The Prince of Nothingwood (15) ****
Dir: Sonia Kronlund
With: Salim Shaheen, Qurban Ali, Sonia Kronlund
Runtime: 86 minutes
FRENCH director Sonia Kronlund has been to Afghanistan many times, always to report bad news. In search of another angle she comes across Salim Shaheen, the prince of Afghan cinema, dubbed “Nothingwood” by the actor-director because unlike Hollywood there is no money, no equipment, nothing. Despite this, Shaheen has made more than 100 (terrible) movies, sticking at it come what may. Doughty Kronlund, fag always on the go, follows him as he makes his latest. Her efforts to look underneath the mask of a showman only get so far, but like Kronlund’s fascinating documentary he is a true original.
GFT until December 24
Thelma (15) ***
Dir: Joachim Trier
With: Eili Harboe, Henrik Rafaelsen, Kaya Wilkins
Runtime: 116 minutes
THELMA has left her small town home and gone to university in Oslo. Despite the boundaries set by her religious parents she soon joins other students in spreading her wings. Around the same time, she starts to have seizures, for which doctors can find no reason. From Norwegian director Joachim Trier (Louder than Bombs), Thelma is a guddle, albeit an intriguing one. Part arthouse coming of age drama, part over-ripe supernatural chiller, with plenty of nods to Hitchcock along the way, Thelma cannot seem to make up its mind what it wants to be.
Filmhouse, Edinburgh, December 18-21
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