Born
Criminal

Branded- Born Criminal is a Kafkaesque tone poem of startling, unnerving complexity. Beautifully shot but horrifying in its depiction of the persecution of artists in dictatorial nations, it signals a frightening future in which the present-day brutal repression of free minds by dictators becomes global. At times the film is unremittingly grim. Yet its 70-minute running-time seemed over before I had blinked an eye, its paradoxical beauty leaving me thirsty for more: not withstanding its soul-wrenching subject matter, there is a joyousness at its heart - the joyousness of art. Written, acted, and directed by Pauline Amos, Branded- Born Criminal is a triumph.

Chris Salewiz, author.

Even though the format of this art is a film, with all of the great technical excellence demonstrated by the team that made it - actually it is more like a poem. It is an eloquent dialogue between the artist and herself, revealed in moving pictures, sound, and imagery. It is a Ulysses. No one has ever explained and communicated so powerfully and vividly what it is like to fully inhabit an artist's consciousness. Pauline Amos’s brilliant work transcends its format, and points in the direction of what inner life and the creation of art is truly all about. - John Cummins. Branded- Born Criminal is LIFE. GROUNDBREAKING. To see such great and uncompromising work, to be around an amazing creative spirit. I feel like a new person.

Poppy Jackson, artist.

The images are seared into my imagination; at times it looked like a renaissance masterpiece, beautifully evoked despite, the grim story. A woman’s struggle to be free will always get my vote and yours was a testament to art and survival in itself.

Mariella Frostrop, author, journalist.

This is not a film, it is a work of art. Branded- Born Criminal sits in a genre of one, it isn’t experimental nor is it commercial.

G. Berger

The demise of a woman’s life and for her the painful reality of a regime that has criminalised art. Harsh truths softened by a beautiful poetic script, delicate and a raw with a down to the bone, performance. A somewhat cruel film, and yet surprisingly uplifting.

Anon.