop today.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsOscar IsaacTiffany HaddishTye SheridanWilliam Tell is an ex-military interrogator living under the radar as a low-stakes gambler. When he encounters a young man looking to commit revenge against a mutual enemy, he takes him on the casino circuit to set him on a new path.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsCarrie CoonPaul RuddFinn WolfhardWhen a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.
- DirectorCássio Pereira dos SantosStarsThiessa WoinbackkGuta StresserRômulo BragaA trans girl and her mother move to a new town in order to start fresh, but quickly face dilemmas when the local high school needs a second parental signature for enrollment.
- DirectorMahamat-Saleh HarounStarsAchouackh Abakar SouleymaneRihane Khalil AlioYoussouf DjaoroAmina, a practicing Muslim, lives with her daughter, 15-year-old Maria. When Amina learns Maria is pregnant and wants to abort the child, they face an impossible situation in a country where abortion is legally and morally condemned.
- DirectorAndreas FontanaStarsFabrizio RongioneStéphanie CléauCarmen IriondoYvan De Wiel, a private banker from Geneva, goes to Argentina in the midst of a dictatorship to replace his partner, the object of the most worrying rumours, who disappeared overnight.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsTilda SwintonAgnes BrekkeDaniel Giménez CachoA woman from Scotland, while traveling in Colombia, begins to notice strange sounds. Soon she begins to think about their appearance.