Filmmaker Bassam Tariq: 'Great cinema doesn't need to be perfect - embrace the imperfections'

FILMMAKER BASSAM TARIQ 'Great cinema doesn't need to be perfect - embrace the imperfections'

Director of 'Mogul Mowgli' discusses taking risks, and the differences between the British- and American-Asian experience

After Bassam Tariq's feature debut These Birds Walk was released at SXSW 2013, things seemed to slow down. The documentary about a runaway boy in Pakistan garnered strong reviews, but soon Tariq was working in a New York butchers pondering his career. However, the film did catch the eye of someone: Hollywood star Riz Ahmed.

LFF 2020: Supernova review – Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth shine as couple on the road

LFF 2020 Supernova, The Painter and the Thief, Rose: A Love Story

Harry Macqueen’s tale of love and loss, plus first looks at ‘The Painter and the Thief’, ‘Rose: A Love Story’

Unsurprisingly, theres a lot of pleasure to be had watching Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth as a mature couple pootling around the UK in their humble camper van. They bicker about the satnav voice, argue the merits of the shipping forecast, and both give such convincing performances that you’d think they’d been together for decades.

Time review - a stunning portait of enduring love

★★★★★ TIME A stunning portrait of enduring love in the US prison system

The US prison system exposed through one family's long fight

Sometimes in fictional cinema, a character can seem so strong, so righteous, that you begin to doubt the reality of the piece. How can anyone be that good when faced with such hardship? Perhaps these thoughts make us feel better about ourselves, and what we do with our lives. But we can make no excuses with Time, a documentary about a woman so remarkable that it could only be true.

The Lie review - icily intriguing until it isn't

★★★ THE LIE Largely compelling study of a family in moral freefall

Largely compelling study of a family in moral freefall

Moral reckonings don't come much more serious than the one that propels The Lie, in which a family must deal with a murder perpetrated by their daughter. Will Jay (a weary-looking Peter Sarsgaard) and Rebecca (the wonderful Mireille Enos) hand 15-year-old Kayla (Joey King) over to the authorities?

Kajillionaire review - quirks, strangeness and charm from Miranda July

★★★★ KAJILLIONAIRE Quirks, strangeness and charm from Miranda July

Every family is its own cult: small-time LA scam artists and their daughter's struggle for autonomy

Old Dolio, the oddly named central character played, wonderfully, by Evan Rachel Wood in Miranda July’s third feature film, learned to forge signatures before she could write. “In fact that’s how she learned to write,” says her father Robert (the great Richard Jenkins) proudly.

On the Rocks review - an unlikely detective duo

★★★ ON THE ROCKS An unlikely detective duo

Suspect your husband of cheating? Who you gonna call?

On the Rocks has an unusual premise. Laura (Rashida Jones), a New York City novelist and mother of two young daughters, suspects her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) is having an affair with a co-worker, Fiona (Jessica Henwick). Laura confides her fears to Felix (Bill Murray) and they’re soon zipping around Manhattan at night pursuing Dean and Fiona in Felix’s dyspeptic Alfa Romeo.

The Best Films Out Now

THE BEST FILMS OUT NOW theartsdesk recommends the top movies of the moment

theartsdesk recommends the top movies of the moment

There are films to meet every taste in theartsdesk's guide to the best movies currently on release. In our considered opinion, any of the titles below is well worth your attention.

Enola Holmes ★★★★ Millie Bobby Brown gives the patriarchy what-for in a new Sherlock-related franchise

Nights in the Garden of Spain & Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet, Bridge Theatre review - potent mix of pain and comedy

★★★★ NIGHTS IN THE GARDEN OF SPAIN & MISS FOZZARD FINDS HER FEET, BRIDGE THEATRE Last of the indispensable Alan Bennett double bills

Essential series of Alan Bennett stage pairings comes to an end

Stillness works like a stealth bomb in Nights in the Garden of Spain, in which Tamsin Greig further confirms her status as one of this country's finest actresses.

Rialto review - beautifully acted but relentless

★★★ RIALTO Irish tale of self-reckoning is rigorous to a fault

Irish tale of self-reckoning is rigorous to a fault

What news on the rialto? Not much of particular buoyancy or light in the Peter Mackie Burns film Rialto, which takes a grimly focused view of a married Irishman's struggle with his same-sex leanings. Adapted by Mark O'Halloran from his 2011 stage two-hander Trade, the movie is anchored by superb performances from a trio of talents who will be known to theatre devotees.