Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012: British Scenes

This year, the best of the Brits section plays host to four unapologetic and persevering début features. With his well-established television career including Casualty, Garrow’s Law and Silent Witness, Bryn Higgins has demonstrated a capability to build suspense and tension, something his new thriller Unconditional only confirms. Jules Bishop’s Borrowed Time is a sociological examination on the relationships that can form as a result of highly emotional circumstances. Both Scott Graham’s Shell and Steve Rainbow’s N.F.A (No Fixed Abode) are some other gutsy stories on offer. Written by filmmakers like Paddy Considine (Tyrannosaur), these selections suggest British cinema should concentrate on projects that discuss how the current economic shambles affects ordinary people, something which is dangerously becoming a cliché in modern discourse. That being said, we’ve only to look towards how this is being addressed in Ben Drew‘s (aka Plan B) recent product-of-your-environment film, Ill Manors.