10. It Happened One Night (1934) dir. Frank Capra

9. The Holy Mountain (1973) dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky

8. Full Metal Jacket (1987) dir. Stanley Kubrick

7. Yellow Submarine (1968) dir. George Dunning

6. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) dir. Elia Kazan

5. Son of the White Mare (1981) dir. Marcell Jankovics

4. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) dir. Isao Takahata

3. Petite Maman (2021) dir. Céline Sciamma

2. Ace in the Hole (1951) dir. Billy Wilder

I hope everyone's had a very merry Christmas! Here are my favourite first watches of 2025 (in no particular order):

1. Harold and Maude (1971) dir. Hal Ashby

Castration Movie Anthology – redefining queer cinema at Filmhouse 💉 A story on Letterboxd.

Written for @filmhouseedinburgh.bsky.social ahead of their Castration Movie Anthology screenings this month. These films are unlike any other -- if you're in Edinburgh and have half a day to spare, you won't regret it!

letterboxd.com/filmhouseedi...

Subscribe - Bright Wall/Dark Room Subscribe for $29 a year Subscribe now to receive immediate access to each new essay we publish, plus our entire 135+ issue archive. Bright Wall/Dark Room is 100% independent, runs no ads, and strongl...

Real talk (reel talk?):

BWDR recently lost a partnership that covered nearly half our operating budget, so things are suddenly very tough. If what we do has ever meant something to you, or you’ve ever thought about subscribing, now’s the time—it *truly* makes a difference.

Christy - DMovies Social realist drama from Ireland about teenager finding his confidence as he meets his estranged prioritises hope over gloom - from the 78th Edinburgh Film Festival

My review of Christy, a surprisingly joyful social realist drama. Seen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

dmovies.org/2025/08/20/c...

I spoke with poet Theresa Muñoz (@munozpoems.bsky.social) about her new collection, Archivum, ahead of her performance at Hidden Door (@hiddendoorarts.bsky.social) this Saturday

My review of Lili Marleen

📄 Our June issue is heading to The Paper Factory in a Hidden Door special, featuring chats with some highlights from the line-up, including local favourites Bikini Body, Isabella Strange, Theresa Muñoz and the Danish trio Smag På Dig Selv.

My 3-star review of The Uninvited for @thelistuk.bsky.social

list.co.uk/news/the-uni...

It's nearly that time

Edinburgh and Glasgow friends! Later this month CinemaAttic is hosting a night of Palestinian short films in aid of two important Palestinian organisations. Please spread the word and come along if you can! All proceeds will go towards Amplify Gaza and Plant a Tree in Palestine! 🇵🇸

Catalan Film Festival 10 TRAILER YouTube video by Cinemaattic Productions

The Catalan Film Festival is less than a week away! 🥳 Check out our trailer to see all the fantastic cinema we have lined up this March: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Jp...

See our website for the full programme: catalanfilmfestival.co.uk

#CFF10 #Edinburgh #Glasgow #Dundee #Inverness

We have a great programme lined up for the tenth Catalan Film Festival, with award-winning features and shorts exploring themes of family, memory, and personal transformation. I'm so proud to have worked on the programming committee.

Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort in, Harold and Maude (1971)

Help us make the Latin Connections Film Festival happen! 📣

We invite you to help bring the Latin Connections Film Festival to life—a vision that has been in the making for over four years.

You can donate to our Crowdfunder here: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/latin-conn...

That was the major weak point of the film to me. She just was not recognisably Joan Baez to me, not just because she was too conventionally attractive, but the way the character was written and performed also didn't seem to have much to do with the real Joan Baez

Nothing more demoralising than planning a feature about a film (especially one you have a very deep emotional connection to!) only to find out that someone on youtube has come out with a video on exactly the same topic the week before

Just a reminder that Film Stories is 100% independent. There's no funding body, we don't get grants, we can only spend what we bring in (which places limits on what we can cover).

If you like what we do, please consider supporting us here: filmstories.co.uk/support/

Thank you!

If you can't make this one, we've got a bunch of other events lined up over the next few weeks, some of which Eduardo Williams himself will be present at. Check out our website for more details! cinemaattic.com/events/

I'm so excited about this one. If you're in Edinburgh or nearby, come along to our screening of The Human Surge on Saturday. This film spends five minutes exploring the inside of an ant-hill and it somehow works - it's fantastic stuff.

The colouring looks different but that is 100% an issue of lighting. The top is much darker in real life