Lives Of The Saints
Chris Cottam, Rankin
England | 2006 | 101mins | 35mm | Colour

In the cafés, clubs and shops of North London, Mr. Karva is a shady dealer on the fringes of society. His stepson, Othello, is the young wannabe, spending his days with his girlfriend Tina. Karva’s errand boy, Roadrunner, chances upon an unwashed and otherworldly ten-year-old in the park, changing the lives of several people in the process.

It becomes apparent that the child is able to grant others their innermost desires and while Tina sees the boy as just a little kid, Othello begins to interpret his strange utterances as words of prophecy – he uses them to make a fortune in gambling.

But Othello’s tyrannical father soon wants in on the action as he witnesses Othello becoming more and more independent and slipping from his grasp. Family ties and relationships become increasingly strained as Mr. Karva employs Othello’s dim-witted sidekick Emilio to kidnap the boy.

Ambitious, audacious, it’s unlike anything else you’ll see this year – Edinburgh Film Festival