The Souvenir

It seems no story is told as often as that of the coming of age of an artist. Yet if the artist is female, the story has not been told often enough. The first part of Joanna Hogg’s semi-autobiographical tale of a young woman finding her voice in cinema in 1980s London is a painful form of detoxification. The poison for film student Julia is being in a destructive romance with a troubled man, as well as all the conflicting layers of expectations, peers, idols, and political circumstances which influence her but also prevent her from finding her own relationship to the world; to be an artist, one also has to be a human being. It’s a psychologically violent film carried by two amazing performances: Honor Swinton Byrne, who gives Julia an air of emerging urgency and authority, and Tom Burke as her romantic partner Anthony, a man too exciting for his own good, a drifter who can seduce, love but also hurt immensely.
As an outstanding filmmaker whose specialty is the portrayal of the British bourgeoisie and its cultural bubbles, Hogg has once again proven that intimacy is not only a question of style. Instead, it’s an honest way of thinking about ourselves and the world we live in. (Patrick Holzapfel)

Joanna Hogg: CAPRICE (1986, K), LONDON BRIDGE (1995-99, TV-Serie), EASTENDERS: DOT’S STORY (2003, TV), UNRELATED (2007), ARCHIPELAGO (2010), EXHIBITION (2013)