Paul Risker

While technically an English-based film critic and interviewer, Paul shows his political disgruntlement towards his homeland by identifying instead as a European writer. You’ll often find him agreeing with the late great French filmmaker, François Truffaut, preferring the reflection of life to life itself – he’ll even tell you that the cinema is more important than life. Often mistaken for a cynic, he prefers to think of himself as a disappointed idealist. Unsurprisingly he likes skulking in the sanctuary of the dark confines of the cinema.

Described as 'philosophically inclined', Paul has a broad taste in cinema. His film writing has been published by academic and non-academic publications, including, amongst others: PopMatters, Little White Lies, Cineaste, DMovies, VideoScope, Eye For Film, Film International, The Quarterly Review of Film and Video, and Filmmaker Magazine. He’s also on the advisory board of Mise-en-scène: The Journal of Film & Visual Narration (MSJ), the official film studies journal of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where he serves as interview editor. He regularly contributes to the Arrow Films blog, the FrightFest festival programmes and online blog.

Latest Film Reviews

The Choral
A Yorkshire village’s choral society finds its ranks depleted as men head off to war... leaving it forced to change its rules.
Jay Kelly
Famous movie actor Jay Kelly and his devoted manager Ron embark on a whirlwind and unexpectedly profound journey. Both are forced to confront choices they've made, their relationships with loved ones and the legacies they'll leave behind.
H Is For Hawk
After a woman's father dies, she takes solace in training a goshawk.
Cicadas
A woman whose marriage is crumbling and is struggling to care for her ageing parents has an encounter with a single mother that leads to an unexpected bond.
Bad Attitude: The Art Of Spain Rodriguez
Legendary underground cartoonist Spain Rodriguez is profiled in this intimate portrait by his wife, Emmy-nominated filmmaker Susan Stern.
I Am Not A Serial Killer
A teenage sociopath tries to hunt down a killer.
Magnus
Documenting the 'Mozart of Chess'.
Dog Eat Dog
Two former convicts are torn between going straight and returning to their old lives.
Free Fire
A meeting between two gangs in a deserted warehouse turns into a shootout.

Features

Interview with Gerard Johnson and Polly Maberly about Odyssey
04 Nov 2025
Gerard Johnson and Polly Maberly on angry cinema and Odyssey
Interview with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Lynsey Addario about Love+War
27 Oct 2025
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Lynsey Addario on Love+War
Interview with Frank Dillane about Urchin
15 Oct 2025
Frank Dillane on a childhood in the theatre, discovering Camus, and Urchin
interview with Frederik Sølberg about Hana Korea
09 Oct 2025
Frederik Sølberg on identity, displacement and Hana Korea
Interview with Matthew Bissonnette about Death Of A Ladies' Man
02 Oct 2025
Matthew Bissonnette on Death Of A Ladies' Man

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