Review of the latest releases
THE SILENCE OF THE MOLE (Certificate TBC, 93 mins)
Showing now in UK & Ireland selected cinemas
THE 1970s in Guatemala was one of the most violent periods in the country’s history during a civil war that lasted more than 35 years.
Citizens were firmly under the yoke of a repressive regime but one courageous journalist nicknamed The Mole decided to take a stand to turn the tide in favour of the resistance.
Elias Barahona infiltrated the corridors of power to work a press officer for the Ministry of the Interior led by Donaldo Alvarez Ruiz and gather vital intelligence about the military’s plans to save lives.
Documentary filmmaker Anais Taracena pays tribute to Barahona’s bravery by piecing together his story using archive footage and some of the final interviews with the journalist before his death shortly after his 2014 testimony about the Spanish Embassy massacre in 1980.
Family members and fellow journalists share their memories of the hidden and bloody history of Guatemala.
A BREAD FACTORY
(Certificate TBC, Part One: 122 mins/Part Two 120 mins)
Showing now in UK & Ireland selected cinemas
WRITER-DIRECTOR Patrick Wang chronicles day-to-day life for residents of the small town of Checkford in upstate New York, who orbit a community arts centre called The Bread Factory, in a four-hour drama
released in two parts at selected cinemas.
A Bread Factory, Part One: For The Sake Of Gold focuses on nononsense founders Dorothea (Tyne Daly) and Greta (Elizabeth Henry), who have run the community centre for 40 glorious years.
Chinese performance artist duo May Ray (Janet Hsieh, George Young) descend on Checkford and open a flashy arts complex that values spectacle over substance and community participation.
Dorothea and Greta prepare for battle to protect the legacy of The Bread Factory.
In A Bread Factory, Part Two: Walk With Me A While, the bitter rivalry between the two arts centres persists as Dorothea, Greta and their actors rehearse the Greek play, Hecuba.
Checkford is invaded by busloads of tourists taking copious selfies and a visiting film star named Trooper James (Chris Conroy) sets pulses racing by casually removing his coffee-stained shirt in the local diner.