A charming performance from Halle Bailey and gorgeous Italian vistas (and meals) go a long way toward making this slight rom-com a springtime pleasure.
Reviews
Written by the world’s top critics, reviews in The Film Verdict are an authoritative guide to the most important new movies appearing on the international scene. In this section you can search for and find more than one thousand reviews that have appeared in The Film Verdict since it began in September 2021. The reviewers are a diverse group based all over the globe: Deborah Young and Jay Weissberg (Rome), Stephen Dalton and Ben Nicholson (London), Boyd Van Hoeij (Luxembourg), Jordan Mintzer (Paris), Clarence Tsui (Hong Kong), Oris Aigbokhaevbolo (Lagos), Patricia Boero (Punta del Este), Lucy Virgen (Guadalajara), Carmen Gray (Berlin), Kevin Jagernauth (Montreal), and Alonso Duralde (Los Angeles).
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Like many a faith-based movie, this colorful animated video-game adaptation offers delights for the converted but precious little for the uninitiated.
The Drama
Zendaya and Robert Pattinson skillfully enact a squirmy comedy of discomfort until writer-director Kristoffer Borgli bobbles the ending.
They Will Kill You
This cartoonish and hyper-violent action-horror tale starts strong before spinning its wheels and revealing no substance beneath the style.
Reminders of Him
Maika Monroe’s haunted performance gives this sappy adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-seller its only genuine sentiment.
Project Hail Mary
This save-the-Earth saga satisfies at a surface level, thanks mostly to Ryan Gosling’s universe-spanning charm.
Nueva ley del cine mexicano: soberanía creativa
Cinco mujeres formidables anunciaron recientemente una nueva ley mexicana de cine que aborda los desafíos planteados por las nuevas tecnologías y aumenta el acceso democrático a la producción audiovisual.
Frank & Louis
Crime and punishment, guilt and healing are the big themes treated by writer-director Petra Volpe in the thought-provoking ‘Frank & Louis’, a measured, stylistically impeccable study of two Black prison inmates, one losing his memory through dementia.
New Mexican Film Law Aims at Creative Sovereignty
Five powerful women recently announced a new Mexican film law that addresses the challenges posed by new technologies and increases democratic access to audiovisual production.
Will the New, Improved Mexican Film Law Work?
The new Mexican Film Law, still in the process of debate and approval, raises curiosity, hope and suspicion.
La Ley de cine en México es nueva y mejorada, pero ¿funcionará?
La iniciativa de la nueva Ley de Cine y el Audiovisual de México, tiene solo 68 artículos pero muchas esperanzas para la renovación del cine nacional. Es una reforma que incluye una nueva Ley -la anterior es de 1992- modificaciones a otras 2 leyes (de el trabajo y...
The Bride!
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s exasperating, maximalist take on Bride of Frankenstein never suffers from a lack of ideas or nerve, but ultimately collapses under its own weight.
Hoppers
‘Hoppers” lacks the emotional oomph of Pixar’s best, but this wildly comic eco-fable delivers some valuable lessons amidst the gags and celebrity voices.
Scream 7
The old-school slasher kills still pop, but otherwise, after three decades, the franchise wheezes its way into irrelevance.
Berlin 2026: The Verdict
Ilker Catak’s drama ‘Yellow Letters’ wins the Golden Bear for Best Film amid a firestorm of unrelated political debate.
Berlin 2026: The Awards
Two films about Turkey won the Golden Bear for Best Film and Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 76th Berlin Film Festival.
Cesarean Weekend
A boozy party at a seaside villa descends into a delirious explosion of suppressed angst for two slackers and their angst-ridden middle-aged fathers in “Cesarean Weekend”, Iranian indie cinema instigator Mohammad Shirvani’s first feature in 13 years.
Trial of Hein
Home is definitely not where the heart is in young German writer-director Kai Stänicke’s ‘Trial of Hein’, a ponderous but mostly impressive drama about exile, identity and repressed desire.
The Loneliest Man in Town
A droll delight from Austria, whose wry performance by aging blues player Al Cook made it one of the most popular films in Berlin competition, ‘The Loneliest Man in Town’ once again pushes the documentary envelope in unexpected ways devised by filmmakers Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel.
Roya
Bravely defying government restrictions on her work, Iranian writer-director Mahnaz Mohammadi draws on her own prison experiences to make her gripping, Kafka-esque, artfully time-scrambled thriller ‘Roya’.
Queen at Sea
The issues of living with a relative with cognitive decline are at the core of Lance Hammer’s quietly devastating ‘Queen at Sea’.
Moscas
Con un trasfondo de pobreza y penurias endémicas, el galardonado director mexicano Fernando Eimbcke teje una historia encantadora, a menudo cómica, de amor, pérdida y soledad en torno a una mujer solitaria y sus dos inquilinos temporales.
Flies
Against a background of endemic poverty and hardship, award-winning Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke weaves a charming, often comic tale of love, loss and loneliness around a solitary woman and her two temporary lodgers in ‘Flies’.
Saccharine
A young medical student creates a sinister diet drug to fight her own eating disorders in ‘Saccharine’, a deliciously disgusting feminist body-horror shocker from writer-director Natalie Erika James.
Safe Exit
Generational trauma forms the basis for Mohammed Hammad’s psychological thriller ‘Safe Exit’, a riveting Berlinale Panorama entry.
Salvation
While violent savagery simmers between two Kurdish clans who live in adjoining villages, director Emin Alper raises the tension from fear and suspicion to vicious messianic-style murder in ‘Salvation’.
Prosecution
Director Faraz Shariat’s second feature ‘Prosecution’ is a stylish, fast-paced, politically charged crime thriller about a young German-Korean state prosecutor targeted by neo-Nazi racists.
Wax & Gold
Austrian documentarian Ruth Beckermann delves into Ethiopian history by looking into a specific building in the engrossing ‘Wax & Gold’.
Dust
Belgian director Anke Blondé’s atmospheric psychodrama ‘Dust’ chronicles the downfall of two high-flying Belgian software tycoons consumed by corporate greed and alpha-male arrogance.
I Can Only Imagine 2
Extracting more drama from the life of MercyMe frontman Bart Millard proves difficult for this unnecessary sequel.
Rose
A fascinating tale of gender politics in 17th century Germany offers a gripping backdrop for Sandra Hüller’s prodigious acting talents in Markus Schleinzer’s surprising historical biopic ‘Rose’.
The Ballad of Judas Priest
Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello co-directs ‘The Ballad of Judas Priest’. a polite but warm-hearted rockucumentary about one of heavy metal’s foundational bands, aided by Jack Black, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Grohl and other famous fans.
Nightborn
Hanna Bergholm delivers thrills in the midst of Finnish nature in her confident second feature film ‘Nightborn’, screened in Berlin’s Competition.
Yellow Letters
An acclaimed Turkish actress and her theater director husband lose their livelihoods over a petty dispute with the authorities in power in ‘Yellow Letters’, a deeply disturbing tale that struggles to stay on topic.
Rosebush Pruning
Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz satirises the lurid psycho-sexual absurdities of a deeply dysfunctional dynasty in his shallow but stylish Euro-comedy reboot, ‘Rosebush Pruning’.
Hangar rojo
¿Hasta dónde debe llegar un oficial militar que ha jurado lealtad a la constitución de su país al obedecer las órdenes de sus superiores? En 81 tensos minutos de crisis democrática, filmados en un implacable blanco y negro, Hangar Rojo sitúa al espectador dentro de la...
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Documentary director Grant Gee’s debut dramatic feature ‘Everybody Dogs Bill Evans’ offers a lyrical, fragmentary portrait of a troubled jazz icon at a crucial career crossroads.
The Red Hangar
Based on a true story pregnant with contemporary moral questions, ‘The Red Hangar’ is the gripping portrait of a courageous Air Force captain forced to draw the line, during Chile’s military coup in 1973 that overturned the Salvador Allende government and democracy.
No Good Men
In ‘No Good Men’, the ever-surprising Shahrbanoo Sadat opens up the world of Afghan life for women before and during the American pullout in 2021 in a riotous feminist romance that opened the Berlin Film Festival with a bang – even without stars.
Berlin 2026: The American Question
The lineup of Berlin 2026 boasts some major US titles, but are they really what the festival needs?
Lady
A young Nigerian woman battles social pressures and private demons in writer-director’s Olive Nwosu’s raw but impressive, energetic, prize-winning debut feature, ‘Lady’.
Wuthering Heights
Emerald Fennell’s take on Emily Brontë offers the sumptuous trash that has become the auteur’s trademark, but her departures from the original story fall flat.
Master
An idealistic politician is seduced by the dark side of power in Rezwan Shahriar Simut’s polished but predictable drama ‘Master’, which took home one of the main prizes in Rotterdam.
Rotterdam 2026: The Verdict
South African and Bangladeshi films won big at a 55th edition of the Rotterdam International Film Festival embracing global chills and genre thrills.
Rotterdam 2026: The Awards
Highlighting a rich splash of African titles, the South African drama about an elderly goat herder, ‘Variations on a Theme’, topped the awards list at the 2026 International Film Festival of Rotterdam.
The Horror, the Horror Descends on Rotterdam
This year’s Rotterdam took a free-wheeling approach to genre pieces, particularly global horror.
Solo Mio
Kevin James loses a bride and gets his groove back in this sitcom-shallow rom-com set in a tourism-brochure version of Italy.
Home Bitter Home
Artistic frustrations are the throughline in the Lebanese omnibus film ‘Home Bitter Home’, set in present day Beirut.
Hungry
Austrian writer-director Susanne Brandstaetter’s visually stunning dystopian sci-fi documentary ‘Hungry’ starkly lays out humankind’s imminent risk of a climate-driven food apocalypse, and ponders how we might avoid our own extinction.
Gaua
Paul Urkijo Alijo’s Basque folk-horror Gaua is a ribald, gloomy and deliriously over-the-top vision of sexual liberation in the time of the Inquisition.
Bowels of Hell
Social satire meets (literal) toilet humor in the gruesomely entertaining Brazilian horror comedy ‘Bowels of Hell’.
Supporting Role
Georgian director Ana Urushadze’s Supporting Role is a wildly eccentric take on fleeting windows for creative ambition, in a worldweary, twilight Tbilisi.
Talking to a Stranger
A demon feeds on a mother’s grief in ‘Talking to a Stranger’, a powerful and unsettling piece of Mexican horror.
The Apple Doesn’t Fall…
China’s one-child policy provides the inspiration for Dean Wei and Shiyu Liu’s The Apple Doesn’t Fall…, a meticulous and theatrical apartment-bound family drama told through expressive dance.
My Daughter Is a Zombie
A parent-child bond is tested in a supernatural manner in the highly entertaining South Korean film ‘My Daughter Is a Zombie’.
La belle année
Documentary and fiction are interwoven in ‘La belle année’, a contemplative self-portrait that connects contemporary grief and teenage romantic obsession to tantalising effect.
Second Skin
The collaboration between three filmmakers to re-enact sexual assaults suffered by Russian women, Second Skin, is a staggering and imperative act of bearing witness.
Verdigris
Chloe Brenan’s shimmering psychogeographic short, Verdigris, explores the nature of control and freedom in urban design through the impositions and inferences of the Paris metro.
Yellow Cake
Tiago Melo brings satirical bite to genre thrills in ‘Yellow Cake’, his delirious sci-fi mix of geopolitics and apocalyptic fears in Brazil’s Northeast.
Projecto Global
Bloated but compelling, writer-director Ivo M. Ferreira’s stylish fact-based retro-thriller about a real 1980s terrorist group feels like a Portuguese cousin of ‘One Battle After Another’.
The Kidnapping of a President
Political upheaval is the backdrop for a fact-based dark comedy in the shape of Samuli Valkama’s ‘The Kidnapping of a President’.
Rotation
A young woman goes through a form of hypnotherapy in Maryna Er Gorbach’s luminous, evocative and deeply moving new short, Rotation.
First Light
A corruption scandal throws a nun into crisis in Australian-Filipino director James J. Robinson’s debut ‘First Light’, an intriguing, introspective slow-burner.
The Arab
Algerian director Malek Bensmaïl reframes the iconic Albert Camus novel ‘The Stranger’ from an Arab viewpoint in his uneven but ambitious literary adaptation ‘The Arab’.
The Gymnast
Writer-director Charlotte Glynn balances hard-nosed grit and tenderness in her quietly devastating portrait of an injured teen gymnast in working-class Pittsburgh.
Accept Our Sincere Apologies
A luxury Venice hotel is a site of strange death dealings and cryptic dream logic in Juja Dobrachkous’s mesmeric, eccentric sophomore feature.
The Lady
Tracing Egypt’s most enduring musical legend and a touchstone across the Arab world, Marwan Hamed’s ‘The Lady’ (‘El Sett’) is less interested in embalming the legend of Umm Kulthum than in dramatizing what it cost to become her.
Last Shot
The sobering drama, ‘Last Shot’, pays homage to journalists killed in Palestine with an affecting tale about displacement and a photographer’s final, tragic image.
Chronovisor
Kevin Walker and Jack Auen’s eerie, stylish techno-horror debut draws us through a library wormhole into a ‘70s scandal around a Benedictine monk’s memory-recording machine.
The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford
A small-town Scottish tour guide declares war on a blockbuster TV fantasy show in ‘The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford’, writer-director Seán Dunn’s enjoyably off-beat comedy about grief, depression and obsessive fandom.
Butterfly
Grief and sisterhood are at the center of the oddly moving Norwegian drama ‘Butterfly’, playing in Rotterdam’s Big Screen Competition.
Elements Of(f) Balance
Like a delicately composed ecosystem, Othmar Schmiderer’s documentary ‘Elements Of(f) Balance’ is a patchwork of finely tuned vignettes that together form a thoughtful meditation on our relationship with the planet.
Rotterdam 2026: An Interview with Vanja Kaludjercic and Clare Stewart
TFV inaugurates its Rotterdam 2026 coverage with our customary chat with the festival directors, Vanja Kaludjercic and Clare Stewart.
Dead Souls
Cult indie director Alex Cox gives Nikolai Gogol’s classic satirical novel ‘Dead Souls’ a surreal Wild West makeover in this uneven but enjoyably bizarre love letter to the spaghetti western genre.
The Oligarch and the Art Dealer
The docuseries ‘The Oligarch and the Art Dealer’ provides a gripping look into a high-profile battle in the shadowy realm of the luxury art trade.
Sundance Says Farewell to Park City in Politically Charged Final Year
The charged atmosphere was felt up and down Main Street.
Hold Onto Me
A father and daughter find their way back to each other in the debut drama ‘Hold Onto Me’.
How to Divorce During the War
A couple falls apart as Russia invades Ukraine in this timely exploration of the limits of privilege and empathy in ‘How to Divorce During the War.’
An Interview with Sinead O’Shea
The director of ‘All About the Money’ discusses profiling the radical politics of James ‘Fergie’ Chambers.
To Hold A Mountain
A shepherdess takes on the military in ‘To Hold a Mountain’, a documentary about bullets versus beauty.
Send Help
Sam Raimi’s gift for laughs and screams is on full display in this survival-of-the-fittest dark comedy.
All About the Money
James “Fergie” Chambers lets it all hang out in this unique portrait of a super wealthy revolutionary.
Shame and Money
The fragile independence of a nation is refracted through a working couple in the observant drama ‘Shame and Money’.
European Films Head To Sundance for the Last Splash in Park City
Sundance bids farewell to Park City while topical Euro films make their debut.
A Coffee at Sundance with EFP‘s Managing Director Sonja Heine
The “one-stop-shop for all things European” at Sundance is the warm and welcoming Europe! Hub space for sales, promotion and networking.
Mercy
Timur Bekmambetov’s latest people-at-monitors opus has its moments of excitement, and that makes its propaganda for the surveillance state all the more pernicious.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
The human beings are just as bloodthirsty as the zombies in this latest entry, directed by Nia DaCosta with both delicacy and verve.
Greenland 2: Migration
Gerard Butler and family are on the road again in this sequel that’s less action thriller and more wistful contemplation of the post-apocalypse.
Primate
This January horror entry is as rock-stupid as its characters, but it delivers plenty of genre jolts.
TFV International Picks from 2025
Films that mattered in 2025.
Deborah Young: a Memorable Five from 2025
A trip to Mecca, an escape from Venezuela and a very old tree.
Stephen Dalton’s 5 Favorites from 2025
An SF comedy, a doc on a Ugandan poet and Kirsten Stewart’s directing bow.
Clarence Tsui: 5 Asian Favorites from 2025
Japanese kabuki artists, women’s solidarity in India and the chaos of Chinese history.
Max Borg’s Five Nordic Picks
Religious sects, queer romance, a European actioner and more.
Adham Youssef Picks MENA Titles Worth Remembering
Refugees of the Sudan civil war, missing family members and remodeling a cinema.
Ben Nicholson’s 5 Favourite Shorts of 2025
Those permanently online. A ghostly atmosphere. An SF documentary.
Lucy Virgen: The Most Necessary Films in Latin America and Spain
Films with unusual form, unique content, that gave hope in 2025.
An interview with Marnie Blok
The writer-director of ‘Beyond Silence,’ which scooped the narrative short prize at Tribeca, discusses giving voice to victims of abuse and the overwhelming reaction of audiences.
Beyond Silence
Henrianne Jansen gives a remarkable debut performance in Marnie Blok’s intimate and powerful chamber piece about the pressures heaped on victims of abuse, Beyond Silence.
Song Sung Blue
Sure, it’s earnest and more than a little corny, but what better way to celebrate the songs of Neil Diamond and the musicians who cover them?
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Beyond the visual silliness and the knockabout physical comedy, this sweet adaptation of the long-running TV hit sneaks in a lovely message about what it really means to be a man.
Alonso Duralde’s Top 10 Films of 2025
2025 was a calamitous year in many ways, but there were always worthwhile movies to see.
The Housemaid
Soapy, glossy trash delivered with wit, style, and indelible performances makes for a satisfyingly old-fashioned thriller with bite.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
James Cameron once again dazzles the eye without engaging the brain or the heart.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
The nights seem to grow longer and duller in this pointless sequel.
Riverstone
‘Riverstone’ is a great-looking road movie with deep but questionable politics.
Dream of the Red Chamber ‘77
Long considered lost and an urban myth of sorts, ‘Dream of the Red Chamber ‘77’, legendary Chinese filmmaker Chiu Kang-chien’s irreverent, Singapore-set reinterpretation of the Chinese literary classic, re-emerges after nearly five decades as a key curio in the restoration programme at the Singapore Intl. Film Festival.
Cactus Pears
A gay man returns to his ancestral village and rekindles his relationship with his childhood friend-turned-lover in ‘Cactus Pears’, Indian filmmaker Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s sensitive, bittersweet first feature.
Director Anselm Chan Discusses ‘The Last Dance’
Writer and director Anselm Chan talks about his year of researching the funeral business for his career-changing film ‘The Last Dance’, Hong Kong’s Oscar submission, and the importance of telling local stories.
The Last Dance
The highest-grossing local film of all time in Hong Kong, Anselm Chan’s ‘The Last Dance’ is an involving family drama set in Hong Kong’s unique funeral business, where modern parlors coexist with traditional Taoist rites.
Véronique Tshanda Beya
Véronique Tshanda Beya, born Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu in Kinshasa, is an accomplished and award winning Congolese actress. After studying business and marketing in her homeland and going through a rather difficult period in her family and private life, she worked at a...
Claude Waringo
A founding member of Samsa Film, Claude Waringo co-founded ULPA, the Luxembourg Audiovisual Producers‘ Guild. He is a member of the European Film Academy. Between 2013 and 2018, he was a member of the jury for the Creative Development Fund of the SSA (Switzerland) and...
An Interview with Eric Lamhène
The director of the award-winning ‘Breathing Underwater’ talks turning his social drama into a teachable moment.
Eric Lamhène
Eric Lamhène is a writer/director based inLuxembourg. He earned his Master of Arts with distinction at the London Film School in 2010.He has since written and directed several short films as well as various episodes of the television series Comeback and the...
Sascha Ley
Multidisciplinary artist Sascha Ley is a singer, improviser, actress, poet and performer who explores stylistic boundaries at the intersections of jazz, free improvisation, imaginary folklore, classical and new music, creating a blend of improvisation and composition....
Luc Schiltz
Luc Schiltz is known to Luxembourgish and international audiences for his leading role in the series "Capitani" (Seasons 1 and 2), broadcast on Netflix and RTL. Trained at the Conservatoire Royal de Liège (Belgium), he has played a succession of roles in theater and...
Carla Juri
Hailing from Switzerland, Carla Juri was born in Locarno and raised in the Ticino region. From 2005 to 2010, she trained as an actress in Los Angeles and London. She came to prominence with her performance in her first feature film, Cihan Inan's 180° (2010), for which...
Esperanza Martin Gonzalez-Quevedo
An amateur actress, Esperanza Martin Gonzalez-Quevedo made her film debut in Eric Lamhène's short film "Sola" (2021). Following this short film, she was invited to join the main cast of Eric Lamhène's first feature film, “Breathing Underwater”. Growing up in Spain,...
Alessia Raschella
Alessia Raschella's break-through film debut is in Eric Lamhène's feature film “Breathing Underwater", in which she played an integral role, evolving alongside the main character. Alessia has transitioned seamlessly into cinema, taking on smaller but impactful parts,...
Breathing Underwater
Carla Juri is riveting in the evocative drama ‘Breathing Underwater’ about trauma and female solidarity.
Rae Lyn Lee BIO
Rae Lyn Lee, Director of photography and co-writer A childhood fascination that began with artand poetry led Rae Lyn Lee into the world of story and imagery. Born and raised in Singapore, she began her career as a stills photographer, directing and shooting images...
Synopsis of Breathing Underwater
BREATHING UNDERWATER tells the story of Emma, who is whisked away in the dead of night, covered in bruises and unexpectedly pregnant. As she grapples with her pregnancy and her emotional shackles to her husband Marc, Emma rediscovers lost facets of herself...
Mag Mag
Comedian Yuriyan Retriever’s horror debut ‘Mag Mag’ supplies the thrills and scares—but goes on too long.
The Old Man and His Car
Veteran Singapore actor Lim Kay Tong anchors ‘The Old Man and His Car’, Michael Kam’s sensitive and slow-moving feature debut about a retiree preparing to leave his house, his car and his memories for Canada.
Amoeba
Singapore filmmaker Tan Siyou takes aim at the socially suppressive status quo crushing young people in her country in the exuberant teen-centered ‘Amoeba’.
Zootopia 2
The comedy and character design remain top-notch in this animal kingdom, even when the metaphors once again become muddled.
A Year That Redefined International Filmmaking
Welcome to the third annual TFV Contenders Week promoted by The Film Verdict. True to our mission to highlight and explore in depth the best of international filmmaking, these seven days of insightful reviews are designed to jog the memory of some of the best films of...
Where Lions Roar and Cubs Prowl: SGIFF Hits 36
A-list Asian stars, international festival hits, local trailblazers and restored classics converge at the latest edition of the Singapore International Film Festival.
Habibi Hussein
Alex Bakri’s power-conscious documentary ‘Habibi Hussein’ dismantles the feel-good façade of “development work,” revealing the power imbalances, condescension and erasure that underpin a German-led attempt to revive Jenin’s cinema.
The Residence
Literary ambition and the dangers of artificial intelligence coalesce in Yann Gozlan’s entertaining sci-fi thriller ‘The Residence’.
Baab
Grief and hallucinations are the cornerstones of Nayla Al Khaja’s intriguing sophomore feature film ‘Baab’, screened in Cairo’s Midnight strand.
Cairo 2025: The Verdict
Blending bold Arab selections, strong youth engagement, major Palestinian films, and a confident curatorial vision, the 46th Cairo International Film Festival delivered a focused and forward-looking edition.
Cairo 2025: The Awards
Presided by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, the jury of the 46th Cairo International Film Festival bestowed the Golden Pyramid Award on ‘Dragonfly’ directed by Paul Andrew Williams.
IDFA 2025: The Awards
‘A Fox Under a Pink Moon’, the emotionally charged collaboration between veteran Iranian documentary maker Mehrdad Oskouei and his teenage niece, Soraya Akhalaghi, won IDFA’s international competition while another Iranian film, ‘Past Present Continuous’ by filmmakers Morteza Ahmadvand and Firouzeh Khosrovani, won the Envision competition.
The Film Verdict Celebrates Arab Talent in Cairo with Next Generation Awards
The Film Verdict continues to spotlight emerging voices in the Arab world, recognising promising filmmakers, actors, and critics whose work is reshaping cinema across the Middle East and North Africa.
TFV-CIFF Next Generation Award Winners 2025
The Film Verdict-Cairo International Film Festival Next Generation Award Winners for 2025 honor young Arab talent.
That Summer in Paris
The 2024 Paris Olympics serve as the backdrop for a heartwarming tale of sisterhood in Valentine Cadic’s feature debut ‘That Summer in Paris’.
IDFA 2025: The Verdict
Under new Artistic Director Isabel Arrate Fernandez, the world’s largest documentary festival IDFA screened a strong program of political films, intensely personal stories and dazzling visual artistry.
Mohammed & Paul – Once Upon a Time in Tangier
Nordin Lasfar has made a decent, anodyne documentary from flammable material in ‘Mohammed & Paul – Once Upon a Time in Tangier’.
Cairo 2025: The XR Experience
A new chapter begins for CIFF, as Cairo 2025 introduces festivalgoers to the world of immersive experiences and augmented reality.
Matabeleland
Matabeleland may be her first feature documentary but Nyasha Kadandara juggles romance and politics across Zimbabwe and Botswana like a pro.
Synthetic Sincerity
A charming and frustratingly tangled take on AI’s encroachment on reality.
Coexistence, My Ass!
An Israeli stand-up comedian turns the hate and anger of her divided homeland into tragicomic humour in the timely, irreverent documentary ‘Coexistence, My Ass!’
A Fox Under a Pink Moon
Armed only with a phone camera, a troubled young Afghan woman films her attempts to illegally cross the border to Europe in the visually beautiful collaborative documentary ‘A Fox Under a Pink Moon’
Goundafa, the Cursed Song
The influence of a conservative new imam on a Moroccan tribal village is an economic, emotional and cultural disaster in ‘Goundafa, the Cursed Song’, which neatly embraces the simplicity of the people and their ancient lifestyle.
Wicked: For Good
For better or worse, second verse, same as the first.
Naguib Mahfouz Still Walks Cairo’s Film Scene
Almost 20 years after his death, the legacy of writer Naguib Mahfouz continues to be present on the Egyptian cultural scene.
Death Does Not Exist
Revolution takes on a new, animated form in Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s elliptically intriguing film ‘Death Does Not Exist’.
Voices of Gaza and Beyond: Palestinian Stories at CIFF
At the 46th Cairo International Film Festival, Palestine is not only present as a topic; it’s foundational to the emotional and artistic narrative.
NOAH
Stylistically bold and morally furious, Ali Tamim’s ‘Noah’ rejects the sanitized, sociological gaze usually cast on racialized communities in Germany to expose the emotional architecture of racism.
Wrestlers
Derhwa Kasunzu’s documentary ‘Wrestlers’ offers a sad but pleasant account of a trio of heroic characters commemorating a dying sport.
Elon Musk Unveiled – The Tesla Experiment
Andreas Pichler’s whistle-blower documentary ‘Elon Musk Unveiled – The Tesla Experiment’ is a convincing expose on Musk’s self-driving Teslas that could use less politics and more numbers.
Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya
Harrowing memories of domestic abuse are recounted over striking images of the natural world in Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya, Lujain Jo’s beautiful and brutal reckoning with trauma.
Air Horse One
Lasse Linder’s equine documentary, Air Horse One, is a quiet portrait of a champion thoroughbred – a behind the scenes peek that is meditative though never profound.
Mailin
An Argentinian woman’s struggle to process her traumatic history of childhood sexual abuse becomes a disturbingly beautiful fairy tale in ‘Mailin’, a highly stylised documentary from film-maker and visual artist María Silvia Esteve.
Azza
‘Azza’ is a whirlwind, four wheel drive tour of a hidden side of Saudi Arabia, in which documaker Stephanie Brockhaus acquaints the audience with a boldly irrepressible young woman in search of her independence.
Life after Siham
Like Youssef Chahine’s quadrilogy, which explored his and his family’s defeats, shames, and victories, Namir Abdel Messeeh’s tenderhearted documentary ‘Life After Siham’ turns private mourning into a quiet, searching act of cinema.
The Audience Comes First: An Interview with CIFF Artistic Director Mohamed Tarek
After a decade of involvement with the Cairo Intl. Film Festival, Mohamed Tarek steps into the leadership position, prioritizing viewers and revitalizing programming.
The Six Billion Dollar Man
If great men deserve great documentaries, director Eugene Jarecki’s exhaustive profile of Julian Assange, ‘The Six Billion Dollar Man’, could hardly be bettered.
The Sessions
One woman’s sexual assault is a stand-in for every woman’s in Belgian director Sien Versteyhe’s tightly focussed chamber documentary.
Looking for Ayda
Sarra Abidi’s slow-moving existential drama set in a remote Tunisian call center painstakingly illustrates what living a life of quiet desperation really means in ‘Looking for Ayda’.
Triangle of Love
A journey through love and feelings left unsaid, ‘Triangle of Love’ turns everyday speech into an archive of attachment and grief.
Better Go Mad in the Wild
A pair of deeply eccentric twin brothers and a talking cow are the stars of Czech director Miro Remo’s mischievous, tragicomic, prize-winning documentary ‘Better Go Mad in the Wild’.
happiness
Firat Yucel’s desktop documentary, happiness, is an impressive attempt to convey the helplessness and emotional overwhelm felt in the contemporary, hyper-connected world.
All My Sisters
Tracking his nieces for two decades, from girlhood to womanhood, documentary maker Massoud Bakhshi’s ‘All My Sisters’ is a quietly subversive, deeply personal insider portrait of gender politics in Iran.
“In the end, it’s about ethics”: an interview with Isabel Arrate Fernandez
IDFA’s new Artistic Director Isabel Arrate Fernandez on running the world’s largest documentary festival, the dangers of AI, and a controversial new ban on state-funded Israeli films.
Complaint No. 713317
A small domestic malfunction unveils suffocating routine and bureaucratic absurdity in Yasser Shafiey’s Kafkaesque dark comedy ‘Complaint No. 713317’.
The Silent Run
In ‘The Silent Run’, Marta Bergman’s reconstruction of a tragic true story about a young migrant family trying to enter England from Belgium carves out its niche in the familiar European genre by shifting viewpoints between the determined, frightened refugees and the police whose job it is to stop them.
The Evolution of Khaled El Nabawy
Khaled El Nabawy is regarded as one of the most prominent actors of his generation and among the most conscious of art as a cultural and human message that transcends local boundaries.
Flana
In a low-key, understated documentary energized by its powerful message, director Zahraa Ghandour makes a soft-spoken, heartfelt plea for compassion for the many abandoned, abused and even murdered female children who are branded as unwanted in Iraq.
One More Show
The obliterated ruins of Gaza and its refugee tents bear witness to a rare act of defiance — laughter and smiles — in Mai Saad’s and Ahmed Eldanf’s hauntingly powerful documentary ‘One More Show’.
CIFF Kicks Off
Among 120 titles representing more than 50 countries at the 46th Cairo Intl. Film Festival, 14 films are competing for the Golden Pyramid awards, including five Arab features.
TFV Talks to Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rahim about Cairo Industry Days
Raising the profile of Egyptian cinema, the oldest and most important film industry in the MENA region.
The Running Man
Glen Powell’s running man is in fighting shape in Edgar Wright’s remake, but given how slack the story becomes, the running time could stand a trim.
Predator: Badlands
Sometimes silly but always propulsive, this franchise entry dares to give us an empathy-generating Predator, even if Elle Fanning’s robot steals the show.
DOK Leipzig 2025: The Verdict
A swansong for outgoing director Christoph Terhechte, the 68th edition of DOK Leipzig made a strong case that politically engaged, formally inventive, intellectually ambitious cinema can still play a critical role in troubled times.
Dok Leipzig 2025: The Awards
Ivan Ramljak’s much-lauded ‘Peacemaker’ wins DOK Leipzig’s documentary competition while Seth and Peter Scriver’s delightfully bizarre family ruckus ‘Endless Cookie’ takes home the Golden Dove in the animated competition.
A Jewish Problem
Ron Rothschild’s self-interrogating documentary ‘A Jewish Problem’ weaves his Jewish Israeli-German family memory into a fearless meditation on how Jewish trauma, European guilt, and Palestinian erasure continue to mirror one another.
Sediments
Laura Coppens recounts the history of 20th century Germany through a riveting familial lens in her documentary ‘Sediments’.
Elephants & Squirrels
History and colonialism form the basis for Gregor Brändli’s engrossing ‘Elephants & Squirrels’, screened at DOK Leipzig.
Take the Money and Run
Funny and compelling, if slightly glib, Ole Juncker’s fast-paced documentary ‘Take the Money and Run’ chronicles the case of a Danish artist who stole a hefty chunk of gallery money, arguing in court that the theft was a conceptual art statement.
The Woman Who Poked the Leopard
Ugandan poet, political activist and professional troublemaker Stella Nyanzi is the explosively charismatic subject of director Patience Nitumwesiga’s assured debut feature ‘The Woman Who Poked the Leopard’.
The Beauty of the Donkey
Childhood memories and a lost homeland are the backbone of Dea Gjinovci’s powerful documentary ‘The Beauty of the Donkey’.
I Love You, I Leave You
Mental health receives a very personal approach from Moris Freiburghaus, whose film ‘I Love You, I Leave You’ is rooted in friendship.
The Thing to Be Done
Srdan Kovacevic’s inspirational ‘fists in the air’ documentary ‘The Thing to Be Done’ offers a close-up on a small workers’ advisory office in Slovenia where a ‘parallel world’ for labour rights could exist.
Mary Anning
Paleontology comes to the screen from a child’s point of view in Marcel Barelli’s family-oriented feature debut ‘Mary Anning’.
Endless Cookie
A delightfully bizarre ruckus of wild family anecdote, the Scriver brothers’ animation is an astute catalogue of Canadian First Nations dispossession, and a hopeful contribution to resurgent knowledge.
Active Vocabulary
A Russian teacher re-enacts her denunciation by one of her own students in director Yulia Lokshina’s ‘Active Vocabulary’, a flawed but ambitious documentary about free speech, propaganda and state indoctrination of schoolchildren.
Cutting Through Rocks
This multiple prize-winning documentary is an inspirational close-up portrait of a proudly rebellious woman fighting for gender equality in a deeply traditional region of Iran, making powerful enemies along the way.
Traces of What Remains
A relationship is put to the test in Lisa Blatter’s tender sophomore feature directorial effort ‘Traces of What Remains’, screened at the Zurich Film Festival.
Welcome to Dok Leipzig 68
The 68th edition of the world’s longest-running documentary festival promises an all-inclusive Oktoberfest of high art and heavyweight issues, critical thinking and serious fun.
Wolves
Music and far-right politics form the backbone of Jonas Ulrich’s uneven but propulsively sturdy feature debut ‘Wolves’.
Melt
A meticulous, contemplative sweep of the globe, Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s impressive doc takes stock of humanity’s toil to control ice and snow as the climate crisis advances.
Writing Life: Annie Ernaux Through the Eyes of High School Students
French Nobel winner Annie Ernaux’s writing becomes a prism for the minds of a new generation in Claire Simon’s deceptively simple, insightful and expansive doc.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Bruce Springsteen has always known how to tell a story, but writer-director Scott Cooper falls short when it comes to capturing the Boss at a personal and artistic crossroads.
Black Phone 2
Horror sequel feels fresh and exciting before giving way to tired tropes, turning Ethan Hawke’s chilling villain into a copy of a copy of Freddy Krueger.
TRON: Ares
Disney’s cyber-sequel plays like a series of chase scenes strung together by technobabble, but viewers of the large-format 3D version will feel like they’re in one of the studio’s theme-park dark rides.
Taylor Swift: The Release Party of a Showgirl
It’s a glorified press kit/listening party for Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, designed to bring her faithful fans back to the multiplex.
The Smashing Machine
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt grapple with barely-there characters in a sports biopic that leaves out nearly all of the “bio.”
San Sebastian 2025: The Verdict
From the cloister to Gaza, powerful films and opinionated audiences make themselves heard at San Sebastian.
San Sebastian 2025: The Awards
Spanish director Alauda Ruiz de Azua won San Sebastian’s best film prize with her witty, paradoxical and often quite moving ‘Sundays’.
She Walks in Darkness
Spanish director Agustín Díaz Yanes delivers a gripping, action-packed but intellectually hollow thriller about an undercover woman police officer who infiltrates the Basque terrorist group ETA.
Nighttime Sounds
In wheatfields dotted with 800-year-old stone statues, hidden female desires burn in Zhang Zhongchen’s engrossing magical realist tale from the Chinese hinterlands.
Busan 2025: The Verdict
Amid widespread concern over the health of the Korean film industry, the Busan International Film Festival celebrated its 30th edition hosting domestic films – and audiences – marked by their variety and vitality.
Malika
Natalia Uvarova’s ‘Malika’ is a levelheaded examination of a mother and daughter relationship on the verge of a new marriage.
Busan 2025: The Awards
In ‘Gloaming in Luomu’, Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lu offers his most radical reworking of the theme of searching for a long-vanished soulmate, in a film that unfolds like a delirious dream.
Hidden Murder
Sleek, sophisticated and certifiably scary in parts, ‘Hidden Murder’ is a Spanish-Argentinian psychological thriller premiering in San Sebastian’s RTVE Galas sidebar.
A Scary Movie
Spanish-Brazilian director Sergio Oksman uses Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ to reflect on the ghosts of his own life in the slender but intriguing hybrid documentary, ‘A Scary Movie;’.
Maspalomas
Love, lust and old age coalesce in the layered, emotionally charged queer comedy-drama ‘Maspalomas’, part of San Sebastián’s Official Selection.
Two Seasons, Two Strangers
Gently engaging the viewer with whimsical tales of two couples and reflections on the artistic process, Shô Miyake’s Locarno Golden Leopard winner ‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’ skillfully plays a wide range of chords from melancholy to amusing, tragic to poetic.
Historias del buen valle
Autenticidad y buen humor en las manos de José Luis Guerin hacen de estás Historias una contendiente fuerte a la Concha de oro.
Good Valley Stories
The authenticity and good humor in José Luis Guerin’s documentary ‘Good Valley Stories’ won it the Special Jury Award at San Sebastian.
Basque Glories: Restoring Basque Language Films at San Sebastián
Following the success of ‘Tasio’ on the festival circuit last year, the Basque Film Archive will present the restored versions of four 1980s medium-length feature at San Sebastián.
Ballad of a Small Player
Colin Farrell gives a high-energy performance as a boozy con man gambling his life away in the casinos of Macau in director Edward Berger’s stylish but shallow thriller ‘Ballad of a Small Player’.
Cuerpo Celeste
Nayra Ilic Garcia’s minimalist, somewhat impenetrable coming-of-age tale about a 15-year-old Chilean girl, ‘Cuerpo Celeste’, is set during the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.
Bad Apples
Saoirse Ronan and two child actors shine in the implausible but wildly funny UK comedy ‘Bad Apples’, screened in San Sebastián’s New Directors section.
Los domingos
La vida de una familia española de clase media se convulsiona cuando la hija de 17 años considera convertirse en monja de clausura en la astuta, divertida y frecuentemente conmovedora película ‘Los domingos’ de Alauda Ruiz de Azua.
Las corrientes
Las tensiones de la maternidad se desbordan en Las corrientes, un drama existencial y visualmente expresivo.
Si no ardemos, cómo iluminar la noche
El debut de Kim Torres es un coming of age sobrio y sensible que se estrena en el Festival de San Sebastián.
Nuremberg
Russell Crowe, Rami Malek and Michael Shannon give meaty performances in James Vanderbilt’s ‘Nuremberg’, a solidly entertaining historical drama about the post-war trials of prominent Nazis, which is low on subtlety but full of timely political messages.
If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night
Kim Torres’ first film is a sober and sensitive coming-of-ager.
Sundays
The life of a middle-class Spanish family is turned upside down when the 17-year-old daughter considers becoming a cloistered nun in Alauda Ruiz de Azua’s sly, funny and frequently moving ‘Sundays’.
Seven O’Clock Breakfast Club for the Brokenhearted
South Korean rom-com royalty Bae Suzy and The Squid Game star Lee Jin-wook descend on Busan with the slick, subdued and fastidiously chaste ‘Seven O’Clock Breakfast Club for the Brokenhearted’.
Kok Kok Kokoook
Scathing social commentary meets brash body horror in the unclassifiable and utterly compelling ‘Kok Kok Kokoook’, Maharshi Tuhin Kashyap’s first feature.
Ungrateful Beings
A holiday homicide triggers a family crisis in Olmo Omerzu’s compelling psychological thriller ‘Ungrateful Beings’, which is clunky in places but saved by its intriguing premise and strong cast.
Maze
Grief is the thing in Maze, Shin Sun’s subdued drama about a trio of people processing loss. An understated but absorbing meditation on guilt and recrimination.
SAI Disaster
A new-old take on a not very believable serial killer haunting Japan, ‘SAI Disaster’ emphasizes the ordinary, dull, problematic lives of his victims in Yutaro Seki and Kentaro Hirase’s unremarkable second collaboration.
Weightless
Danish director Emilie Thalund depicts teenage confusion with gentle precision in her feature debut ‘Weightless’.
Gloaming in Luomu
Zhang Lu conjures an enigmatic, engaging and visually enchanting cinematic experience with ‘Gloaming in Luomu’.
Spying Stars
Sri Lankan cineaste Vimukthi Jayasundara re-emerges from his decade-long feature-filmmaking hiatus with ‘Spying Stars’, a moving story about death and mourning packaged as an audacious sci-fi fantasy.
Coutures
‘Coutures’ mixes sickness, war, high fashion and star power in its race for the Golden Shell at San Sebastian.
As We Breathe
A wildfire out of control in rural Turkey threatens the house, livestock and resourcefulness of a little girl and her motherless family in Seyhmus Altun’s low-key, high-anxiety drama ‘As We Breathe’.
The Importance of Being Lillian Hellman
The San Sebastián Retrospective, devoted to Lillian Hellman, is even more timely now than when it was announced.
By Another Name
A dying filmmaker struggles to bring one final project to fruition and his wife attempts to realise this last wish in “By Another Name”, Korean indie filmmaker Lee Jea-han’s uneventful entry to Busan’s new competition.
A dying filmmaker struggles to bring one final project to fruition and his wife attempts to realise this last wish in “By Another Name”, Korean indie filmmaker Lee Jea-han’s plain and uneventful entry to Busan International Film Festival’s newly minted main competition.
Two Pianos
Music and obsessive love are the center of the compelling new Arnaud Desplechin film premiering in competition at SSIFF.
Hen
György Pálfi works with a plucky cast of real animals on ‘Hen’, a scrappy but technically impressive comic thriller about a rebellious bird on the run from the chicken-industrial complex.
Urchin
Harris Dickinson shows impressive directorial chops with the mental health drama ‘Urchin’, starring Frank Dillane.
Shape of Momo
Indian filmmaker Tribeny Rai makes back-to-back festival bows at Busan and San Sebastian with ‘Shape of Momo’, a thoughtful family drama about an affluent, cosmopolitan woman’s rebellion against the gender- and class-based schisms in her picturesque Himalayan hometown.
La lucha
Un padre y una hija de clase trabajadora pertenecen a un grupo muy unido de luchadores tradicionales en La lucha, una historia inesperadamente extravagante y emocionalmente perfecta ambientada en las Islas Canarias.
Without Permission
A sense of déja vu permeates the Busan competition entry ‘Without Permission’, British-Iranian Hassan Nazer’s awkwardly dated tribute to the subversive spirit of Iran’s filmmakers.
Kurak
Completing the work of her late partner Emial Atageldiev, screenwriter-turned-helmer Erke Dzhumakmatova bows at Busan with ‘Kurak’, a relentlessly brutal exposé of the entrenched, violent oppression of women in Kygryzstan.
Los tigres
Grandes actuaciones y buena realización salvan un guion previsible in ‘Los tigres’.
The Tigers
Great performances and good direction save a predictable script in Alberto Rodriguez’s thriller ‘The Tigers’, bowing in competition at San Sebastian.
Dance of the Living
A working class father and daughter belong to a close-knit group of traditional wrestlers in an unexpectedly flamboyant, emotionally pitch-perfect story set on the Canary Islands, ‘Dance of the Living’.
Redoubt
Writer director John Skoog casts Denis Lavant as a real-life backwoods eccentric from Swedish history in his dramatically thin but compellingly bizarre Cold War drama ‘Redoubt’.
Funky Freaky Freaks
‘Funky Freaky Freaks’ puts troubled Korean youth on the big screen in a manner that advertises director Han Chang-lok’s eye for fine performances and unusual visuals.
The Mutation
Korean cineaste Shin Su-won’s first feature in three years, ‘The Mutation’ is a lyrical and heartfelt odd-couple road movie about bereavement, bigotry and self-belief.
Leave the Cat Alone
With his first feature ‘Leave the Cat Alone’ competing in Busan, Japanese filmmaker Daisuke Shigaya offers a sensitive and subdued exploration into the loves and hopes of some artistic millennials.
El mensaje
La película de Iván Fund – minimalista y en tono bajo- sobre una joven argentina con un don especial se centra en atmósfera y matices.
San Sebastian 2025: The Female Touch
Women are prominently featured at San Sebastián 2025, from the poster to the subject of the Retrospective, and beyond.
The Stranger
François Ozon gives much-loved Albert Camus novel ‘L’Étranger’ a chic retro-modernist polish in this sumptuously shot adaptation of a French literary classic.
Six Days in Spring
Joachim Lafosse tells the story of an unusual vacation in the autobiographical and subtly surprising ‘Six Days in Spring’.
En Route To
Yoo Jaein’s graduation film, ‘En Route To’, is both a clear-eyed drama about teenage pregnancy and a humorous, touching tale of female friendship.
Jafar Panahi Receives Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award at Busan
Iranian cineaste Jafar Panahi talks about his 30-year relationship with BIFF and calls for a change in the Academy Awards’ submission rules.
Another Birth
New York-based Tajik-American filmmaker Isabelle Kalandar bows in competition at Busan with ‘Another Birth’, a mesmerising rite-of-passage drama bolstered by poetry, picturesque landscapes and a powerful turn from its child actor.
Baka’s Identity
Koto Nagata’s surprisingly subtle and melancholy suspense thriller ‘Baka’s Identity’ about three Japanese scammers vaunts nuanced performances but gets derailed by flashbacks.
One Battle After Another
Sprawling and intimate, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest takes on sweeping political and personal ideas with equal assurance.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
A long, leaden, lugubrious ASMR video.
Jung Hanseok Takes Charge at Busan; Fest Pivots to Competition
Busan International Film Festival enters a new era with a dedicated competition section and the appointment of a new festival director eager to highlight BIFF’s Asian focus.
Oldenburg 2025: The Awards
Ondrej Provaznik’s ‘Broken Voices’ takes the top prize, while debut directors flourish at Oldenburg 2025.
Oldenburg Film Festival 2025: The Verdict
The indie film event par excellence, Oldenburg Film Festival, returned over an inspiring five days filled with bold and creative filmmaking from brutal dystopian pregnancy dramas to charming mental health love stories.
Re-Creation
The gripping, formally inventive jury-room drama ‘Re-Creation’ is part speculative fiction and part true crime exposé built around strong performances.
Oldenburg pays tribute to Don Keith Opper
Most famous for his role in the Critters franchise, Oldenburg celebrates Don Keith Opper’s contributions as a screenwriter.
The Sleeping Beauty
Mattie Do’s The Sleeping Beauty is a beguiling fairy tale of accursed love that blends fantasy and horror, born of traditional Laotian folklore.
The Girl in the Snow
Louise Hemon’s feature fiction debut, The Girl in the Snow, takes real life stories and conjures with them an enthralling period chamber piece with folk horror inflections.
Controversy and Oscar Season Buzz Mark TIFF 50th Celebrations
The Oscar field narrows in Toronto as protesters scrutinize programming.
An Interview with Anders Thomas Jensen
The prolific Danish screenwriter and director, Anders Thomas Jensen, talks about his latest wander into the weird with Mads Mikkelsen, ‘The Last Viking.’
The Innocents
German Tejada updates Oswaldo Reynoso into contemporary Lima in The Innocents, a grungy coming-of-age drama that explores burgeoning sexuality and youthful alienation.
The Boy with White Skin
Labour and mythology come crashing together in The Boy with White Skin, a disquieting short set in the pitch darkness of a Senegalese gold mine.
Under the Burning Sun
Incandescent rage sets alight Under the Burning Sun, a road trip through a merciless dystopian desert where women’s bodies are not their own.
The Long Walk
An impressive ensemble of young actors and taut filmmaking makes this adaptation of Stephen King’s death-march saga gripping and grim.
Gunman
The backstreets of Buenos Aires are a deadly labyrinth in Gunman, a hyper-kinetic, bravura single take thriller from Chris Tapia Marchiori.
Mouse
Paranoia and past trauma come to bear in Mouse, Rosie Barrett’s short small-town drama infused with an impressive, slowly building tension.
Eugene the Marine
Scott Glenn is fantastic in Eugene the Marine, a genre-bender that uses heartwarming comedy and bloody giallo to rage against the dying of the light.
Llueve sobre Babel
El elegante primer largometraje de la escritora y directora colombiana Gala del Sol es un carnaval queer audaz, ambicioso y caleidoscópico de lo basado libremente en el ‘Infierno’ de Dante.
Broken Voices
The insidiousness of abuse is expertly explored in Broken Voices, a restrained but devastating loss-of-innocence drama from Ondrej Provaznik.
perfectly a strangeness
The short experimental documentary ‘perfectly a strangeness’ pairs the mundane with the majestic in an equine odyssey to the stars.
Our Father
Addiction and religion clash in ‘Our Father’, a powerful drama about getting clean under the eye of God.
Horseshoe
Familial fractures persist across decades in Edwin Mullane and Adam O’Keeffe’s deftly observed and emotive debut feature, Horseshoe.
Dammen
A single wide-angle perspective gives an eerily voyeuristic air to the smart, lowkey exercise in building tension – Dammen.
Independent Spirit Returns with the 32nd Oldenburg Film Festival
The city in Lower Saxony comes to life with the return of Germany’s top indie festival, the Oldenburg Film Festival.
German director Joscha Bongard on Influencer Families and His Satirical Drama Babystar
German director Joscha Bongard discusses the commodification of intimacy and the influencer industry as his debut fiction feature ‘Babystar’ bowed in Toronto.
Good Boy
‘Good Boy’ delivers a delightfully strange tale about the limits of parenthood.
Winter of the Crow
Lesley Manville sees history unfold in front of her eyes in the uneven Cold War thriller ‘Winter of the Crow.’
Whitetail
A patience-testing, slow-burn drama about trauma and grief that offers little reward for sticking it out.
Venice 2025: The Verdict
Dissent around the jury’s Golden Lion pick only slightly dimmed one of Venice’s best film festivals in years.
The Holy Boy
Paolo Strippoli puts his own spin on the intertwining of grief, faith and horror in the solidly intriguing ‘The Holy Boy’.
The Currents
The tensions of motherhood overflow in the existential, visually expressive drama ‘The Currents’.
Venice 2025: The Awards
Golden Lion goes to Jim Jarmusch; Grand Jury Award to Gaza drama ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’
To the Victory!
Valentyn Vasyanovych imagines post-war Ukraine with both hope and fear in the compellingly meta drama, ‘To the Victory!’
Silent Friend
Rare is the film able to turn a meditation on time, nature, neuroscience and interspecies connections into a memorable, stirring adventure of ideas like Ildiko Enyedi’s ‘Silent Friend’, a totally original, time-spanning story that closed Venice competition with a bang.
Egghead Republic
Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja take on edgelord media with an inventively comic touch in ‘Egghead Republic’.
Babystar
The screen-time satire ‘Babystar’ delivers sharp observations about social media coupled with a surprisingly bold visual style.
Saipan
‘Saipan’ scores big in a thrilling true story about off-pitch football shenanigans.
Newport & the Great Folk Dream
Loaded with previously unseen archive footage, Robert Gordon’s engaging documentary ‘Newport & the Great Folk Dream’ looks beyond star names like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez to explore the musical, social and political roots of Newport Folk Festival.
“Nothing Is Final With Kafka”: Agnieszka Holland on ‘Franz’ and Rehumanising a Legend
Polish director Agnieszka Holland discusses ‘Franz’, her “punky” Toronto-bowing take on the novelist Kafka.
The Love That Remains
A family falls apart into each other’s arms in Hlynur Palmason’s distinctive ‘The Love That Remains’.
Giornate degli Autori: Venice 2025 Awards
The independent filmmakers section reaches its 22nd edition.
Franz
Newcomer Idan Weiss shines in Agnieszka Holland’s vivid portrait of the tortured writer, Franz Kafka.
Julian
‘Julian’ is the sentimental and stirring true story about a tragic romance and the battle for queer rights.
Who Is Still Alive
Nicolas Wadimoff returns to the topic of Gaza with the experimental documentary ‘Who Is Still Alive’, an intellectually intriguing Venice premiere.
Duse
An illuminating, soul-deep portrait of the great Italian stage actress Eleanora Duse, gloriously played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, is interwoven with the rise of Fascism in Italy following the First World War.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Blending MCU levels of fan service with British baking-competition levels of coziness, this final entry in the beloved historical drama satisfyingly brings gentry and staff alike into the 1930s.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
A tremendously moving reenactment of a real tragedy that took place in Gaza, Kaouther Ben Hania’s ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ masterfully integrates fiction and reality in a grief-stricken lament for a child in mortal danger.
The Conjuring: Last Rites
The once-scary paranormal franchise finally gives up the ghost – and none too soon.
EFP’s Cornelia Klimkeit on Partnerships and Progress
The head of EFP’s Film Sales Support speaks frankly about the challenges facing European film sales at home and abroad.
The Toronto International Film Festival Rolls Out the Red Carpet for its 50th Birthday
The Toronto International Film Festival celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year, but by no means are they riding on cruise control. Even as they welcome dozens of stars on the red carpet, preparations are underway for the launch of a full-fledged market in 2026....
Reviving the Past for the Present: Taiwan Revs Up its Restorations
The Venice bow of the restored version of Tsai Ming-liang’s Golden Lion winner ‘Vive L’Amour’ is just the latest stop on Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute’s festival tour, showcasing Taiwanese cinema, history and culture.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
Filmed in Kenya, Damien Hauser’s wildly inventive retro-futuristic fairy tale ‘Memory of Princess Mumbi’ combines dazzling AI visuals with bittersweet meditations on love and loss, cinematic fantasy and human reality.
A House of Dynamite
Kathryn Bigelow turns her prodigious talent for edge-of-seat action thrillers to the most terrifying horror show of them all: a rogue nuclear missile is headed straight for the USA and officialdom discovers the absurd inadequacy of available responses, in ‘A House of Dynamite’, a dazzling dark fantasy that leaves viewers shaken.
Silent Rebellion
Marie-Elsa Sgualdo explores women’s rights in the 1940s in her handsomely mounted, quietly intriguing feature debut ‘Silent Rebellion’.
A Year of School
Laura Samani deals with high school tribulations in her deceptively breezy sophomore directorial effort ‘A Year of School’.
Past Present Continuous
Acclaimed artists and filmmakers Morteza Ahmadvand and Firouzeh Khosrovani (‘Radiograph of a Family’) pool their talents in ‘Past Present Continuous’, an emotionally-charged yet formally distanced creative documentary that combines experiences of Iranians in exile from their country.
How to Shoot a Ghost
Mortality is on the mind in Charlie Kaufman’s contemplative and illusory short, How to Shoot a Ghost – an enveloping, chimeric memento mori.
The Testament of Ann Lee
Amanda Seyfried is on a mission from God in writer-director Mona Fastvold’s audacious, ambitious and mostly excellent avant-garde feminist musical about a real-life 18th century messianic female religious leader ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’.
The Wizard of the Kremlin
Russian history whips by onscreen in Olivier Assayas’s often fascinating, at times clumsy English-language drama ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin,’ detailing the rise of Putin (Jude Law) and authoritarian power through the eyes of a brilliant, unscrupulous young ideologue.
The Last Viking
Anders Thomas Jensen teams up with Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas once again for the hilariously moving dark comedy ‘The Last Viking’.
Rose of Nevada
British writer-director Mark Jenkin’s visually inventive maritime mystery ‘Rose of Nevada’ hits a few choppy waters but ultimately proves to be a haunting meditation on grief, guilt and collective trauma.
Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro’s lifelong obsession with Frankenstein and his Creature comes to thrilling, bombastic life in this new take on Mary Shelley’s novel.
Below the Clouds
Digging deep into Naples’ past, Italy’s premier documentarian Gianfranco Rosi (‘Sacro GRA’; ‘Notturno’) struggles to turn the city into a metaphor for time, history, and the human condition in ‘Below the Clouds’.
Broken English
Marianne Faithfull died while making the arty swansong documentary ‘Broken English’, which is hampered by too much stylistic trickery but still delivers a rich mixtape of music, memories and boho-rock royalty.
No Other Choice
A farcical crimefest with a dark side, Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ amplifies the inhumanity of modern industry and the utter ruthlessness of salaried work in an engaging film full of unexpected twists.
My Father and Qaddafi
Libyan-American director Jihan K mourns both her lost father and her lost fatherland in her moving, lyrical, densely layered murder-mystery docu-memoir ‘My Father and Qadaffi’.
Coyotes
Said Zagha’s pulsating neo-noir probes at the dark consequences of being pushed to breaking point in Coyotes, a genre-inflected Palestinian short.
Milk Teeth
Mihai Mincan’s compellingly enigmatic sophomore solo effort ‘Milk Teeth’ deals with the end of the Ceausescu regime in Romania in a roundabout way.
Hijra
Three women’s journey to Mecca becomes a stunning allegory on life for a 12-year-old girl in Saudi director Shahad Ameen’s (‘Scales’) bewitching road movie, ‘Hijra’.
Bugonia
Emma Stone reunites with ‘The Favourite’ and ‘Poor Things’ director Yorgos Lanthimos for ‘Bugonia’, a slight but enjoyably bizarre remake of a cult Korean sci-fi kidnap comedy.
Venice Immersive 2025: the Communal in the Virtual
Multiple elements of the 2025 edition of Venice Immersive tried to go beyond the conventional image of the virtual reality experience.
La Grazia
Toni Servillo shines in a memorable, tragi-comic performance as the president of Italy in Paolo Sorrentino’s crowd-pleasing Venice opener ‘La Grazia’, an often funny, sometimes moving tale of the Numero Uno’s loneliness, inner doubts and obsessions and his inability to make up his mind on difficult legislation like euthanasia.
Venice 2025: A Royal Pre-Opening
The new reconstruction of ‘Queen Kelly’ was an appetizer for things to come at Venice 2025, the 82nd edition of the festival.
Mother
Noomi Rapace and director Teona Strugar Mitevska give young Mother Teresa a lightly feminist “punk” remix, but sadly their non-committal bio-drama ‘Mother’ is not ‘The Girl with the Jesus Tattoo’.
Caught Stealing
Darren Aronofsky’s violent screwball tragedy might be his most “mainstream” movie to date, but it displays the intensity and darkness that’s become his calling card.
KPop Demon Hunters
Wit, style, and some inescapably catchy songs has earned this Sony-Netflix animated feature a well-deserved global fandom.
Sarajevo 2025: The Awards
Stefan Dordevic’s sensitive doc portrait of grief won top honors at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival.
Sarajevo 2025: The Verdict
Wind, Talk to Me was named Best Feature at Sarajevo Film Festival’s political and star-studded 31st edition.
Phantoms of July
Director Julian Radlmaier’s charming small-town ensemble comedy ‘Phantoms of July’ finds poetry, political unease and romantic yearning at the heart of modern Europe.
CineLink Winners at Sarajevo 2025
A rich array of awards was distributed to film projects at the 23rd CineLink Industry Days in Sarajevo.
The Orchards
Antoine Chapon repurposes eerie architectural animations in ‘The Orchards,’ a paean to a lost Damascus community that attempts to resist its eradication by a vindictive regime.
Index
Index, the new short film from Radu Muntean is a low-key thriller that transforms tranquil forest bathing into something far more brooding and disquieting.
Cuba & Alaska
In Yegor Troyanovsky’s warmly personal, bittersweet doc ‘Cuba & Alaska’, we follow a volunteer combat medic duo of two best friends on and off Ukraine’s wartime roads.
9-Month Contract
Shocking but sensitively handled, Ketevan Vashagashvili’s debut doc ‘9-Month Contract’ exposes exploitative practices in Georgian surrogacy agencies through one woman’s risky reality.
I Believe the Portrait Saved Me
The documentary vignette ‘I Believe the Portrait Saved Me’ uses a deeply personal story to explore the power of creativity and evoke the teetering knife edge of survival.
Sarajevo Honoree Willem Dafoe on David Lynch, Scorsese and More
The prolific American actor discussed working with unconventional arthouse giants, and the view from atop one of Scorsese’s most controversial scenes.
Divia
Dmytro Hreshko’s documentary, Divia, combines alarming scale with small moments to create a haunting portrait of war-ravaged nature in the micro and the macro.
Ray Winstone Honored with the Heart of Sarajevo
.A more prolific and eclectic actor is hard to find: Ray Winstone adds another feather to his cap with Sarajevo Film Festival’s highest award.
Fantasy
Young Slovenian writer-director Kukla celebrates sexual, ethnic and gender diversity in her slightly heavy-handed but big-hearted debut feature ‘Fantasy’.
Two Prosecutors
Sergei Loznitsa’s masterfully controlled, mordantly absurd drama on the fate of a just idealist in Stalin’s USSR is a timely warning on the workings of state terror.
In Hell with Ivo
Director Kristina Nikolova’s lively documentary portrait of Bulgarian queer musician and performance artist Ivo Dimchev, ‘In Hell with Ivo’, is compelling but frustratingly light on detail.
The Fin
South Korean director Park Syeyoung’s ambitious dystopian sci-fi thriller ‘The Fin’ makes up for its scrappy plot with biting political subtext and striking grime-punk visuals.
Loynes
Baroque farce is the order of the day in Dorian Jespers’ surreal new short, Loynes, that transforms a historical curio into a bizarre courtroom nightmare.
Don’t Let the Sun
Swiss documentarian Jacqueline Zünd makes her fiction debut with the quietly powerful human relationship drama ‘Don’t Let the Sun’..
Little Trouble Girls
Anchored by a wonderful performance from newcomer Jara Sofija Ostan, Urska Djukic’s feature debut Little Trouble Girls is a refreshing and enigmatic take on sexual awakening.
Paolo Sorrentino, the Self-Effacing Star Director
The man behind ‘The Consequences of Love’ and ‘The Hand of God’ is among the guests of honor at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
How Come It’s All Green Out Here?
Nikola Lezaic melts the lines between fiction and family memory in a gently unusual but ultimately frustrating drama about a road trip to Dalmatia for a re-burial.
Imago
In the gorgeously subtle and poetic doc ‘Imago’, Déni Oumar Pitsaev visits Pankisi to explore what kind of home it can be for the dreams of Chechnya’s displaced.
God Will Not Help
A woman’s strange arrival upends order in a Croatian shepherd clan in Hana Jusic’s powerful, brooding period drama.
Wish You Were Ear
Mirjana Balogh’s affirming animation, Wish You Were Ear, finds solace in a dystopian future where ending a relationship requires the physical swapping of a body part.
Sarajevo 2025: The Heart of the Matter
The 31st edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival promises to be yet another rich and layered showcase of contemporary cinema.
White Snail
A morgue in Belarus is the unlikely setting for new hope to seed in an unsettling, unusual drama from Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter.
Sorella di Clausura
In Ivana Mladenovic’s satirical, chaotic anti-romance, an obsessed fan in a kitsch-crammed Romania goes to extreme lengths to pursue a Balkan music star.
Desire Lines
Dane Komljen’s spectral and shape-lifting landscape of bodies and the paranoia of uncertain identity is a mesmerising, unsettling gem.
The Deal
Jean-Stéphane Bron tackles TV thriller territory with his series debut “The Deal”, screened out of competition in Locarno.
Nobody 2
While this follow-up lacks the wicked surprises of the original — it’s a sequel, after all — Bob Odenkirk’s nebbishy super-assassin and Sharon Stone’s deranged super-villain make for an amusingly violent late-summer trifle.
The Boy from the River Drina
Past traumas are at the center of Zijad Ibrahimovic’s documentary ‘The Boy from the River Drina’, screened in Locarno’s Panorama Suisse section.
Freakier Friday
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reteam for an amiably laugh-filled comedy that brings the body-switch hi-jinks to a new generation of misunderstood teenagers.
The Naked Gun
The gags fly fast and furious as Liam Neeson and director and co-writer Akiva Schaffer revive the outrageous film and TV franchise from Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Marvel’s original superhero team once again falters in a big-screen adaptation, one that’s heavy on period gloss but light on engaging characters.
Smurfs
The occasional bursts of visual style and clever humor come too few and far between in this dreary do-over of the big blue franchise.
Palestinian Cinema Lights Up the 6th Amman Festival
Stories told “honestly and unapologetically” proved a winning strategy at the 6th Amman Intl Film Festival – Awal Film, an intimate, carefully programmed showcase for cinema from the Arab countries and beyond that is asserting itself as a major cultural event in the region.
Têtes Brûlées
A sensitive and emotionally intimate exploration of cultural identity amidst grief, ‘Têtes Brûlées’ recounts how a 12-year-old girl from a Tunisian family living in Brussels loses her beloved brother, in Maja-Ajmia Yde Zellama’s stereotype-shattering debut feature.
Yalla Parkour
When documaker Areeb Zuaiter in the U.S. stumbles across the Internet videos of daredevil Ahmad, a teenage parkour athlete in Gaza, they begin a heartfelt long-distance friendship that becomes entwined with the filmmaker’s sense of belonging to her mother’s Palestinian homeland, in the fascinating and revealing meeting of worlds, Yalla Parkour.
The Clown of Gaza
World premiering at the Amman International Film Festival, Gazan director Abdulrahman Sabbah’s ‘The Clown of Gaza’ is an observant and immersive documentary about the anxiety, hope and resilience of displaced Palestinians through the life of a buoyant street performer.
Amman 2025: The Awards
Lotfi Achour’s chilling psychodrama of a young shepherd who witnesses ISIS behead his cousin won the top prize at the 6th Amman Int. FIlm Festival – Awal Film.
The Royal Film Commission Rides the Waves
From a cash rebate up to 45% for foreign productions shooting in Jordan to educational programs to develop filmmakers and audiences, Jordan’s Royal Film Commission has become a leading force in the MENA region for film culture.
From Ground Zero +
In ‘From Ground Zero +’ the project organized by Rashid Masharawi collects new documentary testimony giving voice to Palestinians living in the midst of war, in which four directors vividly describe the atmosphere of fear and suffering in Gaza today.
Mother of Schools
A prestigious boys’ high school between Amman and the Dead Sea finds itself torn asunder in a growing divide between traditional teaching methods and the digital revolution, added to political tensions as the war intensifies in Gaza, in the Jordanian documentary ‘Mother of Schools’.
18 Awards at Amman Film Industry Days
With 150 film submissions, it’s already a win to be among the projects selected at the Amman Film Industry Days.
Superman
The Man of Steel soars again in a superhero saga that plays to writer-director James Gunn’s considerable strengths at genre storytelling.
Amman Film Industry Days at its Busiest
As Amman’s Film Industry Days explode with some 400 participants signed on, Industry head Bassam Alasad assesses, “Arab cinema has gotten bolder and wilder – no rules can hold back its creativity.”
Tales from the Magic Garden
A delightful bouquet of children’s tales, told in stop-motion animation, gently broaches the theme of accepting death and loss in ‘Tales from the Magic Garden’, adapted from the stories of beloved Czech playwright Arnost Goldflam.
Algiers
A hard-boiled cop thriller set in Algiers, Chakib Taleb-Bendiab’s debut feature about the race to find a kidnapped street girl packs a lot of fast-paced action, but its momentum hits the wall of an underdeveloped storyline and overly familiar stock characters.
Songs of Adam
A magical film about time and history, told through the eyes of a Peter Pan farm boy who refuses to grow up, Oday Rasheed’s ‘Songs of Adam’ masterfully evokes a timeless Iraqi society of Mesopotamian farmers from post-WW2 to the present.
Amman Int. Film Festival Navigates an Unscripted World
Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film (AIFF) raises the curtain on Arab and international films for the 6th time, during a pause in Mideast hostilities and the ongoing tragedy in Palestine.
Jurassic World: Rebirth
This latest entry roars to life only when humans are directly facing dino-danger – and it takes far too long to get them there.
M3GAN 2.0
Sequel to the sleeper hit veers away from horror into comic-thriller territory, delivering jolts and satirical laughs, though not quite enough of either.
F1: The Movie
The cars go vroom but the characters fail to register in this technically proficient and dramatically vacant auto-racing saga.
28 Years Later
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland reteam for a sequel to their zombie smash that’s got a lot of heart – and other organs.
Elio
Plenty of joyous visual detail in this Pixar story of a boy who wants to be abducted by aliens, but an excess of incident robs the characters of much depth.
How to Train Your Dragon
Fans of the original have no reason to seek out the live-action remake, which competently rehashes the beloved animated classic while adding almost nothing new.
Ballerina
Slight but entertaining, this “from the world of John Wick” spin-off emphasizes over-the-top weapon-based fights over stylish hand-to-hand combat.
The Phoenician Scheme
A Wes Anderson with all of the typefaces and upholsteries you’d expect, but none of the heart or soul of his best films.
Karate Kid: Legends
This reboot-remake-sequel never strays far from what’s expected but succeeds thanks to cornball charm and some stirring fight sequences.
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Sepideh Farsi’s documentary ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’ is a devastating yet profoundly human portrait of photojournalist Fatma Hassona and her life under siege in Gaza.
Young Mothers
The Dardenne brothers tell another understated story of slices of female life with “Young Mothers”, winner of the Best Screenplay award in Cannes.
Asian Restorations on the Rise at Cannes
Some of the best discoveries of Asian cinema at Cannes this year took place in the Classics programme, with overlooked auteurs from marginal countries receiving belated acclaim.
Cannes 2025: The Verdict
The diversity of art was a running theme at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where an Iranian filmmaker won the Palme d’Or and Japan emerged strong.
Eagles of the Republic
Director Tarik Saleh closes his Cairo trilogy with ‘Eagles of the Republic’, a daring political fantasy thriller set in the Egyptian movie industry, starring a magnetic Fares Fares.
78th Cannes Film Festival 2025: The Awards
Outspoken Iranian director Jafar Panahi takes the Palme d’Or with his daring ‘It Was Just an Accident’.
Orwell: 2+2=5
Never has the world felt closer to the threats of rising fascism described by George Orwell than now, as filmmaker Raoul Peck (‘I Am Not your Negro’) lucidly shows in his new documentary ‘Orwell: 2+2=5’.
CineVerdict: Romería
En la competencia por la Palma de Oro, el 3er. largometraje de la cineasta española Carla Simón, Romería, ofrece un apasionante drama familiar que gira en torno a una joven en su búsqueda por la verdad sobre la muerte prematura de su padre.
Sentimental Value
Joachim Trier makes a powerful return to the Cannes Competition with “Sentimental Value”, a meditation on art, family and depression with a distinctly Nordic flair.
Woman and Child
In Saeed Roustaee’s ‘Woman and Child’, a young widow loses control when her son dies, in a well-made, well-acted and unrestrained Iranian melodrama gauged primarily to local audience tastes.
It Was Just an Accident
Jafar Panahi has never been more explicit in denouncing the torture political prisoners are subjected to in Iran, or the furious longing for revenge that haunts the state’s victims, than in ‘It Was Just an Accident’.
Romeria
In the running for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón’s third feature “Romeria” offers gripping family drama revolving around a young woman’s search for the truth about her father’s early demise.
The Secret Agent
A dazzling if confusing thriller set in 1977 Brazil during the worst years of the dictatorship, ‘The Secret Agent’ finds actor Wagner Moura embroiled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with the corrupt police of Recife.
Fuori
Valeria Golino sparkles in ‘Fuori’, Mario Martone’s nonconformist portrait of celebrated Italian writer and provocateur Goliarda Sapienza, in an often elusive but pleasingly nonconformist feminist tale that takes a timely stand for personal liberty.
CineVerdict: Un poeta
Humor negro, ironía y desafío de los estereotipos cinematográficos hacen de ‘Un poeta’ una comedia para ser disfrutada.
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele
Kirill Serebrennikov’s muscular biopic ‘The Disappearance of Josef Mengele’ about the elusive Nazi fugitive is a real-life horror story, sprawling at times but powered by strong performances and great visual swagger.
A Poet
Black humor, irony and a bit of poetry make the Colombian ‘A Poet’ a very enjoyable watch.
Lilo & Stitch
This pleasant-enough remake of the animated film never quite justifies why that animated film needed to be remade in the first place.
Love Letters
In 2013, the Taubira Law granting same-sex couples marriage equality and the right to adopt children, was signed into effect in France. However, where one bureaucratic injustice ended, another began as Alice Douard explores in her debut feature Love Letters. Just...
A Useful Ghost
In the middle of the Venn diagram of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Quentin Dupieux, and Charlie Kaufman, you might find Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke and his debut feature film A Useful Ghost. Marvellously inventive, what begins as an unlikely ghost story and tragic...
Die My Love
Lynne Ramsay returns to the big screen with the peculiar Cannes Competition entry ‘Die My Love’, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.
The Great Arch
Stéphane Demoustier directs an elegant film about the dilemma of creators on a real-life project.
The Little Sister
A devout young Muslim woman struggles to reconcile faith with being lesbian in Hafsia Herzi’s ‘The Little Sister’, celebrating the LGBTQIA culture in Paris in its many aspects as it explores how religion and sexuality shape self-identity.
CineVerdict: Más allá del olvido
El thriller argentino ‘Más allá del olvido,’ dirigido por Hugo del Carril, recibe una merecida actualización en Cannes Classics, 70 años después de su estreno.
Case 137
A real-life police shooting during a chaotic demonstration of the Yellow Vests protesters in Paris lights the fuse to ‘Case 137’, a tense, exciting and meaningful police procedural centered around a tenacious officer investigating police brutality.
Beyond Oblivion
The Argentinean thriller directed by Hugo del Carril ‘Beyond Oblivion’ gets a well-deserved brush-up at Cannes Classics, 70 years after its release.
Enzo
The final collaboration between Robin Campillo and Laurent Cantet, two masters of contemporary French cinema, strikes a warm Mediterranean high note with the well-heeled rebel Enzo, a 16-year-old boy pushing back blindly against his middle class origins.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Taking itself seriously while defying audiences to do likewise, this eighth entry features enough globe-trotting, jaw-dropping action to make the nearly three-hour running time fly right by.
Behind the scenes of Cannes Classics
Since 2004, the Cannes Film Festival has actively devoted part of its programming to restored gems, via the Cannes Classics strand.
Final Destination: Bloodlines
More snappy, shocking deaths in a satisfying sequel crafted to bring the mayhem to a conclusion. Maybe.
Juliet & Romeo
Something is rotten in the state of Verona — namely, this insipid Kidz Bop take on one of the greatest romantic tragedies of all time.
Conclave
Oscar-winner Edward Berger’s papal thriller is flashy, pulpy, yet empty entertainment.
Thunderbolts*
Entertaining Marvel team-up tale proves you can make a banquet out of odds and ends that were stuck in the back of the fridge.
Little, Big, and Far
Jem Cohen’s epistolary and associative docufiction is an ode to science and streetcorner stargazing that is haunted by the extinction anxieties of an Anthropocene age.
Flophouse America
Monica Stromdahl’s raw, intimate doc portrait of a teen living in cramped quarters with his alcoholic parents champions the resilience of youth and the dismantling of shame.
The Mountain Won’t Move
Brothers in North Macedonia’s mountains question the shepherding life in Petra Seliskar’s empathetic and earthy observational doc.
Shifting Baselines
Julien Elie’s stark, moody doc premiering at Visions du Réel ponders an Earth with no memory of the night sky’s stars, and a Texas town irrevocably altered by SpaceX’s promise of a colony on Mars.
Snow White
Disney’s umpteenth live-action remake of an animated classic turns out to be another bad apple.
The Alto Knights
When it comes to mob stories, Barry Levinson’s altos know the words but not the music.
Black Bag
Steven Soderbergh’s thrilling marital spy caper plays like an airport novel ghost-written by Edward Albee.
The Brutalist
Writer-director Brady Corbet’s monumental period drama about a tortured genius of modernist architecture, ‘The Brutalist’ is ponderous and bloated, but visually stunning and superbly acted.
Wicked: Part I
This adaptation of the Broadway musical – the first half, anyway – offers a lot of craft but not enough magic.
Novocaine
Jack Quaid’s hero can’t feel pain, and the energy-deficient movie can’t quite commit to its high concept.
Anora
A Brooklyn lapdancer falls for a super-rich Russian playboy in ‘Tangerine’ and ‘Red Rocket’ director Sean Baker’s latest walk on the wild side, ‘Anora’.
I’m Still Here
Director Walter Salles and actress Fernanda Torres relive the terrors of Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s and one woman’s resistance to silence in ‘I’m Still Here’, a gripping, elevating drama about making truth known and rebuilding a life when all seems lost.
No Other Land
Beginning in 2019, a quartet of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers in the Occupied Territories start documenting Israel’s appropriation of the land and its escalation until just after the start of the current juggernaut in Gaza.
Last Breath
Director Alex Parkinson remakes his own deep-sea doc as a narrative feature but gets lost in the shallows.
Berlinale 2025: The Verdict
The Berlin International Film Festival’s 75th anniversary had a hard time overlooking the political turbulence in the world.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Starring Rose Byrne on revelatory form, Mary Bronstein’s high-energy dark comedy ‘If I Had Legs I’d Lick You’ takes a deep dive into the nightmarish pressures and surreal horrors of motherhood.
The Settlement
Director Mohamed Rashad’s working-class drama ‘The Settlement’, a visually impressive folk tale portraying a young man’s desperate attempts at social integration, is a milestone for the Egyptian film industry at the Berlinale.
Kontinental ’25
Punky Romanian auteur Radu Jude softens his usual bitingly satirical approach with his latest Berlinale prize-winner ‘Kontinental ’25’, a serious-minded but minor-key social drama about gentrification and bourgeois liberal guilt.
Berlin 2025: The Awards
Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud’s trilogy closer ‘Dreams (Sex, Love)’ grabbed the Golden Bear for its portrait of a 15-year-old girl’s first crush and the intimacy of desire.
The Botanist
A Kazakh boy and a Chinese girl grow up together in China’s vast northeast, in Jing Yi’s dreamlike and meditative first film, ‘The Botanist’.
What Does That Nature Say to You
Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo returns to Berlin competition for the seventh time with ‘What Does That Nature Say to You’, an amusing boyfriend-meets-girlfriend’s-family tale illustrating the artist’s need to reject materialism.
Timestamp
Filmed in schools all across war-torn Ukraine, Kateryna Gornostai’s panoramic documentary ‘Timestamp’ is a deeply moving ensemble portrait of youthful hope and courage.
Late Shift
You can’t look away from nurse Floria as she races around an understaffed hospital to check on 25 seriously ill patients in Petra Volpe’s breathless, high-stress salute to the nursing profession.
Dreams (Sex, Love)
Norway won the Golden Bear this year in Berlin with the endearingly awkward ‘Dreams’ (‘Drømmer’), the final installment in Dag Johan Haugerud’s trilogy about contemporary relationships.
Monk in Pieces
‘Monk in Pieces’ is a fragmentary but highly engaging documentary portrait of Meredith Monk, trailblazing icon of New York City’s experimental arts and music scene.
All I Had Was Nothingness
Guillaume Ribot powerfully evokes the Holocaust in an astutely edited collection of outtakes from Claude Lanzmann’s 9½ hour documentary ‘Shoah’ (1985), both playing in the Berlin Film Festival at a crucial point in history.
The Message
Ivan Fund’s small, quiet film featuring a young Argentine girl with a special gift is all about atmosphere and nuance.
Reflection in a Dead Diamond
The worlds of James Bond and Italian comic books crash head-on in the drolly witty, madcap psychedelia of ‘Reflection in a Dead Diamond’ from experimental filmmakers Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani.
What Marielle Knows
A telepathic schoolgirl unwittingly discovers some disturbing family secrets in German writer-director Frédéric Hambalek’s sharp-witted satirical comedy ‘What Marielle Knows’.
Islands
Sam Riley and Stacy Martin share dark secrets and smouldering sexual tension in Jan-Ole Gerster’s slow-moving but stylish psychological thriller ‘Islands’.
Captain America: Brave New World
The thrill isn’t exactly gone from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it surfaces all too infrequently in this latest installment, which feels both thin and overstuffed.
Mickey 17
Multiple Robert Pattinsons share a risky deep-space mission in ‘Parasite’ director Bong Joon-ho’s visually dazzling but muddled dystopian sci-fi comedy thriller ‘Mickey 17’.
The Ice Tower
Marion Cotillard channels her inner Bette Davis to maximum effect in “The Ice Tower”, French auteur Lucile Hadžihalilovic’s relentlessly dark, glacially paced and emotionally forbidding adaptation of the Snow Queen fairytale.
The Blue Trail
Engrossing actors and an Amazon river setting lighten some heavy-handed social commentary about how the elderly are scandalously mistreated, in Gabriel Mascaro’s likable future dystopia, ‘The Blue Trail’.
Paddington in Peru
Might not reach the heights of its predecessor, but this latest adventure of the globe-trotting naif has all the heart, wit, musicality, and meaning that the Paddington franchise brings to bear.
Köln 75
Director Ido Fluk’s playful period biopic ‘Köln 75’ celebrates the remarkable true story of the teenage German girl who made a landmark jazz concert happen against impossible odds.
No Beast. So Fierce.
Burhan Qurbani’s madly original revamping of ‘Richard III’ is a riotous sensory experience of uninterrupted energy that pushes Shakespearian evil to the limit, in the story of two Arab gangster families.
Living the Land
Set in 1991, Huo Meng’s sober and respectful ‘Living the Land’ is a bittersweet reflection on Chinese farmers, capturing the shared experiences of multiple generations who are threatened by mechanization and the urban siren song.
The Light
German writer-director Tom Tykwer returns to the big screen with ‘The Light’, a stylish and ambitious but ultimately shallow family psychodrama set in contemporary Berlin.
Rotterdam 2025: The Verdict
The 54th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam served up a cosmopolitan banquet of punky Balkan bio-drama and chilly Baltic brooding, arty African essay-films and mind-bending Mexican animation.
Red Stars Upon the Field
In her sprawling but boldly original debut feature ‘Red Stars Upon the Field’, Laura Laabs turns the hidden skeletons of German history into a maximalist magical murder mystery tour.
IFFR 2025 Awards
Original, sophisticated films that pushed the limits of fiction and documentary were recognized by juries at this year’s Tiger awards.
Love Hurts
This mediocre and thoroughly forgettable action-comedy will, one hopes, be but a bump on the road of Ke Huy Quan’s big-screen resurgence.
Acts of Love
Jeppe Rønde’s psychologically complex yet tender drama delves into the world of trauma healing and cults without sensationalism, preferring to raise questions rather than supply answers.
John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office
Science fact is stranger than science fiction in this tonally flat but fascinating documentary profile of controversial dolphin whisperer, inner-space psychonaut and LSD enthusiast John C. Lilly.
Our Father – The Last Days of a Dictator
Portuguese documentary-maker José Filipe Costa swerves towards fictional-feature territory in ‘Our Father – The Last Days of a Dictator’, a stylistically measured yet quietly glorious character study of the ousted tyrant Salazar.
The Tree of Authenticity
The only African film in this year’s IFFR Tiger Competition, Sammy Baloji’s ‘The Tree of Authenticity’ offers a much-needed disruption to Belgian colonial archives, which dominate historical narratives in Congo.
a river holds a perfect memory
Tying together disparate locations in Northern England and Jamaica, Hope Strickland’s evocative boat ride, ‘a river holds a perfect memory,’ explores the interrelations between labour, memory and rivers.
Wind, Talk to Me
Stefan Djordjevic’s sensitive doc portrait of grief and nature’s endless capacity for renewal is a gem of small gestures and surreal moments.
Memory Is an Animal, It Barks with Many Mouths
Ostensibly about the preservation of an ancient language, Eva Giolo’s essay film ‘Memory Is an Animal, It Barks with Many Mouths’ combines linguistics with landscape and myth to captivating effect.
Perla
Alexandra Makarova’s elegant, psychologically complex Cold War drama plumbs the inner dislocation of exile, and the poisonous workings of tyranny.
Gowok: Javanese Kamasutra
Indonesian filmmaker Harung Bramatyo makes his first foray at a top-ranked international festival with “Gowok: Javanese Kamasutra’, a visually arresting cross-generational melodrama charting an appre’tice sex tutor’s entangled emotions about love and emancipation.
Don’t Leave the Kids Alone
A mother unadvisedly leaves her two young sons home alone in Don’t Leave the Kids Alone chaotic but largely entertaining Mexican haunted house horror.
Temo Re
This Marker-esque monochrome photomontage adapts its protagonist’s docufiction memoir into a slyly funny sketch of a struggling actor in contemporary Tbilisi.
Fiume o morte!
Igor Bezinovic engages citizens of his Croatian hometown in a rigorously researched, irreverently punk re-enactment of its brief occupation by Italian poet and self-styled dictator Gabriele D’Annunzio.
Common Pear
Traditional fruit cultivation becomes a source of archival fascination in Common Pear, a sci-fi documentary hybrid set amidst environmental collapse.
Merckx
The exploits of the legendary Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx are captured in this appreciative archival documentary about his all-conquering career.
Un gran casino
Daniel Hoesl’s latest skewering of the excesses of the mega-rich is a mesmeric and doomy doc hybrid about the Casino di Campione, Europe’s largest casino.
Idyllic
Dutch writer-director Aaron Rookus explores the funny side of death, depression and existential despair in his witty, well-crafted tragicomedy ‘Idyllic’.
Empty Rider
The third work in Lawrence Lek’s trilogy on disobedient driverless cars, Empty Rider explores autonomy and responsibility through a futuristic AI show trial.
Wondrous is the Silence of My Master
Ivan Salatic’s magnificently moody, intelligent and doom-laden vision of Montenegrin freedom fighting and exile questions the formation and undoing of national myth.
Rains Over Babel
Colombian writer-director Gala del Sol’s stylish debut feature ‘Rains Over Babel’ is an audacious, ambitious, kaleidoscopic carnival of queerness loosely based on Dante’s ‘Inferno’.
Orenda
Pirjo Honkasalo deals with grief, music and faith in her new feature film ‘Orenda’, premiering in Rotterdam’s Big Screen Competition.
The Assistant
Wilhelm and Anka Sasnal channel the spirit of cult modernist Robert Walser in this strange, caustic “repainting” of his novel about a beleaguered assistant.
September Says
Two troubled teenage sisters share a spookily close bond in actor turned director Ariane Labed’s patchy but atmospheric feature debut ‘September Says’.
An Interview with Marten Rabarts
TFV spoke with Marten Rabarts, the newly appointed Head of IFFR Pro, to discuss the industry side of the festival.
Sukkwan Island
Vladimir de Fontenay’s otherwise superb father-son drama is marred by an unsatisfactory ending.
Balentes
Drawing on memories from his own family history, Sardinian director Giovanni Columbu combines ancient and modern animation techniques in his strikingly beautiful period drama ‘Balentes’.
Dog Man
This adaptation of the popular children’s-book series offers up hilarious gags and absurdist plotting, but a story this silly deserves more energetic pacing.
The Legends of Eternal Snow
Sakha cinema pioneer Aleksei Romanov reworks an eerie Yakut tale for an intriguing mix of ethnographic detail, anti-imperial defiance and bone-deep chill.
An Interview with Vanja Kaludjercic and Clare Stewart
TFV spoke to IFFR’s directors, Vanja Kaludjercic and Clare Stewart, about the 2025 edition and what they have planned beyond that.
All That’s Left of You
This week, in the midst of a fragile ceasefire, 300,000 Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza. Even as their former homes have largely been reduced to rubble, the persistence of the people to remain on their land is both admirable and heartbreaking. But that...
DJ Ahmet
Georgi M Unkovski’s impressive first feature takes the forbidden love story to Northern Macedonia
Sauna
Mathias Broe deals with love and discrimination in the queer community with his feature debut ‘Sauna’, premiering at Sundance.
Highlights from the EFP’s 2024 Sundance Selection
This is the third year that The Film Verdict has teamed up with European Film Promotion (EFP) to support European films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Here is a flashback to some of last year’s European films. Many of them went on to become multiple...
UNIFRANCE GOES DIGITAL FOR FRENCH FILM PROMOTION
By Liza Foreman In an era where film markets and festivals are undergoing rapid transformation, UniFrance, the organization responsible for promoting French cinema and TV worldwide, is deftly balancing digital innovation with enhanced physical presence. Under the...
An American Film Critic in Paris Explains the Lumiere Awards
Chicagoan Lisa Nesselson has been writing and broadcasting about film, from France, for 40 years. Seventeen years with Variety caught the tail end of when the English-language trades, pre-internet, wielded genuine power concerning a ‘foreign’ film’s likely trajectory....
Jacques Audiard’s ‘Emilia Pérez’ Illuminates the 30th Lumières Awards
By Liza Foreman In the heart of Paris, where cinema is not just entertainment but a deeply revered art form, the 30th Lumières Awards ceremony unfolded on Monday, January 20th, 2025, at the Forum des Images. This year's event was nothing short of a cinematic...
Jo Mühlberger talks to TFV
Jo Mühlberger, European Film Promotion Deputy Managing Director, takes the time to chat with The Film Verdict on his way to Sundance from Hamburg. A familiar face in the international film industry, Jo has been one of the pillars of European Film Promotion for the...
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
A Russian high school teacher becomes an unlikely undercover activist in ‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’, an insider documentary about the poisonous spread of Kremlin pro-war propaganda.
GEN_
In the run-up to her election in 2022, right-wing Italian Prime Minster Giorgia Meloni declared, "Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology.” It’s an odious promise she’s upheld, as last autumn, her government...
The Ugly Stepsister
Nordic horror meets classic French fairy tale in ‘The Ugly Stepsister’, a new take on the well-known Cinderella story that is tailor-made for the genre circuit.
The Things You Kill
More a psychological study than a thriller, ‘The Things You Kill’ explores the corruption and internalized violence of a patriarchal society, spiced with some bold narrative tricks from Alireza Khatami, co-director of the Iranian festival hit ‘Terrestrial Verses’.
Presence
Steven Soderbergh’s effectively low-key chiller puts an already-dysfunctional family into a haunted house.
The EFP celebrates European Films at Sundance 2025
Join European fIlmmakers, sales companies and national film centers at the Europe! Hub at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel (The Yarrow), 2nd floor, 1800 Park Avenue, Thursday 23 to Monday 27 January from 9am-6pm EUROPE! HUB is hosted by the Danish Film Institute, German...
Wolf Man
Leigh Whannell’s moody monster movie features gripping performances and effective jolts before running out of steam without fully pursuing its own ideas and metaphors.
What a Year!
Last year was a landmark year for The Film Verdict, and 2025 will be full of changes.
Berlinale Shorts 2025
Featuring films from the classic to the experimental, the 20 works presented in the Berlinale Shorts program will introduce a range of new filmmaking talent.
The Illusion
Filmmaker Roberto Andò combines a wary humanism with expert storytelling to expose the anti-heroic truth about Garibaldi’s 1860 invasion of Sicily to overthrow the Bourbon monarchy and unite Italy, though the comic subplots running through the film tend to be distracting and hard to digest.
I’m Not a Robot
A woman repeatedly fails a Captcha test and starts to wonder whether she is, in fact, a robot in the high concept identity crisis drama, I’m Not a Robot.
Oceans Are the Real Continents
Just released in the U.S., ‘Oceans Are the Real Continents’ is an exquisite love poem to Cuba, where three generations struggle to survive daily life in a small rural town.
CineVerdict: Los océanos son los verdaderos continentes
Los oceános son los verdaderos continentes es un exquisito poema de amor a Cuba, donde tres generaciones luchan por sobrevivir y sueñan con escapar, representado en una serie de cuadros de la vida cotidiana en un pequeño pueblo rural.
Alonso Duralde’s Top 11 Films of 2024
Our chief US film critic’s annual compilation of the year’s finest, including war, death, tennis, queer takes on pop culture, and hundreds of beavers.
Mufasa: The Lion King
Better than a CG-animated prequel to a remake has any right to be, but director Barry Jenkins’ time and effort could surely be better applied elsewhere.
Kraven the Hunter
This absurd (and violent) Spider-Man spinoff plays it so straight that it’s quite frequently hilarious, whether or not that was the intent.
An Interview with Zeki Demirkubuz
Zeki Demirkubuz, one of Turkey’s best-known filmmakers, discusses the importance of closely observing and deeply understanding people in this interview on his new film ‘Life’ (‘Hayat’).
An Interview with Prince Daniel
The director of Nigeria’s Oscar submission for Best International Film, ‘Mai Martaba’, talks about questioning long-standing systems and transitioning from radio to the big screen.
Mai Martaba
A strong international introduction to the Hausa-speaking filmmaking of Kannywood, Nigeria’s Oscar submission ‘Mai Martaba’ is an adventure tale drawing on themes of power, gender, and political legacy.
Until the Orchid Blooms
‘Until the Orchid Blooms’ is a fine exploration of the battle between modernism and tradition set in a Cambodian community.
Hamzah Jamjoom: Bridging Cultures through Saudi Cinema
As Saudi Arabia’s film industry continues to grow, Hamzah Jamjoom is playing a part in shaping its future.
City of Small Blessings
Bowing at the Singapore International Film Festival, Chen-hsi Wong’s second feature ‘City of Small Blessings’ is a film of delicate visuals and nuanced performances, but uncertain messaging.
Y2K
Kyle Mooney’s teen disaster comedy ‘Y2K’ starts out promisingly enough before blowing 2000 opportunities for thrills, laughs, or insight.
Nosferatu
Exquisite filmcraft and committed performances, yet Robert Eggers’ take on the silent-horror classic feels more like an adoring tribute than a rethinking or reimagining.
One of Those Days When Hemme Dies
A vengeful labourer’s plan to kill his manipulative foreman gives way to empathy for the rural poor in lawyer-turned-filmmaker Murat Firatoglu’s solid directorial debut.
Crocodile Tears
Marissa Anita and Yusuf Mahardika deliver biting performances as a possessive mother and a confused mamma’s boy in Indonesian filmmaker Tumpal Tampubolon’s powerful if predictable suspense thriller, ‘Crocodile Tears’.
The House of Janus
Singaporean playwright Keng Sen Ong juxtaposes his queer take on a 17th century opera with a documentary about Dutch curator and academic Adriaan van der Staay’s summer retreat in the beautiful yet bewildering ‘The House of Janus’.
Can Africa Hope for an Oscar?
Nine films have been sent to the 2025 Oscars by African countries. Will any one get a nomination?
An Interview with Toby Schmutzler and Milcah Cherotich
TFV spoke with Milcah Cherotich and Toby Schmutzler, two of the persons behind ‘Nawi’, Kenya’s official submission for the 97th Academy Awards.
Nawi
‘Nawi’ is one of those rare films that, despite the weighty seriousness of its subject, stays afloat cinematically.
Prostrate and Draw Near
The evocative short animation, Prostrate and Draw Near, explores a strange and unique moment in the Great Mosque of Mecca during a Covid-19 lockdown.
An Interview with Miguel Gomes
TFV spoke with Miguel Gomes, whose latest film ‘Grand Tour’ is Portugal’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards.
Russian Consul
Miroslav Lekic recounts the origins of the Kosovo conflict in ‘Russian Consul’, Serbia’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards.
An Interview with Alessandra Celesia
The director of ‘The Flats’ discusses documenting the untold stories of The Troubles.
An Interview with Miroslav Lekic
TFV speaks to Miroslav Lekic, the director of ‘Russian Consul’, Serbia’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards.
Yana Wara
Peru’s Oscar entry ‘Yana Wara’ is a poignant outcry against gender violence suffered by an indigenous Aymara girl who is haunted by malignant spirits, in a story set in the bleak and beautiful Peruvian Highlands.
An interview with Tito Catacora
Peruvian filmmaker Tito Catacora finished shooting ‘Yana Wara’ after the sudden death of his nephew, the original director.
Cine Verdict Yana Wara
La propuesta del Perú al Oscar Internacional es una conmovedora denuncia contra la violencia de género sufrida por una niña indígena aymara, atormentada por espíritus malignos, en una historia ambientada en el hermoso y desolado altiplano andino peruano.
Cine Verdict Entrevista con Tito Catacora
‘Yana Wara’ es la presentación de Perú para los Premio Internacional de la Academia 2025
The Antique
A troubled, politically entangled premiere in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori has partly overshadowed Rusudan Glurjidze’s wistful Georgian comedy that cleverly targets Georgian-Russian relations.
An Interview with Rusudan Glurjidze
The director of Georgia’s International Film submission ‘The Antique’ discusses the film’s difficult Venice debut and modern-day censorship from Russia.
Back to Life
Shot largely as a light-hearted comedy and buoyed by the charm of its young protagonists, Venezuela’s ‘Back to Life’ enters the Oscar race.
An interview with the Hueck Brothers
Luis Carlos Hueck and Alfredo Hueck, the brothers behind ‘Back to Life’, talk about their approach to filmmaking with The Film Verdict.
Family Time
Tia Kouvo impresses with her feature debut ‘Family Time’, a very personal drama set in her hometown Lahti.
An Interview with Tia Kouvo
Director Tia Kouvo talks to TFV about the process of making Finland’s Oscar submission ‘Family Time’.
CineVerdict: Vuelvealavida
En tono de comedia y apoyada en el encanto de sus jóvenes protagonistas ‘Vuelvealavida’ entra a la pelea de los Óscares por la mejor película internacional por Venezuela
Moana 2
Shares most of the strengths and weaknesses of its predecessor, although at this point, novelty has sailed off to the seven seas. Kids who know the first movie by heart will delight in a second helping.
Timothée Chalamet to be honored at Santa Barbara Film Festival
Timothée Chalamet will be honored with the Arlington Artist of the Year Award at the 40th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). He will receive this award during an in-person tribute and career retrospective on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. The event...
An Interview with Mohammad Rasoulof
TFV spoke with Mohammad Rasoulof about his latest film, the award-winning ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’.
The Flats
A potent and powerful documentary journey into the past and present of The Troubles.
Una entrevista con los hermanos Hueck
Luis Carlos y Alfredo Hueck dos hermanos venezolanos en busca del Oscar
EUFCN Location Awards 2024: Meet the Jury!
The European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN) has announced the jury for the eighth edition of the EUFCN Location Awards.Since its establishment in 2017, this annual award has been honoring outstanding achievements in the realm of filming locations across Europe. Each...
An interview with Nebojsa Slijepcevic
The writer-director of the Short Palme d’Or winner ‘The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent’, Nebojsa Slijepcevic, discusses shooting on a moving train and creating the perspective of a passive witness.
An interview with Andrea Ciavatta
The creator and subject of the Oscar-qualified short, ‘Imprinting’ – Andrea Ciavatta – discusses translating his life to the screen and the role of music in his film.
Imprinting
A man goes on a psychological and emotional journey into his subconscious in this lavishly mounted but somewhat perplexing short from Andrea Ciavatta, Imprinting.
Cairo 2024: The Verdict
Returning after last year’s dramatic cancellation, the 45th edition of the long-running Cairo festival had a rich international program but a special focus on strong films from Africa, the Middle East, Palestine and Egypt itself.
Anywhere Anytime
Director Milad Tshangir’s impressive debut feature ‘Anywhere Anytime’ puts a contemporary illegal-immigrant spin on Vittorio De Sica’s beloved Italian neorealist classic ‘Bicycle Thieves’.
98th ACADEMY AWARDS® QUALIFYING FESTIVAL LIST
Looking ahead to the 2026 Oscars,the Academy has released the qualifying Film Festivals for Shorts and Documentary film. Films that win a qualifying festival award between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025, may be eligible to submit for 98th Academy Awards...
45th Cairo International Film Festival: The Awards
The Cairo jury gave their main prize to Romanian director Bogdan Muresanu’s tragicomic Cold War period piece ‘The New Year That Never Came’, but local writer-director Noha Adel earned the most awards and warmest reviews with her bittersweet female-driven ensemble drama ‘Spring Came Laughing’.
Cairo Film Connection Awards Announced at Closing Ceremony
Cairo Film Connection concluded its activities on Wednesday, November 20, at Sofitel El Gezirah Hotel as part of the 45th Cairo International Film Festival. Eighteen projects vied for recognition, with sponsors awarding 31 prizes to the participating filmmakers. Five...
Spring Came Laughing
The topic is marriage and the four compulsively watchable stories that make up Noha Adel’s ‘Spring Came Laughing’ nail the shallowness, hypocrisy and suffering of Egyptian middle-class women, caught in a web outdated traditions.
Yousra and Hussein Fahmy receive the inaugural Omar Sharif Award
The new Omar Sharif Award recognizes the growth of the Middle East as a premier filmmaking region.
Ayse
Drawn from his own family background, Turkish director Necmi Sancak’s prize-winning debut feature ‘Ayse’ is a bleak but powerful portrait of a highly stressed woman caring for her disabled brother,
Putting an end to stereotypes in Africa’s cinema
The Cairo Industry Days’ dynamic panel about African cinema underlined how filmmakers must challenge the systems that restrict them.
Teta (Grandmother)
A mother and her young son’s relationship is pushed to the limit in Teta, an unnerving psychological horror with disquieting, supernatural overtones.
“This film disproves the supremacy of Global North academic institutions”: an interview with ‘The Shadow Scholars’ director Eloise King
British director Eloise King discusses her documentary ‘The Shadow Scholars’, showing at the 2024 edition of IDFA, and what it says about the intellectual capacities of the Global South.
TFV highlights Arab talent with Next Generation Awards
The Film Verdict chief critic and editor Deborah Young addressed the importance of the awards in celebrating exceptional MENA film talent.
Writing Hawa
The unpredictable nature of conflict robs ‘Writing Hawa’ of much of its compelling titular character, but Najiba Noori’s pro-feminist and anti-Taliban project emerges unscathed in ideological terms.
Profile: Rakeen Saad
Rakeen Saad of Jordan began acting at ten and has steadily grown in her chosen career.
On The Border
Gerald Igor Hauzenberger and Gabriela Schild have made a quietly spectacular documentary on the migration-related troubles of the Nigerien city Agadez through a trio of knowledgeable and remarkably telegenic mediators.
Profile: Noha Adel
Screenwriter and director Noha Adel represents Egypt in Cairo Film Festival competition with her first feature, ‘Spring Came Laughing’.
Profile: Ahmad Al-Ayyad
For his extensive experience covering Saudi cinema and the regional film industry, Al-Ayyad has been awarded the Next Generation Award.
Profile: Hani Khalifa
Hani Khalifa’s latest film ‘Flight 404’ is Egypt’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards.
The Guest
Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz’s documentary ‘The Guest’ showcases the best side of humanity in troubled times, with unforced intimacy and unavoidable staidness.
The Witness
Made in collaboration with feted dissident director Jafar Panahi, Nader Saeivar’s ‘The Witness’ is a muted but quietly furious protest drama about murder and misogyny in contemporary Iran,
Man Number 4
How we consume images and what it means to be a distant onlooker lie at the heart of Miranda Pennell’s sobering, analytical short, Man Number 4.
A Want in Her
Drawing on her own troubled family background, Irish visual artist and first-time feature director Myrid Carten paints a slightly muddled but emotionally powerful portrait of addiction and depression, shame and blame with ‘A Want in Her’.
The Chant
The stories of three very different women intersect in May Ghouti’s delicate ensemble drama The Chant, which manages to pack a quietly emotional punch.
Ahmed Ezz
Ahmed Ezz’s filmography is a testament to his versatility.
The Blue Lake
A captivating story, at once simple and profound, describes the relationship between a blind boy and his loving grandfather as they travel through the desert in Daoud Aoulad-Syad’s layered road movie, ‘The Blue Lake’.
Archipelago of Earthen Bones – To Bunya
Malena Szlam uses in-camera editing to craft Archipelago of Earthen Bones – To Bunya, an evocative 16mm exploration of Australia’s vast central eastern ranges and their deep geological time.
“No Ukraine, no Ukrainian movies”: an interview with film director and military commander Oleh Sentsov
The Ukrainian director of accidental one-shot war documentary ‘Real’ talks to The Film Verdict about war and peace, boycotting Russian propaganda, and Donald Trump’s prospects for ending the conflict.
Abo Zaabal 89
Bassam Mortada’s ‘Abo Zaabal 89’ is a personal odyssey about the scars of political activism in contemporary Egypt, and a big win for Arab documentary filmmaking.
Manual for a Divorce
Peter Ghesquiere channels Wes Anderson in Manual for a Divorce, a mannered short comedy about a couple who are separated when their children get a divorce.
The Shadow Scholars
‘Shadow Scholars’ introduces a serious issue plaguing academia, but the Eloise King documentary isn’t quite ready to point a finger at the African component of the problem.
Higher Than Acidic Clouds
Iranian director Ali Asgari delivers an elegant response to government censorship with ‘Higher Than Acidic Clouds’, an achingly beautiful essay-film about memory, imagination and Tehran’s toxic skies.
Hussein Fahmy, a president for all seasons
The affable president of the Cairo Film Festival is a clear-sighted leader whose other job is being one of Egypt’s biggest stars.
Gazan Tales
Shot over a year ago by students in a filmmaking workshop in Gaza, ‘Gazan Tales’ is a disarming snapshot of four men’s everyday lives, as they pass their days unaware of the disaster about to befall them
The World of Yousry Nasrallah
Yousry Nasrallah’s willingness to address social taboos, his commitment to depicting female protagonists, and his insight into the political and cultural struggles of Egyptian society have earned him popularity and the respect of Arab filmmakers and audiences.
From Ground Zero
Under the curation of Palestinian producer-director Rashid Masharawi, ‘From Ground Zero’ is an anthology of 22 short films offering a rawly immediate and deeply human response to devastation in the Gaza Strip.
Being John Smith
Delivered in his typically playful style, John Smith’s latest film, Being John Smith, is a wry reflection on the conventionality of his name dotted with radical flourishes.
Home Game
Director Lidija Zelovic’s main assets in the often powerfully meditative documentary ‘Home Game’ are her novelistic voice and strong writing.
Acting
Shakespeare’s words and Cheek By Jowl’s directing are the highlights of Sophie Fiennes documentary.
Undercover: Exposing the Far Right
Controversially dropped from the London Film Festival, director Havana Marking’s timely documentary thriller about the work of anti-racist campaign group Hope Not Hate ‘Undercover: Exposing the Far Right’ is making its international debut in IDFA.
About a Hero
Based on an AI screenplay drawn from the works of legendary director Werner Herzog, Polish film-maker Piotr Winiewicz’s docu-fiction debut feature ‘About a Hero’ is a compellingly weird trip into the digital deepfake Twilight Zone.
Decoded
Popular director Chen Sicheng brings Mai Jia’s bestseller ‘Decoded’ to the screen in a wildly imaginative if often confusing genre-buster that co-stars John Cusack as a brilliant mathematician pitted against his even more brilliant Chinese pupil.
Holidays in Palestine
In his well-executed documentary ‘Holidays In Palestine’, Maxime Lindon dissects what it means to be a Palestinian with a European passport.
TFV talks to Rashid Masharawi
Rashid Masharawi discusses his work and his enduring commitment to bringing Palestinian stories to the global stage.
Difficult questions and radical solutions: an interview with IDFA artistic director Orwa Nyrabia
The outgoing head of IDFA, the world’s biggest documentary festival, Orwa Nyrabia insists non-fiction cinema must balance pragmatism and radicalism, mainstream and marginal voices.
Meet the Barbarians
Julie Delpy’s dark refugee comedy ‘Meet the Barbarians’ is a stark reminder of the absurd cruelty of ranking human suffering, and the resilience required to rebuild a life amid indifference and prejudice.
Passing Dreams
A stubborn boy searches all over Palestine for a lost pigeon in ‘Passing Dreams’, Rashid Masharawi’s unexpectedly gentle, non-confrontational allegory about the state of the country.
TFV Talks to CIFF Director Essam Zakaria
The new man behind the 45th festival wants films to be seen beyond central Cairo.
TFV Talks to Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rahim, head of Cairo Industry Days
The head of Cairo Industry Days hopes the market-based event will promote inclusivity among all players of Egyptian filmmaking, not just festival and arthouse circles.
On its Way to a Comeback
The Cairo International Film Festival has put in a big effort to diversify its lineup and make bold choices, like 10 juries judging a historically large selection of films.
Cairo Industry Days Panels & Workshops
Cairo Industry Days Panels & Workshops The sixth edition of Cairo Industry Days, running from November 15-20, 2024, offers a dynamic lineup of masterclasses, panels, and workshops covering topics like production, sound designing, story writing, distribution, and...
Cairo International FIlm Festival: Meet the Jury
Danis Tanovic, whose “No Man’s Land” won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, will serve as the president of the International Competition Jury at the 45th edition of the Cairo Film Festival. This choice was part of a concerted effort by the festival to draw in...
Gladiator II
Ridley Scott displays his prodigious gifts for violence and camp in this Roman sequel, but there’s a lot of filler.
Red One
This search-and-rescue tale of a kidnapped Santa Claus doesn’t reinvent the action-movie wheel, but it’s a fun spin on holiday tropes.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
A cadre of feral siblings teach a small town the true meaning of Christmas in a rare faith-based film that doesn’t oversell its message.
The Return of the Cairo International Film Festival
200 miles from the Egypt-Gaza border, the city on the Nile prepares to open the curtain.
DOK Leipzig 2024: The Verdict
The long-running East German documentary and animation festival found a fruitful balance this year between heavy political themes and more playful, experimental, mind-bending films.
Tarantism Revisited
Visual anthropologists Anja Dreschke and Michaela Schäuble investigate the mysterious rituals of taranatism in this arty, lightly experimental, prize-winning essay-film.
DOK Leipzig: The Awards
Dominique Cabrera’s feature documentary ‘La jetée: the Fifth Shot’ triumphed in the feature documentary category at Dok Leipzig, while László Csáki’s ‘Pelikan Blue’ swept the animation strand.
Flowers of Ukraine
A free-spirited urban nature lover becomes a living symbol of Ukrainian resistance in ‘Flowers of Ukraine,’ a slender but immensely charming debut feature by Adelina Borets.
The Battle for Laikipia
Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi’s essential documentary ‘The Battle for Laikipia’ describes global warming and the brutal impact of colonial land ownership in Kenya, showing the overlap of environmental and social issues without oversimplifying.
Dok Leipzig offers ‘5 x 5 Shorts from the East’ program
Dok Leipzig's '5 x 5 Shorts from the East' will present 25 short documentaries and animations from Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia and the Czech Republic. The screenings begin at 17:00 and are offered on a drop in as you want basis, with free admission at the Polish...
There Was Nothing Here Before
Yvann Yagchi’s documentary ‘There Was Nothing Here Before’ is as an angry yet tender letter to a lost friend, amid a brave quest to discover the filmmaker’s family history in the occupied territories.
La Jetée, the Fifth Shot
Director Dominique Cabrera’s investigation of her family connections to Chris Marker’s landmark sci-fi film ‘La Jetée’ takes a messy but sporadically magical mystery tour though history, memory, cinema and politics.
Nominations announced for the 34th Annual Gotham Awards
The nominees for the 34th Annual Gotham awards are here. See below for nominated titles. The Awards with be handed out at Cipriaini Wall Street in New York City on December 2, 2024 Best Feature Anora READ THE REVIEW Sean Baker NEON...
Morichales
Chris Gude’s vivid doc on the ravages and inequalities of ages-long gold mining in Venezuela is startling in its poetry and meticulous in its contextualisation.
Balomania
In her fascinating and visually dazzling debut feature ‘Balomania’, documentary maker Sissel Morell Dargis embeds herself in Brazil’s secretive underground subculture of illegal hot air balloon gangs.
Wishing on a Star
A playful, lighthearted hybrid doc from Peter Kerekes on steering one’s fate, as an Italian astrologer sends her troubled clients off globetrotting.
Dok Leipzig Selected films available for Streaming in Germany
DOK Leipzig is showing selected films online throughout Germany during the festival week. A new film or a short film reel will be available via the festival website’s DOK Stream function every day from 29 October to 3 November. These titles will be available for 24...
Tracing Light
Thomas Riedelsheimer brings land artists and physicists together in a considered, densely packed doc celebrating the elusive nature of light as a medium.
DOK Leipzig festival serves up an autumnal feast of documentaries, animation and innovation.
The 67th edition of DOK Leipzig festival promises a week of pop and politics, critical debate and constructive disagreement in fiercely divided times.
Marching in the Dark
A quietly angry film about suicidal Indian farmers and the women they leave behind, documentary director Kinshuk Surjan’s feature debut ‘Marching in the Dark’ is moving, lyrical and surprisingly uplifting.
A Year in the Life of the Country
Tomasz Wolski’s found-footage documentary ‘A Year in the Life of the Country’ paints a playful, freewheeling collage portrait of Communist Poland during martial law and the birth of Solidarity.
Cairo Film Connection reveals line up
Cairo Film Connection (CFC) has announced the selected projects for its 10th edition, which will take place during the 45th Cairo International Film Festival. The selected works include six from Egypt, two each from Tunisia, Iraq, and Lebanon, and one each from...
Here
Robert Zemeckis’ fixed-camera observation of the passage of time is a slick and profoundly shallow movie aching for depth.
Blueberry Dreams
Elene Mikaberidze’s wry, sensitively humane and politically layered debut doc explores precarity on Georgia’s border via one family’s blueberry farm venture.
IFFR announces first selections for their 2025 edition
IFFR’s Bright Future selection of feature-length debuts is characterised by original subject matter and an individual style, representing the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking, while Harbour offers contemporary cinema that the festival champions. themes of...
Venom: The Last Dance
Nothing means anything in the conclusion of Tom Hardy’s comic-book trilogy, which makes it either a complete waste of time or a superhero movie in its purest form.
Exhibiting Forgiveness
In his feature-film debut, painter Titus Kaphar exhibits his talents as a visual artist, if not as a screenwriter.
Meet the DOK Leipzig 2024 Jury
At the 67th edition of DOK Leipzig, juries of acclaimed filmmakers, arts professionals, and an audience jury will award short and feature-length animated and documentary films in competition. International Competition Documentary Film The five jury members will...
Busan 2024: The Verdict
From Myanmar workers to K-pop and a swashbuckling Netflix blockbuster, the mood straddled politics and celebration at Korea’s (and possibly Asia’s) largest film festival.
Busan 2024: The Awards
Park Ri-woong’s South Korean tale of racism and inequality ‘The Land of Morning Calm’ and The Maw Naing’s stirring tale of exploitation in Myanmar, ‘MA – Cry of Silence’, took top honors in the New Currents section.
Journey to Face Them
Hwang In-won makes a case for the unresolved nature of the trauma of sexual assault in her meditative, elliptical first feature ‘Journey to Face Them’.
Saturday Night
Jason Reitman’s print-the-legend look behind the scenes of the birth of a legendary comedy TV fixture succeeds on its breathless “let’s put on a show” energy.
A Girl with Closed Eyes
Chun Sunyoung’s debut feature ‘A Girl with Closed Eyes’ is a well-made thriller lightly marred by an elaborate third act.
Tale of the Land
Indonesian filmmaker Loeloe Hendra’s feature debut in Busan, ‘Tale of the Land’, is a melancholic, beautifully mounted Borneo-set story about a young indigenous woman who has lived her life in a floating house in the middle of the sea.
For Rana
Iranian director Iman Yazdi offers predictable melodrama with his first feature ‘For Rana’, which is in the running for Busan’s New Currents award.
Gingerbread for her Dad
Reflective, heartwarming and funny, ‘Gingerbread for her Dad’ is Kazakh filmmaker Alina Mustafina first feature, in which she embarks on a transcontinental journey to search for her great-grandfather’s remains.
Village Rockstars 2
With ‘Village Rockstars 2’, Assamese director Rima Das reunites with the cast of her highly-acclaimed 2017 festival hit in a mesmerizing portrait of a teenage girl guitarist’s struggles with nature and culture in northeast India.
White Bird
This platitude-heavy infomercial for kindness benefits from strong performances and handsome production design.
MA – Cry of Silence
The Maw Naing’s second fiction feature, ‘MA – Cry of Silence’, is a riveting cri du coeur about life under authoritarian rule in Myanmar, seen through the struggle of aggrieved factory workers against their abusive employers.
Yen and Ai-lee
Powerful performances from Taiwanese actors Kimi Hsia and Yang Kue-mei anchor Taiwanese filmmaker Tom Lin Shu-yu’s beautifully filmed black-and-white family drama ‘Yen and Ai-lee’.
Kaneko’s Commissary
Bowing in Busan’s New Currents competition, Japanese filmmaker Go Furukawa’s feature-length debut, ‘Kaneko’s Commissary’, offers a delicate, humane and relentlessly life-affirming tale about an ex-con.
Arab Critics’ Award for European Films nominees Announced
A total of 22 European films, including nine Oscar submissions for Best International Feature Film, are competing for the Arab Critics' Awards for European Films. This event is jointly hosted by European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) for the...
Uprising
Park Chan-wook produces and pens Kim Sang-man’s ‘Uprising’, a visually and politically-stirring period-drama-meets-action-thriller set during the Japanese invasion of Korea at the end of the 16th century.
2024 DOK Exchange XR Expands to Two Days
The 2024 DOK Neuland program features eleven works in VR, AR, 360° film, gaming, installation, and participatory film. The exhibition takes place from October 29 to November 3 and is spread across four locations.in Leipzig: in the Museum of Fine Arts (MdbK), at the...
San Sebastián 2024: The Verdict
The long-running Basque film festival’s latest edition delivered contentious prizes and dubious celebrity vanity projects, but it also showcased a feast of Spanish screen talent alongside strong comebacks from Pamela Anderson, Mike Leigh and more.
San Sebastián 2024: The Awards
All the big prize winners, surprise career comebacks and controversial jury choices at the long-running Basque film festival.
Glimmers
Pilar Palomero returns to San Sebastián with her third feature, the quietly moving family drama ‘Glimmers’.
The Wailing
Several generations of women are stalked by the same creepy family curse in Spanish director Pedro Martín-Calero’s stylish, prize-winning psycho-horror debut ‘The Wailing’.
CineVerdict: El lugar de la otra
‘El lugar de la otra’, el debut en ficción de Maite Alberdi, está hecho con elegancia pero carece de profundidad
Skin in Spring
Small in scale but big in its ambition to show how an ordinary woman reinvents herself by learning to express her desires, the Colombian film ‘Skin in Spring’ is observational fiction at its most delicate and intriguing
Maybe It’s True What They Say about Us
A psychiatrist is put to the test when her daughter, the member of a cult, is arrested for killing her baby in the spooky but unconvincing Chilean-Argentine drama ‘Maybe It’s True What They Say About Us’.
16 films have been added to the European Film Awards feature film selection
The shortlist now includes 45 European feature films.
San Sebastian Industry Awards Announced
WIP LATAM INDUSTRY AWARD UN CABO SUELTO / A LOOSE END DANIEL HENDLER (URUGUAY) Best Digital / Deluxe Content Services Spain / Dolby Iberia / Laserfilm Cine y Video / Nephilim producciones / No Problem Sonido / Sherlock Films EGEDA PLATINO INDUSTRIA AWARD FOR THE BEST...
The Last Showgirl
Former ‘Baywatch’ star Pamela Anderson tests her indie art-house credentials in Gia Coppola’s ‘The Last Showgirl’, a slight but engaging portrait of an ageing Las Vegas dancer facing the existential terror of midlife redundancy.
Hard Truths
Mike Leigh returns from a lengthy excursion shooting period films to the kind of chamber piece he excels in, in ‘Hard Truths’, a small story about family dysfunction magnified into high drama by Mariane Jean-Baptiste’s formidable lead performance as a wife and mother going over the edge.
French Co-Productions Light Up San Sebastian Film Festival 2024
By Liza Foreman SAN SEBASTIAN - Being the top dog at UniFrance, the French audiovisual export body, is not only a key job in the film industry, but also a good viewpoint from which to observe trends in the business. For Daniela Elstner, the organization’s Executive...
Turn Me On
Director Michael Tyburski’s charmingly offbeat dystopian sci-fi rom-com ‘Turn Me On’ takes place in a cult-like community where sex and love, joy and anger have been chemically erased.
Last Breath
Costa-Gavras, in top form at 91, starts another revolution, this time about death, with ‘Last Breath’.
El Jockey
Un jockey campeón se embarca en un viaje surrealista de desafío de género en el disparejo pero elegante, colorido y divertido thriller cómico de Luis Ortega.
Cuando las nubes esconden las sombras
Usando los impactantes paisajes del lugar, su compleja historia e intrigante aislamiento, el director José Luis Torres Leiva lentamente desenreda las emociones largamente reprimidas de una citadina angustiada a través de inspiradores encuentros con un grupo de locales en Cuando las nubes cubren las sombras de José Luis Torres Leiva.
Bagger Drama
Piet Baumgartner excavates the unspoken truths of a dysfunctional family with his first fiction feature film ‘Bagger Drama’, screened in San Sebastián’s New Directors section.
Sujo
The killing of a Mexican cartel boss puts his 4-year-old son in danger in a powerful, often mythic evocation of life lived on the edge of death, Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s engrossing drama ‘Sujo’.
In Her Place
Maite Alberdi’s fiction debut ‘In Her Place’ is a well-crafted feature, but lacks depth.
‘Antón’ and ‘Cafunè’ are the winners of the first edition of the Loterías Award at San Sebastián
The short film "Antón," directed by Mikel González Beorlegui, and "Cafunè," directed by Lorena Ares and Carlos Fernández de Vigo, are the winners of the first and second Loterías awards in the competitive section for short films addressing social issues, organised by...
Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness
Actor turned director Johnny Depp pays indulgent tribute to bohemian artist Amedeo Modigliani, and to himself, in the badly misjudged and barely coherent biopic ‘Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness’.
CineVerdict: Zafari
Cuando la despensa está vacía, una familia de clase media en un país latinoamericano sin nombre, primero pasa hambre y luego se vuelve salvaje en ‘Zafari’. La espeluznante fábula distópica de Mariana Rondón hará que los espectadores no quieran cenar.
La virgen roja
Un ensayo imaginativo y fascinante sobre el feminismo y la maternidad, ‘La virgen roja’ de Paula Ortiz presenta a una inolvidable Najwa Nimri como una madre infernal y dominante que ve a su brillante hija de 16 años como una escultura que ha creado para cambiar el mundo en la España de los años 30.
Querido Trópico
Una historia conmovedora y divertida sobre dos mujeres solitarias que se conectan a través de la división de clases, con la actuación excepcional de Paulina Garcia como una matrona rica y mandona que se desliza hacia la demencia.
My Eternal Summer
Danish director Sylvia Le Fanu makes a powerful debut in feature filmmaking with the loss-centric drama ‘My Eternal Summer’, screened in San Sebastián’s New Directors section.
European Cinema Enters the Metaverse with UniFrance’s MyMetaStories Festival
By Liza Foreman In a groundbreaking fusion of European cinema and the gaming world, UniFrance is set to launch the second edition of MyMetaStories, a film festival that brings the art of filmmaking into the virtual realm of Minecraft. Running from October 11 to...
The International Oscar® Race is On
International Oscar® submissions are ratcheting up. The Film Verdict will publish its annual "7 Days of Oscar" dailies from November 27 through December 3. These publications are chock full of reviews, interviews, podcasts, trailers and awards news. The International...
Soy Nevenka
Veinticuatro años después de la primera denuncia por acoso sexual a un político en España, Iciar Bollaín cuenta la historia en Soy Nevenka con sensibilidad y urgencia. Sir Isaac Newton dijo que su perspectiva era mejor que la de sus antecesores porque estaba parado en...
I am Nevenka
24 years after the first trial of a politician for harassment in Spain, Iciar Bollain directs ‘I Am Nevenka’ with great sensitivity.
Zafari
When the cupboard is bare, a middle-class family in an unnamed Latin American country first goes hungry and then feral in ‘Zafari’, Mariana Rondon’s chilling dystopian fable that will put audiences off their dinner.
Beloved Tropic
A moving, enjoyable story about two lonely women connecting across the class divide, with an outstanding performance from Paulina Garcia as a wealthy, bossy matron slipping into dementia.
The Red Virgin
An imaginatively engrossing essay on feminism and motherhood, Paula Ortiz’s taken-from-history ‘The Red Virgin’ features an unforgettable Najwa Nimri as a stage mother out of hell, who sees her brilliant 16-year-old daughter as a sculpture she has created to change the world in 1930’s Spain.
The End
Acclaimed documentary director Joshua Oppenheimer makes his fiction feature debut with ‘The End’, an ungainly but wildly ambitious post-apocalypse musical co-starring Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, George MacKay and Moses Ingram.
San Sebastian 2024 Is Big on French Cinema
By Liza Foreman San Sebastian loves French films, and this year is no exception. Speaking with The Film Verdict on the eve of this year’s festival, UniFrance’s Executive Director Daniela Elstner talked up the plethora of films screening at SSIFF, and plans to expand...
When Fall Is Coming
François Ozon tells another story of quirky human relationships in the comedy-drama ‘When Fall Is Coming’, screening in San Sebastián’s Official Selection.
The Serpent’s Path
Festival favorite Kiyoshi Kurosawa remakes his own 1998 revenge thriller ‘The Serpent’s Path’ as a tasteful psychological horror film set in France, whose top-notch, mixed Franco-Japanese cast makes it worth watching.
In the Name of Blood
Georgian-born French director Akaki Popkhadze brings his dual identity to the screen with the formulaic but confident debut feature ‘In the Name of Blood’, premiering in San Sebastián.
Bound in Heaven
Doomed lovers fight for their right to party in the melodramatic but visually impressive romantic thriller ‘Bound in Heaven’, a strong debut feature from Chinese writer-director Huo Xin.
“It is like burning books” — Argentine cinema in danger
One of the most prominent Latin American film industries is under the chainsaw.
CineVerdict: “Es como quemar libros” — Cine argentino en peligro
Uno de los cines mas prominentes de América Latina bajo la motosierra.
Yerai Cortés’ Flamenco Guitar
Vibrant flamenco music redeems a weak narrative in Antón Alvarez’s directorial debut.
CineVerdict: La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés
La exuberante música flamenca y el talento de Yerai Cortés sobrepasan un argumento débil.
Emmanuelle
French director Audrey Diwan’s excruciatingly dull remake of Just Jaeckin’s 1970s soft-porn classic ‘Emmanuelle’ delivers fifty shades of joyless, witless, pointless, mostly sexless tedium.
On Falling
Backed by Ken Loach’s production company, writer-director Laura Carreira’s debut feature ‘On Falling’ is a well crafted but grindingly glum depiction of poverty, alienation and soul-crushing low-wage work.
Memoir of a Snail
Australian stop-motion master Adam Elliot is back with his touching, humane second feature ‘Memoir of a Snail’, featuring the voice of Sarah Snook.
San Sebastian 2024: Meet the Juries
The Jury of the Official Selection of the 72nd edition of the San Sebastian Festival will be chaired by Jaione Camborda, whose film 'Rye Horn' won last year’s Golden Shell. In the 2023 review of ‘Rye Horn’, TFV Critic Deborah Young states “Jaione Camborda displays her...
The San Sebastian Film Festival to host its third Creative Investors’ Conference
The San Sebastian Film Festival will host its third annual Creative Investors’ Conference on September 24 and 25 as part of ‘Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech’. The gathering will consist of panels and discussions open to festival industry badgeholders, as well as...
Oldenburg Film Festival 2024: The Verdict
Germany’s leading indie film event, Oldenburg Film Festival, returned to Lower Saxony with an almost implausibly consistent line-up that included grotesque Mexican satire, hard-hitting political cinema from Myanmar and an array of interesting genre cinema.
Oldenburg 2024: The Awards
The eccentric Canadian bicycle comedy ‘James’ claimed the Best Film prize at Oldenburg 2024.
At Dawn
An elderly man savours the small things on what might be his final day alive in Antonin Bonnot’s patient and touching short, At Dawn.
Alone Together
A checkpoint stop en route to Tehran leads to a young boy being held for drug possession. A moral quandary ensues in the emotive short, Alone Together.
Oldenburg’s tribute to Na Gyi and Paing Phyo Thu
The director and actress couple Na Gyi and Paing Phyo Thu have been in hiding since having to flee after their arrest was ordered by the military junta in 2021.
A History of Love and War
The tale of Maximilian of Habsburg and Charlotte of Belgium is reimagined in A History of Love and War, an anarchic, absurdist black comedy about colonisation and corruption in a fantastical Mexico.
The Lonely Musketeer
A man finds himself confined in a doorless room in Nicolai Schumann’s claustrophobic monochrome character study, The Lonely Musketeer, built on a remarkable performance by Edward Hogg.
The Killer’s Game
An action-comedy that contains neither, this generic exercise will remain forgotten as Dave Bautista’s star continues to rise.
Energetic 49th Toronto International Film Festival Buzzes with Oscar Season Hopefuls
2024 awards race takes shape as TIFF brings stars and prestige to the red carpet.
Oldenburg Ruined All Other Film Festivals for Me
First-time filmmaker Truman Kewley describes his emotions screening ‘Beautiful Friend’ to audiences, in a journey that began at last year’s Oldenburg Film Festival.
Nostalgia of a (Still) Alive Heart
Two young children are left to find their own way when their father commits suicide in Diego Gaxiola’s poignant magical realist short, Nostalgia of a (Still) Alive Heart.
Saint Clare
Mitzi Peirone’s sophomore feature, Saint Clare, about a college student on a mission from God to rid the world of predatory men is stylish, weird, sometimes overdone – and a blast.
Swing Bout
Maurice O’Carroll’s propulsive boxing-cum-crime drama, Swing Bout, bristles with the energy of the ring in this tale of young hopefuls waiting for their chance.
The Swedish Torpedo
Frida Kempff’s powerful biopic defies conventions as it studies the intersection of patriarchy and sport.
Telepathic Letters
Edgar Pera uses AI-generated imagery to envisage a meandering , hallucinatory conversation between the authors Fernando Pessoa and H.P. Lovecraft in Telepathic Letters.
Transformers One
Lore-crazed fans will devour this animated prequel that is, at the very least, slightly more intentionally funny than the Michael Bay live-action franchise.
Bits
A woman in smalltown Montana has a near miss with a serial killer but becomes obsessed with being his victim the dark, absorbing drama – Bits.
Traumnovelle
A doctor goes on a dreamlike odyssey into sexual temptation in Traumnovelle, a new adaption of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 novella, which has an archness fitting its absurdity.
Mi Bestia
Religious rumours combine with a blood moon eclipse and a girl’s journey to womanhood in Mi Bestia, a beguiling coming-of-ager with fantasy elements from Camila Beltran.
Electra
Secrets and lies combine with an air of surrealism in Electra, Hala Matar’s fresh and funny riff on Greek myth, Hitchcock and Highsmith, all dripping with Italian style.
Hungary selects historical drama ‘Semmelweis’ for 2025 International Oscars
https://youtu.be/2rQWibxbImQ?si=oSbRRVK6ishWVkj3 Hungary has chosen the historical drama "Semmelweis," directed by Lajos Koltai, as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the upcoming Academy Awards. The movie depicts the story of Ignác...
Skin
A young woman confronts her true self in the mirror in this beautifully shot and symbolic evocation of an individual’s transition from female to male in Leo Behrens’ Skin.
Ink Wash
Sarra Tsorakidis’ debut is a searing reckoning of contemporary Romania under late stage capitalism.
The 31st Oldenburg Film Festival rolls out the red carpet
Oldenburg, Germany’s premiere indie film festival, returns
Oldenburg Honors Myanmar Artists in Exile
Director Na Gyi and his wife, Myanmar Academy Award-winning actress Paing Phyo Thu, are the festival’s 2024 Tribute Honorees.
The Courageous
An empathetic study of a woman trying to hold it together for her kids is powered with a memorable performance by Ophelia Kolb.
Meat
Tragedy and family collide in Dmitris Nakos’ feature debut in which half an acre means the whole world.
A Missing Part
Guillaume Senez’s sensitive and low-key melodrama explores the harsh realities of Japan’s child custody laws.
Venice 2024: The Verdict
The long, hot summer seemed reluctant to end as crowds returned to the Lido to see the stars and the Venice film selection.
Diva Futura
The birth of Italian porn films in the 1980’s is told as a sentimental, gently humorous biopic about porn entrepreneur Riccardo Schicchi in ‘Diva Futura’, a well-written romp made to cash in on its airbrushed sketches of adult film stars Moana Pozzi, Cicciolina and Eva Henger.
Triumph
Psychics, the military, extraterrestrials, and a democratic future collide in this unbelievably wild but true Bulgarian dramedy.
The Wild Robot
Animator Chris Sanders concocts a sweet fable about love, parenting, and finding your own path.
My Fathers’ Daughter
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is a fantasy father figure in Egil Pedersen’s charming coming-of-age dramedy.
Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story
Blue Road finds the blazing truth in famed author Edna O’Brien’s remarkable career.
Seven Days
Ali Samadi Ahadi’s turgid drama with a script from ‘Sacred Fig’ director Mohammad Rasoulof offers a surface level view of Iranian politics.
Venice 2024: The Awards
Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature ‘The Room Next Door’ was a dignified winner of the Golden Lion: a quietly profound meditation on love and death, pain and glory, buoyed by knockout performances from TIlda Swinton and Julianne Moore.
Producer Alex C. Lo bursts onto the international festival scene
Taiwan-born and New York-based producer Alex C. Lo seems to be everywhere on the A-list festival circuit.
Love
Dag Johan Haugerud’s trilogy about relationships in present day Oslo continues with the cleverly moving ‘Love’, screened in Venice’s main competition.
The Quiet Ones
Frederik Louis Hviid’s nerve-rattling heist flick unfolds with sweat-soaked tension and clockwork precision.
Mr. K
Crispin Glover falls down the rabbit hole in Tallulah H. Schwab’s surreal comedy that asks big questions.
Youth: Homecoming
Wang Bing brings his documentary trilogy to a strong close with ‘Youth: Homecoming’, first screened in Venice’s main competition.
Stranger Eyes
A kidnap thriller rooted in surveillance, voyeurism and the unkindness of strangers, Yeo Siew Hua’s third feature ‘Stranger Eyes’ is the first ever Singaporean film to compete for the Golden Lion in Venice
Mistress Dispeller
Director Elizabeth Lo explores China’s novel solutions to infidelity and marital crisis with her intimate love-triangle documentary ‘Mistress Dispeller’.
Temporary Shelter
Anastasiia Bortuali’s debut documentary is a captivating scrapbook of Ukrainians forging a new life in Iceland.
Sicilian Letters
Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza put their own compelling spin on a true Mafia story with ‘Sicilian Letters’, a Venice competition premiere.
Almost Certainly False
Coming of age is tough in Almost Certainly False, a deft exploration of identity and duty in the life of a young Syrian immigrant dreaming of leaving Istanbul for Europe.
Peacock
A professional friend-for-hire wakes up to the horrors of his soul-destroying job and hollow lifestyle in Austrian writer-director Bernhard Wenger’s sharp-witted, superbly acted black comedy ‘Peacock’.
April
Choosing a narrative style as austere and unforgiving as her OB-GYN heroine, rising Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili (‘Beginning’) plumbs the depths of female suffering and self-sacrifice in ‘April’, a festival film which, like its protag, is destined to be admired more than loved.
Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo
In this love/hate letter to Cairo, Khalid Mansour’s sensitive debut feature ‘Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo’ pays tribute to a generation of young Egyptians shackled by economic and societal frustrations.
Ten Awards go to “CineGouna Funding” Alumni
“In This Darkness I See You”, a work-in-progress film project by Lebanese director Nadim Tabet won El Gouna Film Festival Award in the Final Cut program at the Venice International Film Festival. Final Cut is a program dedicated to supporting Arab and African film...
Joker: Folie à Deux
Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips return to their billion-dollar killer-clown origin story with the music-stuffed, lavishly staged but dramatically flawed sequel ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’.
Three Keenings
Three Keenings is a darkly comic character portrait depicts an actor presenting a facsimile of grief that is a thin veneer over the real thing waiting to erupt.
The Quiet Son
Delphine and Muriel Coulin deliver a compelling family drama with their third feature ‘The Quiet Son’, screened in Venice’s main competition.
Kora
Claudia Varejao’s experimental documentary, Kora, is a soulful glimpse into the lives of female refugees and the power of photographs in connecting diasporas with home.
Queer
Daniel Craig stars in Luca Guadagnino’s sumptuous adaptation of the cult William Burroughs novel ‘Queer’, a trippy erotic fever dream that mostly hits the target, despite some narrative flaws.
Harvest
Strewn with beauty, sadness and food for thought, Rachel Tsangari’s gripping adaptation of Jim Crace’s novel ‘Harvest’ is an allegory on how modernity has rapidly destroyed our natural relationship with the world.
San Sebastian Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Sebastiane Award
The 25th anniversary of the Sebastiane award at the San Sebastian Festival will include the special screening of the film ‘120 Beats Per Minute’, winner of the Sebastiane Award in 2017, on Sunday 22nd at the Príncipe Cinemas (18:15), attended by its director, Robin...
Dominik Graf named Guest of Honor at the Oldenburg Film Festival
The Oldenburg film festival will honor German filmmaker Dominik Graf, who made his debut in the late 1970s. He is part of a generation of filmmakers that aimed to revolutionize mass entertainment with straight forward and economical storytelling, Additionally, heis an...
Vermiglio
Maura Delpero’s visually resonant, close-to-nature second feature ‘Vermiglio’ follows a large family living in a tiny Alpine village as WW2 draws to a close, emphasizing the changing role of women in society.
The Room Next Door
Starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature ‘The Room Next Door’ is a minor-key but quietly profound meditation on love and death, pain and glory.
The Poison Cat
A closed, patriarchal community begins to transform as the cries of a legendary forest beast foreshadow social revolution in the spirited short, The Poison Cat.
Phantosmia
A retired military sniper tries to atone for his murderous past in ‘Phantosmia’, Philippine auteur Lav Diaz’s poetic, reflective, modest yet visually captivating study of guilt and redemption.
The New Year That Never Came
Romanian filmmaker Bogdan Muresanu delivers sharp holiday-themed satire with his feature debut ‘The New Year That Never Came’, screened in Venice’s Orizzonti section.
Wolfs
It takes the combined power of George Clooney and Brad Pitt to maintain interest in this paper-thin farce about rival crime-scene cleaners.
The IDM Film Commission South Tyrol supports native born Maura Delpero’s film ‘Vermiglio’
Maura Delpero returned to her native region for her second feature film, choosing most of the locations between South Tyrol and Trentino as the backdrop for her film debuting at the 81st Venice Film Festival. VERMIGLIO is competing in Venice as the first South...
Baby Invasion
Ageing bad-boy auteur Harmony Korine’s latest experimental art-punk feature ‘Baby Invasion’ is a visually impressive but ultimately hollow exercise in jaded hipster nihilism.
The Eggregores Theory
The surrealism of images created by artificial intelligence evokes the unreliability of memory and elusive nature of a dystopian plague in the sci-fi short, ‘The Eggregores Theory’.
The Order
White-supremacist violence in the US is an evergreen subject, but this docudrama about an FBI takedown of a racist cell plays like countless other feds-versus-terrorists thrillers.
Battleground
Three doctors of different political views struggle to treat soldiers returning from the front during WWI and combat a new menace, the Spanish flu, in director Gianni Amelio’s grimly shocking film about war’s after-effects, ‘Battleground’.
And Their Children After Them
French writer-director duo Zoran and Ludovic Boukherma go back to the 1990s with their operatic but flawed coming-of-age saga ‘And Their Children After Them’, adapted from a prize-winning novel.
RAI CINEMA TOPPER DEL BROCCO TALKS SALES, PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
The Film Verdict had the opportunity to speak with the Amministratore Delegato of Rai Cinema, Paolo Del Brocco, just before he was leaving for the Venice Film Festival. TFV: Paolo, your mandate has been renewed and you have just had a significant year that brought to...
Trois amies
A trio of French couples exchange partners while they search for love in Emmanuel Mouret’s professionally crafted but unsurprising salute to a great French film genre, ‘Trois amies.’
Babygirl
Nicole Kidman delivers another emotionally and physically fearless performance in Halina Reijn’s provocative, kink-themed coming-out story.
Kill The Jockey
A horse racing champion embarks on a surreal gender-blurring ride in Luis Ortega’s bumpy but stylish, colourful, enjoyably goofy comedy thriller ‘Kill The Jockey’.
An ‘accidental’ film enthusiast
Jo Mühlberger began working for European Film Promotion (EFP) in 1998 after working for the Berlinale, the European Film Market and Filmfest Hamburg. As EFP’s Deputy Director he is part of the strategic team within EFP, developing activities to promote the spirit of...
One to One: John & Yoko
The life, politics, music and relationship of cultural idols and revolutionary artists John Lennon and Yoko Ono are brilliantly blasted onscreen amid exploding shards of 1970’s Americana in Kevin Macdonald’s and Sam Rice-Edwards’ irresistibly original and high-energy documentary, ‘One to One: John & Yoko’.
Chain Reactions
Alexandre O. Philippe pays tribute to a classic on its 50th anniversary with the heartfelt documentary ‘Chain Reactions’, screened in Venice’s Classics sidebar.
Apocalypse in the Tropics
Brazilian director Petra Costa explores how religious faith can become a dangerous political weapon in ‘Apocalypse in the Tropics’, the gripping sequel to her Oscar-nominated ‘The Edge of Democracy’.
Maria
Pablo Larraín’s third portrait of the private pain of a public woman exists most effectively as a platform for Angelina Jolie’s diva-as-diva performance.
Riefenstahl
The film auteur of Nazi Germany par excellence, Leni Riefenstahl and her controversial legacy are examined in fascinating depth in the new German doc ‘Riefenstahl’ by Andres Veiel.
Venice Immersive 2024: A Bodily Matter
The 2024 Venice Immersive selection featured some interesting variations on the usual VR experience, involving the body and senses in new ways.
Planet B
French writer-director Aude Léa Rapin’s dystopian cyber-thriller ‘Planet B’ is an ambitious but muddled mix of virtual reality and timely political issues.
49th Toronto International Film Festival Offers an Intriguing and Diverse Selection of European Cinema
TIFF’s slate of European cinema ranges from provocative documentaries to pulse-pounding genre thrills.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Tim Burton’s energetically grotesque sequel proves you can go home again, even when that home is haunted.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom
The Japanese franchise celebrates its 45th anniversary with the VR film ‘Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom’, shown in the Venice Immersive lineup.
Feeling Better
Valerio Mastandrea makes good use of his gruff persona in his second directorial feature ‘Feeling Better’, screened in Venice’s Orizzonti competition.
EFP supports outstanding European films
European Film Promotion (EFP) is highlighting 17 European titles from a long list of outstanding European films that will be part of this years‘ line-up at the Toronto International Film Festival. Some 17 national film promotion institutes plus five world sales...
What If…? An Immersive Story
Marvel Studios makes it VR debut with ‘What If…? An Immersive Story’, based on the animated series dealing with alternate realities.
Venice Film Festival 2024: Meet the International Competition Jury
The international jury for the Venezia 81 competition of the 81st Venice International Film will consist of nine international film personalities, who will award the Golden Lion for Best Film and the other official awards. French actress Isabelle Huppert will act as...
Venice Film Festival 2024 Masterclass Schedule
La Biennale 2024 Masterclass series will unfold 29 August - 6 September. The classes and conversations will take place at the Match Point Arena, set up at the Tennis Club Venezia on the Lido (Lungomare Marconi, corner via Emo, in front of the Hotel Excelsior, free...
Awards Clip: ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ is the German entry for the Oscars® 2025
The feature film ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ by Mohammad Rasoulof will represent Germany at the 97th Academy Awards® for Best International Feature Film. This decision was made by an independent jury of experts appointed by German Films from the 13 films submitted...
The Verdict: Sarajevo 2024
Sarajevo Film Festival’s 30th edition was a starry affair, balancing stories from the Balkan region’s dark past with signposts to a brighter future.
Sarajevo 2024: The Awards
The Romanian ‘Three Kilometers to the End of the World’ by director Emanuel Pârvu took home the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film.
Mother Mara
Mirjana Karanovic shines as both creator and star of Mother Mara, a nuanced drama about a middle-aged woman navigating loss, adapted from elements of a Tanja Sljivar play.
Saule Bliuvaite on awards, future plans and Stephen King.
We spoke to Saule Bliuvaite, fresh off her dual triumph in Locarno with her debut feature ‘Toxic’.
Skill Issue
Teens scrutinise each other on a hot summer’s day at the river and drift off into the wilderness in this unique, mysterious German coming-of-ager.
Festival Flashback: Looking Back to 2019 at the Sarajevo Film Festival
This year marks the 30th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival. SFF is the largest and most premier festival in Southeast Europe. The festival was launched during the siege of the Sarajevo during the Bosnian war. The first Sarajevo Film Festival was held from 25...
Blink Twice
Zoë Kravitz makes an impressive directorial debut with a twisty, topical thriller in the Jordan Peele/Ira Levin vein.
Holy Electricity director Tato Kotetishvili in Sarajevo: “When you’re open to chance, the universe gives you surprises”
Fresh from awards in Locarno, Georgian director Tato Kotetishvili spoke about integrating reality and trusting in magic with debut feature Holy Electricity.
On the Way
A father and son heading home from football practice face the realities of bureaucracy and the lure of migration in Samir Karahoda’s finely tuned short, On the Way.
Cent’anni
Documentarist Maja Prelog follows her partner on an arduous post-leukemia cycling trip in Cent’anni, a deeply personal reflection on the emotional effects of serious illness.
When Santa Was a Communist
Santa Claus is not coming to town in Emir Kapetanovic’s bittersweet comic road movie ‘When Santa Was a Communist’, which is based on an absurd true story in the Balkan region’s ongoing culture wars.
John Turturro in Sarajevo: “As you can see, I’m a very inhibited actor.”
Beloved American actor John Turturro spoke of depicting eccentrics, early typecasting, and the realities of mental health care to a rapt masterclass audience in Sarajevo.
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
A passenger train witnesses an act of ethnic cleansing in ‘The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent’, a well-drawn portrait of the wary silence of complicity that allows evil to triumph. Winner of the Palme D’Or – Short Film at Cannes.
Festival Flashback: Looking Back to 2007 at the Sarajevo Film Festival
This year marks the 30th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival. SFF is the largest and most premier festival in Southeast Europe. The festival was launched during the siege of the Sarajevo during the Bosnian war. The first Sarajevo Film Festival was held from 25...
3 MWh
A man fastidiously records his electrical energy consumption, gradually counting down to his demise, in this strangely compelling and poetic 16mm short, 3 MWh.
Alexander Payne talks ‘Election’ sequel, western plans and his love for classic car chase movies.
The Oscar-winning director of ‘Sideways’, ‘About Schmidt’, ‘Nebraska’ and ‘The Holdovers’ came to Sarajevo Film Festival for a masterclass talk and gala screening.
Festival Flashback: Looking Back to 2001 at the Sarajevo Film Festival
This year marks the 30th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival. SFF is the largest and most premier festival in Southeast Europe. The festival was launched during the siege of the Sarajevo during the Bosnian war. The first Sarajevo Film Festival was held from 25...
A Fidai Film
Kamal Aljafari reclaims and re-envisages looted images from Beirut’s Palestine Research Centre in his moving and enigmatic intervention into the territory of memories.
Julie Keeps Quiet
Belgian filmmaker Leonardo van Dijl makes a strong feature debut with sports drama ‘Julie Keeps Quiet’, which premiered in Cannes.
Dad’s Lullaby
All is disquiet on the eastern home front in Ukrainian director Lesia Diak’s scrappy but emotionally engaging debut documentary ‘Dad’s Lullaby’.
Holy Week
Andrei Cohn’s stark and brutal historical drama on the cycle of bloodshed in nineteenth-century Romania is a resonant study of how hatred is spawned.
Cord Jefferson talks race and racism, ‘American Fiction’ and post-Oscars plans in Sarajevo.
The Oscar-winning writer-director of ‘American Fiction’ gave a lively masterclass and hosted a gala screening as part of the Balkan-region film fest’s 30th anniversary edition.
Locarno 2024: The Verdict
The 2024 Locarno Film Festival spotlighted the future in more ways than one.
Avant-Drag!
A lively documentary from Greek director Fil Ieropoulos, ‘Avant-Drag!’ salutes the radical roots and ongoing bravery of queer performers who defy gender norms, especially in more conservative societies.
Locarno 2024: The Awards
‘Toxic’ (‘Akiplesa’), the first feature directed by Lithuania’s Saulé Bliuvaité, swept two top awards at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.
The Life Apart
Marco Tullio Giordana deals solidly with family drama and music in Locarno premiere ‘The Life Apart’.
Family Therapy
Slovenian writer-director Sonja Prosenc explores the tragicomic extremes of wealth and privilege in her sprawling but impressive social satire ‘Family Therapy’.
Toxic
Lithuanian teens pin hope on an exploitative modelling school as a way out of their dead-end town in Saule Bliuvaite’s acerbic, striking coming-of-ager.
‘Reinas’ and ‘Dog on Trial’ selected as potential Swiss International Oscar® Submission
The selection committee appointed by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture has included REINAS by Klaudia Reynicke and DOG ON TRIAL by Laetitia Dosch in the preselection. Both films are currently enjoying Swiss premieres at the Locarno Film Festival on the Piazza...
My Late Summer
A young woman learns some bittersweet life lessons about love and family in Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic’s latest sunny but slight glum-com ‘My Late Summer’.
Like a Sick Yellow
Like a Sick Yellow is a fragmentary portrait of place that blurs fact with fiction to create an elusive and unnerving meditation on memory and the Kosovan war.
Sarajevo Film Festival celebrates 30 years as a potent symbol of peace, unity and great cinema.
Southwest Europe’s biggest film festival is marking its landmark anniversary with a feast of premieres, new locations across the city, plus starry guests including Meg Ryan and John Turturro.
Timestalker
Alice Lowe returns behind the camera with her second feature ‘Timestalker’, a century-spanning rom-com screened in Locarno’s Piazza Grande.
Eight Postcards from Utopia
Radu Jude teases the profound out of the profane with a manic, comical collage of material drawn from TV commercials produced in Romania after the collapse of its Communist regime in 1989.
TFV is On Point with Audio Film Reviews
The Film Verdict (TFV) launches the industry’s first trade audio film reviews with THE FILM VERDICT ON POINT (TFV On Point), a new podcast series that will turn TFV film reviews into audio broadcasts, hosted by Sarah Vianney.
Sarajevo Film Festival Masterclass Series 2024
This year, the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Masterclass program offers the opportunity to gain insights from experienced film professionals. The Masterclass series will be held from August 17th to 21st, with sessions taking place at the Festival Center (Bosnian Cultural...
At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking
Finding universal emotion in a singular case study, director Maja Novakovic’s painterly debut feature ‘At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking’ is a hauntingly beautiful meditation on loss and loneliness.
When the Phone Rang
One last memory of a Yugoslavia that no longer exists becomes a site of obsessive return in Iva Radivojevic’s elegantly narrated reconstruction.
The European Film Academy announces this year’s Feature Film Selection Part 1
The European Film Academy has announced their selection for this year's feature film section, Part 1.The selection includes 29 productions as the first part of the Academy’s Feature Film Selection process. There are 26 European countries represented – both EU and...
looking she said I forget
A young woman acclimatises to the rhythms of a new city while reflecting on those of her lifestyle in looking she said I forget, the heady short from Naomi Pacifique.
New Dawn Fades
A sensitive mind struggles with esoteric encounters in the Istanbul gloom in Gurcan Keltek’s spectacularly atmospheric horror.
Hanami
Although ‘Hanami’ leans a bit too hard on its magical realism elements, talented director Denise Fernandes makes up for it with an affecting coda.
Pedro Almodóvar to receive a Donostia Award at the 72nd edition of the San Sebastian Festival
On September 26th, Pedro Almodóvar, the director, screenwriter, and producer, will be honored with the Donostia Award at the 72nd edition of the San Sebastian Festival. The award recognizes his extraordinary contribution to the world of cinema. The presentation will...
Alien: Romulus
Fede Alvarez returns to the well of the original 1979 Ridley Scott hit while adding a few space-screams of his own.
Agora
In a quasi-political thriller, Ala Eddine Slim translates a nightmare of two sleeping animals into a mysterious multilayered investigative story referring to a morally and environmentally corrupt Tunisian village.
Listen to the Voices
In the impressive ‘Listen to the Voices’, Maxime Jean-Baptiste presents a sobering look at trauma, blackness, and violence in a Guianese neighbourhood.
Ben Burtt on the Magic of Sound Effects
TFV speaks to Oscar winner Ben Burtt, the 2024 recipient of the Vision Award at the Locarno Film Festival.
Ascona Locarno, home of the Locarno Film Festival is a green region of Activity
Ascona-Locarno is a decidedly green destination. To preserve the stunning landscape of the Ascona-Locarno region, the area is served by an extensive network of public transportation, a comprehensive bike-sharing system, and numerous cable cars, allowing visitors to...
AWARDS WATCH: 13 films submitted for consideration as Germany’s 2025 Oscar® entry
The selection of the German entry for the 97th Oscar® Competition in the category "Best International Feature Film" will take place with an independent jury of experts on August 21 and 22, 2024 in Munich. The following thirteen German films were submitted to German...
Locarno Open Doors Announces Winners
Open Doors, Locarno Pro’s co-production and talent development program for artists from underrepresented communities around the world, has announced its 2024 winners. Eight projects in development were selected for its coproduction platform, the Projects Hub, and were...
Freak
An innocuous question intended to be sexy and intimate probes at relationship boundaries in Freak, a short film about what it means to be truly honest and truly accepted
Moon
Kurdwin Ayub’s sophomore feature about a mixed martial arts trainer on peculiar assignment to housebound sisters in Jordan offers sensationalist suspense but few layers of depth.
Locarno Pro First Look & Alliance 4 Development Winners 2024
The First Look awards were presented by an international jury consisting of Beatrice Fiorentino (Artistic Director, Venice's International Film Critics’ Week), Kerem Ayan (Director, Istanbul Film Festival), and Mercedes Martínez-Abarca (Programmer, International Film...
Cine Verdict: México 86
México 86 es el sobrio y sincero segundo largometraje del ganador de la Camera D´Or 2019 César Díaz. al que le falta pasión para ser un relato político convincente.
Transamazonia
Acts of faith, plunder and resistance deep in the Amazon are the territory of a majestic and hallucinatory but heavy-handed anti-colonial thriller from Pia Marais.
Mexico 86
‘Mexico 86’, the sober, sincere second feature from 2019 Camera D’Or winner César Díaz, lacks the passion to be a compelling political narrative.
Weightless
Sara Fgaier’s feature debut is an account of love and loss that retains a poetic fragmentary appeal, while concealing a more powerful tale.
Holy Electricity
Tato Kotetishvili’s Georgian debut is a scrappily episodic and freewheeling, dry-humoured celebration of down-and-out margins brimming with eccentric personality.
Sew Torn
Freddy Macdonald delivers Alpine thrills with his feature debut ‘Sew Torn’, part of Locarno’s Piazza Grande selection.
Invention
A woman processes the death of her father, a controversial inventor of healing gadgets in a conspiracy-prone America, in this droll, intriguing docufiction.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Kevin Jerome Everson’s latest short – Practice, Practice, Practice – is yet another perfectly calibrated examination of the aspects of African-American labour that packs a powerful punch.
Drowning Dry
A family derailed by a swimming accident struggles to make sense of the trauma in Laurynas Bareisa’s haunting and profoundly disorienting drama.
OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS NATURAL PLAYGROUND
Ascona-Locarno is a real paradise for outdoor enthusiasts, thanks to its lake, rivers, mountains, breathtaking hills and wide plains. With over 2,300 hours of sunshine a year and a mild climate, the region is ideal for outdoor adventures, offering a wide range of...
The Sparrow in the Chimney
Ramon Zürcher’s utterly distinctive talent for twisting the domestic into the uncanny gains intensity in a cutting psychological horror as thrilling as it is elliptical and dark.
Meg Ryan to Receive Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award
Meg Ryan will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award. She will also present a special screening of her 1998 hit romantic comedy 'You've Got Mail' at the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema. The actress will greet the audience at the same venue where the film was screened...
Red Path
Lotfi Achour’s engrossing psychodrama ‘Red Path’ (‘Les enfants rouges’) is a powerful investigation into the traumatized mind of a young shepherd who witnessed the beheading of his cousin by an extremist group.
Fréwaka
Taboo histories of violence against women in Ireland are excavated in Aislinn Clarke’s chilling, over-the-top Irish-language folk horror.
Bogancloch
Ben Rivers revisits hermit Jake Williams in Scottish woodland for a sparse, mysterious and music-oriented doc on life off the grid in gathering crisis.
Mothers don’t
Mar Coll returns to the Locarno Festival to explore the limits of modern motherhood in Mothers Don’t (Salve María), an intimate and empathetic film.
Death Will Come
Christoph Hochhäusler’s Brussels-set neo-noir about a female assassin sets up wild ideas about futuristic crime which a convoluted plot never quite delivers.
Cine Verdict: Salve María
La directora catalana Mar Coll explora los límites de la maternidad moderna en Salve María, largometraje íntimo y empático con el que vuelve al Festival de Locarno
Cuckoo
This Alpine resort has everything: mood, creepiness, mood… and… well, that’s about it.
The Flood
Gianluca Jodice’s Locarno opener is a handsome but airless portrait of obsolescence, as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette sit out their last months imprisoned in a Paris chateau.
Too Hot to Handle, Beat the Heat
The special feature of Lake Maggiore is that it is accessible practically everywhere. There are an incredible number of beaches, lidos and bathing spots along the lakeshore. Some are accessible free of charge; others require a fee - but all are beautiful. Lake...
A Flower of Mine
Italian author Paolo Cognetti returns to his filmmaking roots with ‘A Flower of Mine’, an ode to nature bowing in Locarno’s Piazza Grande.
Claude Barras: Art in (Stop) Motion
The Locarno Film Festival pays tribute to Claude Barras, a major name in contemporary Swiss animation.
Discover Ascona Locarno, home of the Locarno Film Festival
Founded after the Second World War, the Locarno Film Festival stands as one of the oldest and most prestigious in Europe and is the most significant in Switzerland. During the eleven days, over 300 films are screened in 13 venues and the winning film is awarded the...
Trap
Too few surprises and too many endings makes for a tension-free thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, despite Josh Hartnett’s best efforts.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Ryan Reynolds fires off quips and bullets with equal precision, but both the meta-comedy and the exaggerated violence wear thin before the film’s denouement.
San Sebastian International Film Festival announces their New Directors Line Up
San Sebastian International Film festival announces eleven moviemakers from Argentina, China, France, Georgia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the USA will show their first and second films in the Festival’s New Directors section. All of them, together with the remaining...
Alfonso Cuarón to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is honored to pay tribute to Alfonso Cuarón with the Lifetime Achievement Award, accompanied by the screening of Alain Tanner’s Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000 (Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000, 1976), personally selected by Cuarón....
Twisters
This 28-years-later sequel delivers the weather-porn thrills of its predecessor, while managing to be the tiniest bit less silly when the actors open their mouths.
Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet to Receive Excellence Award Davide Campari at Locarno77
Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet, two stars of French cinema, will be the joint recipients of the Excellence Award Davide Campari at the 2024 Locarno Film Festival. Guillaume Canet has acted, directed and written over 100 films throughout his career, spanning from...
RTVE expands collaboration with the San Sebastian Film Festival
The acting president of RTVE, Concepción Cascajosa, and the San Sebastian International Film Festival director, José Luis Rebordinos, signed an agreement to strengthen their almost two-decade-long collaboration. RTVE will be the official sponsor of the film festival...
Locarno 77 Festival Selection Announced
The official selection of the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival has been announced. For eight decades, Locarno has been at the forefront of the international festival circuit, premiering films by both established auteurs and rapidly rising talents. Among the...
Karlovy Vary 2024: The Verdict
The 58th edition of KVIFF featured Kafka-esque comedy, a strong international program and some controversial prize choices.
Karlovy Vary 2024: The Awards
Karlovy Vary’s two big standouts when awards were handed out Saturday night were ‘A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things’ directed by prolific Irish documentarian Mark Cousins and Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s Norwegian drama ‘Loveable’ (Elskling).
Fly Me to the Moon
The space race is back in the peppy, bouncy ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, but a sparky face-off between NASA launch director Channing Tatum and marketing wizard Scarlett Johansson can’t disguise an outdated feeling.
Hunting Daze
A backwoods bachelor party becomes a fight to the death in Canadian writer-director Annick Blanc’s uneven but gripping feminist thriller ‘Hunting Daze’.
Actress
A legend of Czech cinema receives the tribute she deserves in the documentary ‘Actress’, screened at Karlovy Vary.
Cabo Negro
In writer-director Abdellah Taïa’s ode to youthful rebellion ‘Cabo Negro’, two heartbroken queer Moroccans take refuge in a luxury villa to confront old traumas and share solidarity.
Tropicana
Director Omer Tobi’s debut feature ‘Tropicana’ is a relentlessly dark but grimly compelling portrait of repressed lives and sexual outlaws in a small Israeli desert town.
Porcelain War
Porcelain War is a beautifully crafted documentary on the creative resistance of Ukrainian citizens under Russian invasion, and the paradoxes of patriotism.
A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things
Prolific documentarian Mark Cousins has dedicated himself to foregrounding underseen films from around the globe, especially those directed by women sidelined from cinematic history. in some of his best-known work, including the fifteen-hour The Story of Film: An...
Chlorophyll
Nature takes center stage in Ivana Gloria’s subtly off-kilter coming-of-age debut ‘Chlorophyll’, screening in Karlovy Vary’s Proxima Competition.
‘The Man Who Saved the Internet with a Sunflower’ wins Competition Features Audience Award at Dances With Films 2024
Ori Yardeni's feature film The Man Who Saved the Internet with a Sunflower, the true story of American entrepreneur Rob Ryan, was awarded the Competition Features Audience Award at the closing ceremony of Dances With Films 2024. The film recounts the dramatic story of...
Xoftex
Writer-director Noaz Deshe’s ambitious horror-tinged drama about the surreal absurdism of life in a refugee camp, ‘Xoftex’ is messy and muddled but commendably orginal.
Mediterrane 2024: The Verdict
The island of Malta adds a Mediterranean-themed film festival in its quest to make the film industry a pillar of its economy.
Night Has Come
A group of young men must endure the hardships of a rigorous military training programme in Night Has Come, Paolo Tizon’s intimate and revealing documentary.
Tiny Lights
Tiny Lights is a keenly observed portrayal of a six-year-old girl’s experience of her parents breaking up, built around a captivating performance from the young Mia Banko.
WINNERS OF KVIFF EASTERN PROMISES
KVIFF Eastern Promises, the festival's Industry section and film market’s mission is bridging the gap between talented filmmakers and their potential co-production partners, festivals, and audiences. “This year has once again brought a diverse selection of strong...
Despicable Me 4
Even die-hard Minions fans may come away disappointed from this half-hearted fourquel.
Loveable
A marriage unravels in the solid Norwegian drama ‘Loveable’, presented in Karlovy Vary’s Crystal Globe Competition.
Second Chance
This tender, often humorous film Second Chance is about a young woman recovering from trauma is a deftly rendered depiction of convalescence and our ability to heal one another.
The Human Hibernation
Anna Cornudella Castro’s mesmeric debut imagines an esoteric woodland world where humans hibernate, their supremacy among animals a delusion of the past.
Celebration
Full of atmospheric gloom, Bruno Ankovic’s powerful, decades-spanning feature debut shows how wartime violence and desperation seep through a Croatian village like a contagion.
Windless
A son returns to Bulgaria from abroad to settle the affairs of his estranged father in Windless, a confined drama about confronting the past and the act of memorial.
Holy Cow
Louise Courvoisier makes a confident, vibrant debut with the rural coming-of-age story ‘Holy Cow’.
Mediterrane 2024: The Awards
Turkish auteur Zeki Demirkubuz’s ‘Life’ (‘Hayat’) with its caustic social critique and a quietly angry feminist message won the top prize at the second edition of the Mediterrane Film Festival.
Lapilli
Overcome with grief at the sudden loss of her grandparents, filmmaker Paula Durinova’s expressive documentary Lapilli finds solace in the geological formations of the Aral Sea.
Real
Former political prisoner turned army commander Oleh Sentsov captures a raw slice of Ukraine frontline combat in his accidental “found footage” war documentary ‘Real’.
Panopticon
George Sikharulidze’s debut on masculinity and identity in today’s Georgia is an unusual coming-of-age drama alive with ideas and a bold political imagination.
The Hungarian Dressmaker
A Hungarian dressmaker does what she can to survive and resist the power abuses of the ‘40s Slovak State fascist militia in Iveta Grofova’s dark, evocative drama.
Three Days of Fish
Dutch writer-director Peter Hoogendoorn’s autobiographical second feature ‘Three Days of Fish’ finds both humour and melancholy in a painfully awkward father-son relationship.
The Dead Don’t Hurt
Viggo Mortensen’s tender and offbeat drama, The Dead Don’t Hurt, is led by a magnetic Vicky Krieps and cultivates something beautiful amongst the arid plains and rocky outcroppings of the old west.
Inside Malta: an interview with James Vella
British-Maltese musician, soundtrack composer and record label boss James Vella talks to The Film Verdict about his deep connections to Maltese music, cinema and culture.
Banzo
In the setting of a Portuguese plantation on Principe in the early 20th century, Margarida Cardoso crafts a haunting and unsettling portrait of colonial destruction in the form of Banzo.
I’m Not Everything I Want to Be
An enthralling doc on Czech photographer Libuse Jarcovjakova, whose candid, diaristic images show a communist Prague on the margins, and life on her own terms.
Santosh
A brutal rape and murder case in rural India shines a light on deeper problems of corruption, misogyny and inequality in Sandhya Suri’s ponderous but impressive police drama ‘Santosh’.
The Strangers’ Case
Confronting the world refugee crisis head-on in highly dramatic scenes that refuse to let go, Brandt Andersen’s etched-with-an-axe ‘The Strangers’ Case’ is a human disaster movie that passionately describes a chain reaction of real-life horror.
Karlovy Vary Looks to Young Audiences
The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival freshens up and renews its commitment to a new generation of viewers.
Palazzina Laf
Italian actor-director Michele Riondino transforms a notorious real-life case of mass workplace bullying into a boisterous social satire in his lively debut feature ‘Palazzina Laf’.
Inside Malta: Fabrizio Fenech
Representing the younger generation of Maltese filmmakers, Fabrizio Fenech hopes for an uptick of local productions in the future.
Inside Malta: Joseph Formosa Randon
Expert location manager and line producer Joseph Formosa Randon has worked on the top foreign shoots in Malta.
A Quiet Place: Day One
Not much here that the earlier two films didn’t already establish more effectively; its only depth comes from Lupita Nyong’o’s intuitive lead performance.
Inside Malta: An interview with Jon S. Baird
Currently head of the jury at Mediterrane Film Festival, the UK-based writer-director Jon S. Baird talks to The Film Verdict about his upcoming projects, his Scottish roots and his personal connections to Malta.
Pirates of the Mediterranean
The historical documentary Pirates of the Mediterranean combines an operation to uncover a 16th century shipwreck with re-enactment and talking heads to explore an overlooked element of Europe’s past.
My Way
The colourful back story behind Frank Sinatra’s signature song ‘My Way’ gets the all-star biopic treatment in this slight but engaging French documentary.
Inside Malta: A Visit to Malta Film Studios
On a break from Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival, The Film Verdict takes a rare peek inside the studio complex where Game of Thrones, Troy, Assassin’s Creed, Napoleon and both Gladiator films were shot.
Location Flashback: Munich (2005)
In this scene, having stayed behind to collect the shell casing from the first killing, Clara (Claran Hinds) arrives at the rendezvous point at an outdoor café in Rome where he meets Avner (Eric Bana) and the rest of the team. Munich was released by Universal Pictures...
Beautiful Lie
A father attempts to create some kind of life and legacy for his blind son in this tender but bittersweet Maltese drama, Beautiful Lie.
Ben Burtt to receive Vision Award Ticinomoda at Locarno 77
The Locarno Film Festival is honoring Ben Burtt, the legendary sound designer, editor, and voice actor behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. He has won four Academy Awards and will be receiving the Vision Award Ticinomoda, which is dedicated to creatives...
Negu Hurbilak
At the end of the Basque armed conflict, a young woman waits to flee across the border in ‘Negu Hurbilak’, an atmospheric and rigorously shot but mystifying tale that leaves too much to the viewer’s imagination.
ACTOR CLIVE OWEN TO RECEIVE KVIFF PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Award-winning British actor Clive Owen, known for his roles in film, television, and stage, will be a special guest at this year's 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). At the festival's closing ceremony, Owen will receive the KVIFF President’s Award....
Life
Uncompromising Turkish low-budget auteur Zeki Demirkubuz ruminates on toxic masculinity, ingrained sexism and existential despair in his ponderous but sporadically absorbing drama ‘Life’.
Location Flashback: Gladiator (2000)
In this scene, Praetorian guards, sent by Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), surround Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) after his excape in an attempt to reunite with his former servant Cicero (Tommy Flanagan) as part of a plot to over Emperor Commodus....
There’s Something about Teresa Cavina
Mediterrane Film Festival’s new artistic director, Teresa Cavina, turns her attention to Malta and the Mediterranean in this interview with TFV.
Backstage
Mysterious personal dramas unfold off-stage when a modern dance company has a bus break-down traveling to Marrakech in Tunisian codirectors Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane’s intelligently avant-garde on-the-road drama, ‘Backstage’.
I Saw the TV Glow
Produced by Emma Stone, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s uneven but impressively bold passion project ‘I Saw the Tv Glow’ celebrates gender-queer liberation using cult TV homages and hallucinatory horror elements.
Inside Malta: Joshua Cassar Gaspar
The Film Verdict is at Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta for the next week talking to key players in the Maltese film industry.
Location Flashback: Midnight Express (1978)
In this scene, Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) dressed in a guard’s uniform and after killing the abusive guard Hamidou (Paul Smith) walks out of the Turkish prison after spending five years locked up for dealing drugs. The prison drama was directed by Alan Parker and...
Dear Jassi
An engaging Romeo and Juliet romance between rich and poor Punjabis slowly reveals its darker side in Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s laid-back but ultimately devastating social critique. ‘Dear Jassi’.
Sweet Dreams
Dutch-Bosnian director Ena Sendijarevic’s playful, surreal, stylish second feature ‘Sweet Dreams’ finds a rich seam of darkly absurd comedy in Europe’s murky colonial history.
Director Steven Soderbergh to attend the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this year will include the presence of Steven Soderbergh, the Oscar-winning director and producer. The filmmaker will be in town to introduce two of his films, "Kafka" and "Mr. Kneff," as part of the festival's Kafka...
Location Flashback Popeye (1980)
In this scene, Popeye (Robin Williams) sends the local Taxman (Donald Moffat) down the shoot of the fishing dock after he tries to get Popeye to pay a tax for moving in after he moved out of Olive Oyl’s (Shelley Long) boarding house, and a baby tax for having Swee’Pea...
Hooked to the Silver Screen: celebrating David Bowie’s rich cinematic odyssey
The second edition of Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival is paying tribute to art-rock icon David Bowie’s cinematic legacy with a dedicated sidebar.
Hunters on a White Field
The hunters get captured by the game in ‘Hunters on a White Field’, Swedish writer-director Sarah Gyllenstierna’s classy horror-tinged thriller about the dark side of macho bloodsports.
The Bikeriders
Writer-director Jeff Nichols relies more on mood than narrative to capture the rebellious spirit of 1960s biker gangs.
Location Flashback: Troy (2004)
Filmed in Malta: In this scene, Achilles (Brad Pitt) walks along the coast of ‘Greece’ looking for his mother, the Sea Nymph Thetis (Julie Christie), in order to ask her advice about joining Odysseus (Sean Bean), the King of Ithaca, in the siege on Troy. The epic...
Berlin Film Festival Announces New Programming and Executive Positions
Tricia Tuttle, the Director of Berlinale, has appointed two highly respected programmers to serve as Co-Directors of Film Programming. Jacqueline Lyanga, former US-delegate to the Berlinale, and Michael Stütz, head of the Panorama section, will take on these roles...
Locarno Pro 2024: 36 Producers Selected for Networking Platform Match Me!
Locarno Pro's international networking initiative Match Me! has selected 36 emerging producers from 14 different countries. From August 9 to 11, Match Me! will organize individual meetings and tailor-made networking activities with potential creative and business...
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival President’s Award To Be Presented to Viggo Mortensen
The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will honor Viggo Mortensen with the Festival President's Award and present his film 'The Dead Don't Hurt,' which he wrote and directed, at the festival's opening ceremony. The versatile actor started his career in the...
40th Annual IDA Documentary Awards Call for Entries
The 40th Annual IDA Documentary Awards Call for Entries will open this Friday, June 21, and close on Monday, August 5. You can find all entry deadlines and key announcement dates on the website. There have been some changes to entry categories this year, so please be...
AVP Summit Challenges the Status Quo
The third edition of Italy’s international Audiovisual Producers Summit (June 10-12, 2024) wrapped at the Altafiumara Resort & Spa last week. The AVP Summit is a three-day conference dedicated to the Italian and international entertainment industry with attendees...
MEDITERRANE FILM FESTIVAL TO HONOR MIKE LEIGH WITH CAREER ACHIEVEMENT GOLDEN BEE AWARD
The Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta will present the Career Achievement Golden Bee Award to BAFTA-winning writer-director Mike Leigh, known for films like 'Vera Drake', 'Another Year', and 'Happy-Go-Lucky'. Leigh, a seven-time Academy Award nominee, will also lead...
‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ wins the first latin american critics’ award for european films
The German film The Teachers' Lounge by ?lker Çatak has won the Latin American Critics' Award for European Films, which is being presented for the first time by European Film Promotion (EFP) in cooperation with the Guadalajara International Film Festival. TFV Critic...
US Producer Stacey Sher to Receive the Locarno77 Raimondo Rezzonico Award
Producer Stacey Sher will be presented with the Raimondo Rezzonico Award at this year’s edition of the Locarno Film Festival. The award, dedicated to outstanding personalities who have played a major role in international production, honors this pivotal figure in the...
Inside Out 2
This Pixar sequel brings its protagonist into puberty and examines, with humor and poignancy, the complicated process of building an identity.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence radiate real “I’d rather be playing golf” energy in this fourth entry of a played-out franchise.
77th Locarno Film Festival reveals poster designed by Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz has been a highly sought-after international photographer for the past fifty years. She is best known for her portraits of prominent figures such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Queen Elizabeth II, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Jackson, Barack Obama, Meryl...
Young Woman and the Sea
This biopic of the first woman to swim the English Channel is total Disney corn, but it goes down easy.
‘20,000 Species of Bees’ to open theatrically in the US on June 14
TFV Chief critic, Deborah Young reviewed 20,000 species of Bees at Berlin 2023, where newcomer Sofia Otero was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. Young called the film “Extraordinary for its sensitivity and perception, Estibollz Urresolo Sologuren’s...
Norah
Tawfik Alzaidi’s classically narrated, slow-burn drama ‘Norah’ is a tribute to art and artists in socially conservative societies like 1990s Saudi Arabia.
An Open Letter to Hollywood
Participant Media is gone, but values-based storytelling is more urgently needed than ever.
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck (‘I Am Not Your Negro’) once again makes masterful use of the documentary form as a vehicle for social and political commentary in ‘Ernest Cole: Lost and Found’, an intense viewing experience that leaves its mark long after the last photo fades.
French Riviera Film Festival Announces 2024 Award Recipients
The winners of the 2024 French Riviera Film Festival, which celebrates short films and short-form content from around the world, have been announced. The event featured special award presentations to Argentine actor Martin Rodriguez (from Netflix's "Griselda"), who...
The Count of Monte Cristo
A French classic gets new, ambitious life on screen with the ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’, from the same team as 2023’s ‘The Three Musketeers’.
Cannes 2024: The Verdict
Women’s films and issues held center stage at Cannes 2024, while outright political films and cinema’s elder statesmen fell out of favor.
Cannes 2024: The Awards
Sean Baker’s fizzy Cinderella tale about a Brooklyn lap dancer who falls for a Russian playboy won this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes.
The Most Precious of Cargoes
Michel Hazanavicius’s (‘The Artist’) long-cherished animation project ‘The Most Precious of Cargoes’, bowing in Cannes competition, nimbly combines a classic, grim fairy tale with the horrors of the Holocaust in a well-made but sentimental tale whose audience is unclear.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof denounces the bloody repression of protests by Iranian authorities and the Revolutionary Guard in ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’, his most angrily outspoken film yet.
Sister Midnight
A newly married Mumbai housewife unleashes her inner monster in writer-director Karan Kandhari’s stylish, punky, compellingly strange comedy thriller ‘Sister Midnight’.
All We Imagine As Light
Featuring nuanced performances from its leads, Payal Kapadia’s tender relationship drama ‘All We Imagine As Light’, about three women working in a Mumbai hospital, is the first Indian film to compete for the Palme d’Or in more than three decades.
Beating Hearts
In ‘Beating Hearts’, Gilles Lellouche has produced a gorgeous film that is an epic rumination on love, revenge, class, and the inescapable pull of a certain kind of romance.
Somali Filmmaker Mo Harawe Makes History
When ‘The Village Next to Paradise’ bowed in Un Certain Regard, Mo Harawe became the first Somali filmmaker to compete at Cannes.
Grand Tour
Another genre-bending fantasy from Portuguese director Miguel Gomes, ‘Grand Tour’ takes the viewer on a dreamy ride through colonial Asia in 1918, though the present day often pushes through the whimsical story of two characters chasing each other across Asia.
To a Land Unknown
Mahdi Fleifel’s masterful feature debut ‘To a Land Unknown’ marks a new chapter in Palestinian cinema with its harsh yet empathetic walk in the brutal world of being an Arab refugee in Greece.
What’s Next for Switzerland?
Switzerland is the 2024 Country of Honor at the Marché du Film in Cannes.
Universal Language
Blending autobiographical elements with heartfelt homages to Iranian cinema, writer-director Matthew Rankin’s charmingly surreal comic fable ‘Universal Language’ reimagines Canada as a Farsi-speaking dreamland.
Viet and Nam
Bowing in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, Truong Minh Quy’s third feature ‘Viet and Nam’ leans more on innovative imagery and historical allegory than its underwritten story and characters.
Mahdi Fleifel on the challenging miracle of creating Palestinian films
The Palestinian-Danish director Mahdi Fleifel, in Cannes with a brutally realistic exile story, opens up about the difficulty of exiles making films in exile about other exiles.
Parthenope
In the lush ‘Parthenope’, which he has called his first “feminine epic”, Paolo Sorrentino captures the passion and decadence, the misery, tragedy and baroque riches of his native Naples.
Marcello Mio
Low on laughs and with a thin plot, Christophe Honore’s ‘Marcello Mio’ is a quirky tribute to one of European cinema’s most famous filial relationships.
The Village Next to Paradise
Mo Harawe’s story of a Somali family attempting to make ends meet in a troubled environment is visually striking and masterfully told.
Location flashback: Ronin (1998)
In this scene: Sam (Robert De Niro) and Deirdre (Natascha McElhone) walk along the waterfront, posing as a touring husband and wife. to get a look at the area around the hotel where they plan to steal the suitcase. Ronin is a 1998 American action thriller directed by...
Celebrated Songwriter AR Rahman Produces Doc on India’s Nagaland
Music has the power to transform violence and heal the soul in ‘Headhunting to Beatboxing’, a rare glimpse into India’s remote Nagaland.
The Shrouds
Veteran cult Canadian director David Cronenberg channels personal feelings of grief, loss and enduring love into his latest underpowered but absorbingly weird techno-gothic thriller, ‘The Shrouds’.
The Story of Souleymane
Boris Lojkine’s tale of a Guinean immigrant in France, ‘The Story of Souleymane’, is a vigorously edited piece of cinema with an outstanding performance by first-time actor Abou Sangare.
Everybody Loves Touda
With unconventional yet captivating storytelling, Nabil Ayoush’s ‘Everybody Loves Touda’ champions female empowerment through a young woman who is passionate about the traditional Moroccan folk music of Aita.
The Apprentice
Ali Abbasi’s portrait of a young monster, ‘The Apprentice’, wisely chooses a humorous key in which to chronicle Donald Trump’s formative years as a businessman and how lawyer Roy Cohn helped his empire get its crooked start, though well-informed viewers will find nothing much new.
The Other Way Around
Jonas Trueba creates a warm and winning ode to love and letting go in the sun-kissed dog days of summer.
A New Film Fund Appears on the Scene
IEFTA Founder Marco Orsini Announces New Film Fund
The Substance
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley co-star in French director Coralie Fargeat’s wild Cannes contender ‘The Substance’, a gloriously tasteless but finely crafted feminist body-horror fairy tale.
Armand
Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section showcases emerging Scandinavian talent with ‘Armand’, an enigmatic first film from Norway.
CineVerdict: Emilia Pérez
Selena Gomez y Zoe Saldaña presumen sus habilidades de canto y baile en el audaz thriller musical mexicano de Jacques Audiard, una lujuriosa celebración de lo queer multicultural y la redención del transgénero.
A Queda do Céu/ El cielo que cae
La lucha de los yanomami, chamánica y ambientalista, es retratada con respeto y conocimiento en este visualmente atractivo documental
Cate Blanchett to Discuss Displacement of Refugees
The Australian actress and producer is the Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency.
TFV Announces Launch of Al-Takdir
AL-TAKDIR is the first bilingual global source of Arab film and entertainment news and film reviews for both the region and international industry.
The Falling Sky
The shamanic and environmentalist struggle of the Yanomami tribe is treated with knowledge and respect in this visually attractive documentary.
The Balconettes
Despite a few bumpy moments, actor-director Noémie Merlant’s gory feminist horror comedy ‘The Balconettes’ paints a rowdy, richly imagined portrait of three ladies on fire.
Limonov: The Ballad
In ‘Limonov: The Ballad’, director Kirill Serebrennikov turns up the volume on his already explosive style (Petrov’s Flu), which is really the only way to recount the mad, violence-tinged rise of Russian poet and political extremist Eduard Limonov.
Caught by the Tides
Re-shuffling footage from films he has shot over the last 23 years, Jia Zhang-ke places his awe-inspiring cinematic mastery on full display in ‘Caught by the Tides’, though its ravishing poetic beauty tends to obscure the story.
The Brink of Dreams
In ‘The Brink of Dreams’, Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir deliver a fierce, against-all-odds documentary about a group of young women artists in southern Egypt out to prove their independence as theater performers and independent women in a male-dominated society.
Emilia Pérez
Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña show off their song-and-dance skills in French director Jacques Audiard’s audacious Mexican musical thriller ‘Emilia Pérez’.
Shooting has begun on Silvio Soldini’s ‘The Tasters’
Filming has commenced this week on Silvio Soldini’s new movie, The Tasters, in the province of Bolzano in the South Tyrol. The film is based on Rosella Postorino’s novel of the same name, an international bestseller published in 46 countries with over a million copies...
Location flashback: Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007)
In this scene, after winning a raffle, Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) finally reaches the beach in Cannes, fulfilling his dream after a long and roundabout journey to the south of France. Mr. Bean’s Holiday is a comedy movie released in 2007. It was directed by Steve...
Oh, Canada
The Richard Gere-Cannes starrer ‘Oh, Canada’ gives us good and bad Paul Schrader in its dry tautness and weirdly unsatisfactory ending.
Freestyle Digital Media acquirs North American VOD rights to the drama/thriller feature ‘THE GHOST TRAP’
Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has acquired North American VOD rights to the drama/thriller feature THE GHOST TRAP, which will be available to rent/own on all digital HD internet, cable, and...
Kinds of Kindness
Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe reunite with ‘Poor Things’ director Yorgos Lanthimos for ‘Kinds of Kindness’, a slight but fun triple-decker sandwich of macabre absurdism.
Desert of Namibia
Yuumi Kawai delivers a storm of a performance as a young bipolar woman struggling with Japan’s unspoken social norms in “Desert of Namibia”, Japanese filmmaker Yoko Yamanaka’s stunning sophomore effort.
Three Kilometers to the End of the World
The backwardness of a Romanian country village catches 17-year-old Adi in a homophobic trap in Emanuel Parvu’s justly indignant but conventionally scripted ‘Three Kilometers to the End of the World’.
Quiver Distribution acquires North American rights on ‘DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS’
Quiver Distribution acquires North American rights on Film Mode Entertainment’s g horror film based on true unexplained events, DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS (fka BLUE LIGHT), directed by Andy Fickman. The deal was negotiated between Clay Epstein of Film Mode...
ITALY PROJECTS GLOBAL INFLUNECE WITH ITALIAN SCREENS
The ITALIAN SCREENS conference was held at the Italian Pavilion (Majestic Hotel- Cannes), May 17th with Lucia Borgonzoni, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture, Maria Tripodi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,...
An Unfinished Film
Lou Ye’s 2024 Cannes entry, ‘An Unfinished Film’, takes too long but comes across with some genuinely emotional moments.
The Invasion
Sergei Loznitsa follows up his landmark 2014 doc ‘Maidan’ with a more recent portrait showing the impact of Russian aggression on his country in ‘The Invasion’.
IF
John Krasinski’s sledgehammer whimsy kills whatever charm this celebration of childhood imagination might have possessed.
Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating neo-Roman epic ‘Megalopolis’ is a muddled misfire of overcooked kitsch and undercooked ideas.
Meeting with Pol Pot
Rithy Panh’s unnerving screen adaptation of U.S. war correspondent Elizabeth Becker’s real-life 1978 visit to Khmer Rouge-ruled Cambodia vaunts intense performances, a diverse visual palette and an ominous sound design.
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF) TO LAUNCH OFFICIAL CONTENT MARKET
TIFF has announced the launch of a new official content market at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. This market is envisioned as the North American hub for buying and selling screen-based projects, intellectual property, and immersive and innovative...
Bird
In ‘Bird’ Andrea Arnold once again shows she has the magic keys – in this case Franz Rogowski’s piercingly tender bird-man, and Barry Keoghan’s manically affectionate drug-dealer dad — to extract drama, fantasy and authentic emotion from characters living on the lowest rungs of English society.
Locarno 77 announces Jessica Hausner as Jury President of the Concorso Internazionale
Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner will serve as jury president of the Concorso Internazionale, overseeing the jury that will decide the winner of the Pardo d’Oro – the Golden Leopard – at the 77th Locarno Film Festival this August. Jessica Hausner was born in Vienna...
Furiosa
Fails to meet the impossible task of matching, let alone surpassing, its legendary predecessor, but George Miller’s action sequences still pack a punch, even when they reek of déjà vu.
The Girl with the Needle
Swedish writer-director Magnus von Horn’s Cannes competition contender ‘The Girl with the Needle’ is a gripping historical true-crime thriller cloaked in deliciously dark Nordic Noir visuals.
Wild Diamond
French writer-director Agathe Riedinger’s coming-of-age Cannes contender ‘Wild Diamond’ is an unpolished gem, but it sparkles with lusty energy and strong performances.
The Second Act
Profilic French prankster Quentin Dupieux finds the funny side of cancel culture, AI and actorly vanity in his meta-comic Cannes film festival curtain-raiser ‘The Second Act’.
Location flashback: Rocketman (2019)
In this scene, Elton John (played by Taron Egerton), marks his continued efforts to gain control over his struggles with physical and mental health, performing on the beach in the music video for for his hit song “Im Still Standing". The video serves as a tribute to...
Microsoft Café launches at Majestic Beach
Microsoft, in partnership with the Marché du Film & Festival de Cannes, is launching a new, vibrant hub at the Majestic Beach, inviting festival and market attendees to immerse themselves in the the world of AI and the potential it holds for the film industry. During...
Location Flashback: Paris Can Wait (2016)
In this scene, Anne Lockwood (Diane Lane), takes a last glance at the scenic French Riviera before heading to the Cannes Film Festival with her husband, a film producer (Alec Baldwin). Unfortunately, her husband is too absorbed in business matters to appreciate the...
The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival to Honor Elia Suleiman
The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival will pay tribute to Palestinian director Elia Suleiman in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the art of film. The filmmaker will be presented with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award and honored with a retrospective of his...
Tanja Meissner named Director of Berlinale Pro*
Berlinale Festival Director Tricia Tuttle has appointed Tanja Meissner to join her Executive team as the Director of Berlinale Pro*. This reshaped role encompasses the directorship of the European Film Market (EFM), and she will also lead the Berlinale Pro*...
Cannes Launches Immersive Competition
The Festival de Cannes is introducing a new Immersive Competition, aimed at highlighting the next generation of international artists who are redefining storytelling through new narrative-driven experiences that transcend the traditional two-dimensional cinema screen....
Location Flashback: To Catch a Thief (1955)
In this scene: John Robie/Conrad Burns (played by Cary Grant) and Francie Stevens(played by Grace Kelly) stroll through the gardens of the Sanford Villa pretending to look for a property to buy. However, Francie is more interested in discussing John’s choice of women,...
Cinéma de la Plage 2024 Schedule
Cinéma de la Plage 2024 Schedule: This year’s schedule includes films by Jackie Chan, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, Rachid Bouchareb, Tony Gatlif, Danny Boyle, and continuation of the tribute to Studio Ghibli. Tuesday May 14 TRAINSPOTTING (4K Restoration) Danny...
Jeonju 2024: The Verdict
Thanks to its solid, diverse line-up of first and second features, Jeonju International Film Festival consolidated its standing as the premier platform for the discovery of new voices in Korean cinema.
Film Critic Justin Chang Wins a Pulitzer
A prestigious award and well-earned recognition goes to a sensitive and communicative film critic.
I Bambini di Gaza
A Palestinian and an Israeli boy bond over surfing in a vivid if familiar story from the Second Intifada that today feels more than slightly unread.
Time To Be Strong
Scooping three awards at the Jeonju International Film Festival, Namkoong Sun’s ‘Time To Be Strong’ is a winning drama about three traumatized losers in the brutal K-pop rat race.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
If there’s a valid reason to return to this simian franchise, this latest entry never finds it, despite the craftsmanship on display.
TFV Meets Nada Alhaidan, Programs Manager of the Saudi Film Festival
Nada Alhaidan takes us through the 10th anniversary edition, which is spotlighting Indian cinema and a Science Fiction Hub along with its focus on local production.
When Clouds Hide the Shadows
One of Jeonju’s annual trio of self-produced titles, ‘When Clouds Hide the Shadows’ is Chilean director José Luis Torres Leiva’s affectionate, contemplative visit to the southernmost outpost of South America.
eoFlix to partner with médiaClub
Entertainment Oxygen, also known as eoFlix, a digital networking and self-distribution platform for the entertainment industry has recently announced a strategic partnership with médiaClub, the largest association of media professionals in France. This partnership is...
The Fall Guy
This valentine to action-packed moviemaking works best when it ignores the plot and focuses on stunt craft and the explosive rom-com banter between Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.
SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL MOVING TO LOS ANGELES
Slamdance Organization announced that its annual film festival will move to Los Angeles. The festival will run February 20-26, 2025 at venues in Hollywood, and the surrounding area. Theatres include the Landmark Theatres and the DGA Theater Complex, with more...
The Arab Cinema Center reveals the shortlists for the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films
The winners will be revealed at a special ceremony on May 18th at the Cannes Film Festival.
Adam Ghobiral launches Edgy Media
Edgy Media is a new film distribution and sales company, aiming to make its mark with a fresh and ambitious approach. The company is founded by Adam Ghobrial, an industry veteran with 20 years of experience. The company's goal is to link groundbreaking storytelling...
French Riviera Film Festival (FRFF) announces finalist shorts of the 2024 competition
The sixth annual French Riviera Film Festival (FRFF), scheduled to take place from May 17-18, 2024, celebrates short films and short-form content from all over the world. The festival co-founders, Nicole Goesseringer Muj and Gotham Chandna, have announced the finalist...
Karlovy Vary IFF to Present Franz Kafka & Cinema Retrospective
Karlovy Vary IFF will hold a special retrospective titled "The Wish To Be a Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema". This showcase will offer cinematic reflections on the work of one of the most influential figures of 20th-century literature. Works from filmmakers such as Orson...
Visions du Réel’s Emilie Bujès: It’s all about the filmmaking
Nestled on the shores of Lake Geneva, , Visions du Réel has developed into a small gem for documentary cinema, screening 128 films in its main programs.
Visions du Réel 2024: The Awards
Atmospheric, compelling and timely, Swiss documentarian Nicole Vögele’s ‘The Landscape and the Fury’, about migrants trying to cross the Bosnia-Croatian border to reach Europe, won Visions du Réel’s top prize.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Guy Ritchie displays his usual skill at stylized violence, cheeky repartee, and bespoke costuming, but the build-up in this WWII action saga outshines the climax.
Studio Ghibli to receive Honorary Palme d’Or
The Cannes Film Festival is presenting its Honorary Palme d'Or award to Studio Ghibli. This studio, led by storytellers Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, has introduced a breath of fresh air in the world of animated films over the last forty years, creating a host of...
Lynne Ramsay Gets Awarded
Lynne Ramsay checks in from Stockfish, where she received the festival’s Honorary Award, with new films starring Julianne Moore and Jennifer Lawrence on the horizon.
Mother Vera
A nun weighs up the freedoms and limits of a Belarusian convent after heartbreak and heroin addiction in this sublime and sensorial debut feature doc.
Empathfridges
In the slantwise ethnographic documentary ‘Empathfridges’, Rakel Jonsdottir explores the concept of shared fridges in Iceland to create microcosmic portraits of place and community.
Stockfish 2024: The Verdict
The 10th anniversary edition of the Icelandic festival Stockfish brought professionals and casual audiences together in a warm, intimate manner.
Belle
The tale as old as time gets a stylish Icelandic makeover in ‘Belle’, the closing film of Stockfish 2024.
The Landscape and the Fury
The Balkan landscape is a witness to cycles of time and displacement in Nicole Vögele’s atmospheric, compelling and very human doc, winner of the top prize at Visions du Réel.
Kamay
Haunting and multi-layered, this is a stunning debut doc on death, female resistance and knowledge in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Fragments Of Ice
Maria Stoianova draws on her figure-skater father’s ‘80s and ‘90s VHS archive in a poignant debut doc on a Ukraine caught between the illusions of two systems.
Challengers
Luca Guadagnino’s twisty, sexy, adult tennis saga entwines three players who understand each other (and themselves) on the court but have a harder time working outside the lines.
Realm of Satan
Scott Cummings explores the Church of Satan through theatrical vignettes in his inventive, irreverent documentary portrait of a maligned American outsider culture.
If I die, will I go home?
The experimental short If I die, will I go home? unnervingly explores the psyche of a young man wrestling with how to survive as an adult when bound by the long grip of childhood trauma.
Civil War
Alex Garland can mount a battle sequence as well as any filmmaker working today, but the lack of political context and specificity undermines this ambitious film.
Cannes 2024 Line Up Announced
The 77th edition of the Festival de Cannes announced. Opening film THE SECOND ACT (LE DEUXIÈME ACTE) by Quentin DUPIEUX – Out of Competition In Competition THE APPRENTICE by Ali ABBASI MOTEL DESTINO by Karim AÏNOUZ BIRD by Andrea ARNOLD EMILIA PEREZ by Jacques AUDIARD...
Beki Probst Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Hats off to the grande dame of the film world.
Hafey
A young women who suffered a stroke at the age of thirteen, Hafey reconnects with the use of her body through dance in this moving and affirming documentary portrait.
Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon, An American Saga’ to premiere in Cannes
Kevin Costner will present the first part of "Horizon, An American Saga" as a World Premiere, Out of Competition at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. “I’d like to thank the Festival de Cannes for including my film Horizon, An American Saga in this year’s...
George Lucas to be awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or
George Lucas is set to receive the Honorary Palme d’Or during the Closing Ceremony of the 77th Festival de Cannes, which will be broadcast on French TV channel France 2 on May 25, Saturday. The Festival is “delighted to pay tribute to one of the greatest figures of...
Monkey Man
Dev Patel makes a dazzling directorial debut that mixes stylish ultra-violence with a provocative political point of view.
THE FILM VERDICT TO PROVIDE METAVERSE SCREENING ROOMS DURING CANNES
In partnership with MILC Metaverse, The Film Verdict (TFV) will launch screening rooms in the metaverse for acquisition executives who want to easily screen films at Cannes and around the world. Off the back of the successful launch of the very first MILC Metaverse...
The Metaverse Is Just Getting Started
By Richard Flynn Is the metaverse DEAD? The metaverse exploded onto the scene like the hottest new Hollywood A-lister, bringing with it the promise of revolutionising the way we live, communicate, and consume content online. But today, “metaverse” has become a dirty...
CineVerdict: Cine en español ¿en serio?
TFV y CineVerdict le da al cine en español una muy merecida atención
Cinema in Spanish. Really?
TFV is proud to give Cinema in Spanish some well-deserved attention.
The Podcast Becomes an Industry Powercast
TFVN is a trailblazing podcast platform focusing on the global film industry, delivering dynamic audio content tailored for professionals, creatives, enthusiasts and students, revolutionizing the way industry insights are accessed and fostering valuable connections within the international film community.
How Relevant Are the Film Trades?
A trade magazine is only relevant when a film community values its content and when it provides a bridge for filmmakers to reach the wider film industry of acquisition executives and festivals.
Born to Review: TFV Swims Against the Current
International films are emerging from a bleak winter of disregard, thanks to the power of professional reviews.
Al-Takdir at the Kickoff
Al-Takdir, a new bilingual film platform spotlighting the cinema of the Middle East, is about to bow at Cannes.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
One of the better American Godzilla movies delivers the giant-monster-fighting goods, even if waiting for the grand finale occasionally feels like a chore.
‘Radical’ & ‘The Mother of All Lies’ win Grand Jury Awards at Movies that Matter Festival
On Wednesday, 27 March the Movies that Matter Festival announced the winners of its 16th edition during the award ceremony at Theater Aan het Spui in the Dutch city of The Hague. The Grand Jury Fiction Award, worth € 5.000 was awarded to Mexican comedy-drama 'Radical'...
Stockfish Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Stockfish Film and Industry Festival announces its 10th anniversary celebration. To mark the occasion, Stockfish is offering free admission to this year's festivities. The festival offers a diverse program for professionals in the industry. Emphasis is placed on...
Shepperton Studios Expansion in Surrey is now Open
The expansion at Shepperton Studios in Surrey is now open and Amazon MGM Studios and Netflix are in occupation. The state-of-the-art development will add to Shepperton’s world-class amenities and provide an additional 17 sound stages, 548,000 sq ft of production and...
La Semaine de la Critique Unveils the Poster of its 63rd Edition
Hafsia Herzi extends a smile and a gaze to Nina Meurisse, in Iris Kaltenbäck’s first feature film ‘The Rapture.’
Visions du Réel 2024 Lineup
The lineup boasts 88 world premieres and 14 international premieres among 128 selected films.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
A franchise once built on comedy with some creepy ghosts on the side now feels more committed to nostalgic brand-building, sprinkled with forgettable scares and half-hearted attempts at humor.
SXSW Faces Talent Dropouts in Boycott
Artists protest the festival’s military and defense sponsorship as the war in Gaza continues.
Lucasfilm’s ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ scheduled to be shot entirely in California
The production will have the largest total qualified expenditures in the history of the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program.
Kung Fu Panda 4
Brisk, exciting and genuinely funny, ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ is the highlight of this
long-running franchise, furthering the hero’s journey to enlightenment, working wonders
with its ensemble cast, and embracing the philosophical spirit of kung fu.
An Innovative Italy-U.S. Deal Heads to the State Department
A new production agreement between the United States and Italy is in the works that could mean significant advantages to projects of Italian origin.
The Arab Cinema Center Celebrates its First 10 Years
The Arab Cinema Center turns ten this year, continuing to offer networking opportunities to Arab filmmakers and their counterparts around the globe.
All Shall Be Well
When her lover of forty years suddenly dies, Angie discovers she has no rights even to her own apartment in Ray Yeung’s Teddy Award-winning ‘All Shall Be Well’, a heartfelt though unexceptional drama revealing Hong Kong’s unjust inheritance laws for same-sex couples.
Berlin 2024: The Verdict
Berlin’s transitional year unfolded uncertainly amid a dire world political situation and an imminent leadership change at the festival.
Berlin 2024: The Awards
The Berlinale awards celebrated cultural differences, with the Golden Bear going to Mati Diop’s poetic and thoughtful documentary on colonialism ‘Dahomey’, which follows the return of looted cultural artefacts to Benin.
Berlin Bear Turns EFM into a Bull Market
By Liza Foreman This week’s European Film Market in Berlin had buyers buzzing about big projects. Jason Resnick, consultant and former acquisitions exec at Universal said: “There were a lot of commercial projects with big stars which got the buyers excited. Post the...
for here am i sitting in a tin can far above the world
Crypto-currencies and cryogenics become intertwined in Gala Hernandez Lopez’s illusory dual-screen collage which ruminates on humanity’s speculative relationship with the future, for here am i sitting in a tin can far above the world.
Viva Italia!
Italy was 2024’s Country in Focus at the Berlinale’s European Film Market.
Shambhala
Nepal’s first-ever competition title at the Berlinale, Min Bahadur Bham’s Shambhala is a visually breathtaking, emotionally engaging relationship drama about a young Tibetan’s physical and mental journey across the Himalayas in search of her vanished husband.
That’s All from Me
A filmmaker explores her struggles with motherhood and artistic stimulus through a correspondence and a short film about birdwatching in That’s All from Me, a deft epistolary short.
A Bit of a Stranger
Three generations of Russified women in Ukraine come to grips with their identities and displacement in Svitlana Lishchynska’s rough-edged, absorbing film-as-therapy documentary.
In the Belly of A Tiger
Bowing in the Berlinale’s independently curated Forum programme, Indian filmmaker Siddartha Jatla’s second feature, ‘In the Belly of a Tiger’, combines social critique with magical realism to depict the struggles of India’s rural poor.
Creating Gender Parity, Breaking Through the Lens
BY Liza FOREMAN The year 2018 was a special Cannes for women filmmakers in several ways. Nina Menkes, the iconic feminist director of films like 'Queen of Diamonds', (restored by Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation), stood on stage at The Members Club to hold court...
Sons
Gustav Möller returns to the thriller genre with his second feature ‘Sons’, bolstered by terrific performances.
Above The Dust
Wang Xiaoshuai, controversially without an official screening permit, returns to Berlin with another superb picture about Chinese politics (and peasantry) featuring outstanding performances and stellar dialogue.
Sasquatch Sunset
Featuring wordless performances by a heavily disguised Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough, ‘Sasquatch Sunset’ is a boldly surreal Bigfoot comedy with surprising emotional depth.
Who Do I Belong To?
A misguided narrative full of ill-thought-out atmospheric twists spoils the cinematic attractions of Tunisian-American Meryem Joobeur’s debut feature about a family torn apart when two sons join Daesh.
Tako Tsubo
A man has his heart removed in an attempt to lessen his existential anguish in Fanny Sorgo and Eva Pedroza’s expressive, lingering animation, Tako Tsubo.
Yanks Pull Rank at EFM
BY LIZA FOREMAN This year’s European Film Market has been awash in big titles sold by a slew of independent sales companies that are creating momentum going into 2024. At this week’s EFM, buzz titles like 'Oh Canada' from Paul Schrader, Oscar nominee Celine Song’s...
Black Tea
The gap between African and Chinese culture proves easier to breach than the perspectives that separate a woman and a man in acclaimed director Abderrahmane Sissako’s ‘Black Tea’, a fascinating love story set in China but one that sadly gets lost in the telling.
The Great Yawn of History
Aliyar Rasti’s contemplative fable searches for a better future in the vast Iranian countryside.
In Praise of Slowness
The outmoded bleach sellers of Tangier offer a window to a simpler time and a resistance against rampant growth in Hicham Gardaf’s tranquil documentary, In Praise of Slowness.
Drive-Away Dolls
This lumbering lesbian road-trip “comedy” lurches its way toward nowhere in particular.
Cu Li Never Cries
Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Ngoc Lan’s first feature, ‘Cu Li Never Cries’, is an absorbing, beautiful ode about a pensioner’s nostalgia for her past and a young couple’s uncertainty about their future.
Borgonzoni and Rivkin Meet at Berlinale
The Undersecretary of the Culture Ministry, Lucia Borgonzoni hosted a private meeting Tuesday at The Italian Pavilion between Italian cinema representatives and the US Motion Picture Association. Lucia Borgonzoni in a closed door meeting with Charles Rivkin, President...
The Moon Also Rises
An elderly couple retreats from the outside world in preparation for the launch of three artificial moons in the strange and meditative experimental documentary, The Moon Also Rises.
Rising Up at Night
Nelson Makengo’s beautifully shot and observed documentary ‘Rising Up at Night’ captures the darkness of Kinshasa after severe flooding and electricity cuts, along with the resilience of its people.
Intercepted
Ukrainian director Oksana Karpovych’s quietly powerful documentary ‘Intercepted’ combines bleakly beautiful, defiantly hopeful images of her war-ravaged homeland with recordings of phone calls made by invading Russian soldiers.
Dune: Part Two
The second chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s epic adaptation delivers on the visual grandeur and political intrigue, even if the characters tend to be reduced to their plot function.
Towards the Sun, Far from the Center
Santiago, Chile is both brought into focus and dreamily abstracted in Towards the Sun, Far from the Centre, a languid city symphony featuring a queer couple looking for a space in which they can express themselves.
Gloria!
A joyful feminist fantasy set in Venice in 1800, in which music unchains an orphanage full of talented girl musicians, ‘Gloria!’ will split audiences into two distinct camps.
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
Martin Scorsese pays personal homage to visionary film-maker duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in David Hinton’s formally traditional but thorough documentary ‘Made in England’.
The Devil’s Bath
Real historical murder cases inspired ‘The Devil’s Bath’, a relentlessly grim but atmospheric psychological horror thriller from Austrian writer-director duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.
Remains of the Hot Day
A wonderfully observed sketch of a family lunch in late-1990s China, Remains of the Hot Day not only captures period mood but is compiled from glimpses of myriad miniature dramas.
Some Rain Must Fall
A depressed Chinese woman tired of her unaffectionate family and middle class life heads towards a breakdown in ‘Some Rain Must Fall,’ the first feature by Qiu Yang, whose minimalist storytelling is full of atmosphere and foreboding.
Bye Bye Turtle
A young girl avoiding her home and a woman returning to hers after a long absence form a brief but profound bond in Selin Oksuzoglu sparkling short, Bye Bye Turtle.
Diaries from Lebanon
Three people in Beirut representing the past, present and future of Lebanon experience the hopes, disappointments and decimated sense of stability in Myriam El Hajj’s sad yet defiant documentary tracing the country’s ups and downs since 2018.
Pepe
Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias’s fanciful exploration of the inner life of one of Pablo Escobar’s cocaine hippos, Pepe, is an idiosyncratic affair as piercing and beguiling as it is confounding.
A Traveller’s Needs
Hong Sang-soo’s third collaboration with Isabelle Huppert is the weakest outing for both the director and actor so far.
CineVerdict: Memorias de un cuerpo que arde
Las voces de tres mujeres dan autenticidad a una película a punto de rebasada por propósitos didácticos. Memorias de un cuerpo que arden que se estrena en la sección Panorama en la Berlinale.
Memories of a Burning Body
The voices of three women give authenticity to ‘Memories of a Burning Body’, premiering in the Panorama section at the Berlinale.
The Importance of Networking
TFV attended a Berlinale networking event for German talents and asked them about their experiences.
Langue étrangère
In her first solo directing stint ‘Langue étrangère’, Camera d’Or winner Claire Burger cleverly evokes the fears and anxieties of two middle-class 17-year-old European girls about to inherit a world racked with violently diverging political opinions.
Afterwar
Shot over 15 years, Birgitte Stærmose’s deeply empathetic documentary, focused on child survivors, is an intimate and diligent depiction of the lingering aftermath of war.
Circle
A young girl draws a circle on the ground and people are drawn to stand within its borders in Joung Yumi’s typically mannered and strangely engrossing monochrome animation.
Architecton
Another stunning documentary from Victor Kossakovsky full of gob-smacking immersive images of the natural world, pitched this time as a call for a harmonious alliance between nature and architecture.
The Italian Connection
The Italian Ministry of Culture, with Cinecitta’, are hosting a series of events in the Gropius Dome at the Italian Pavilion. Organizers of the Italian film industry say the focus-event aims to introduce a new format yet unseen at international festivals that will not...
The Empire
Mischievous writer-director Bruno Dumont combines visually dazzling ‘Star Wars’ parody with small-town French farce in his admirably ambitious but muddled space opera ‘The Empire’.
Arcadia
The living haunt the dead in Yorgos Zois’s sexy glumfest ‘Arcadia’, an aching, downbeat tale about loss and lingering grief, told from the ghosts’ POV.
CineVerdict: Yo vi tres luces negras
Santiago Lozano Álvarez encontró una manera original -lírica y exuberante- de hablar sobre los asesinatos, desapariciones y ecocidio en Colombia en Yo vi tres luces negras
Maria’s Silence
The true story of Latvian-born German silent film diva Maria Leiko and her fateful journey to Stalin’s USSR in 1937 is retold in Davis Simanis’s ‘Maria’s Silence’ with a tragic depth that is engrossing and emotional.
I Saw Three Black Lights
Santiago Lozano Álvarez finds an original way – lyrical and exuberant – to talk about the murders, disappearances and ecocide in Colombia in ‘I Saw Three Black Lights’.
Dying
German director Matthias Glasner’s autobiographical, darkly funny, emotionally raw ensemble drama ‘Dying’ plays like a three-hour family therapy session.
Meanwhile on Earth
Jeremy Clapin follows I Lost My Body with Meanwhile on Earth, another high-concept exploration of loss occupied by expressive ethical wrangling and intangible alien lifeforms.
Dahomey
Mati Diop’s thought-provokingly cerebral-poetic documentary follows the return of 26 looted cultural artefacts and their welcome home to Benin, encompassing the celebrations as well as larger debates around colonialization and how to reintegrate such potently spiritual objects into a society 130 years after they were plundered.
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder
Filmmaker Inadelso Cossa uses sensory evocation to delve into the lingering impact of Mozambique’s civil war (1977 to 1992) in ‘The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder’.
Suspended Time
Olivier Assayas’s semi-autobiographical reverie ‘Suspended Time’ on his stay in the family home during lockdown, is likely his weakest work, playing like a parody of an intellectualized director’s banal ruminations.
Another End
Corporate scientists use memory technology to bring back the dead for a brief reunion with their loved ones (played by Gael Garcia Bernal and Bérénice Bejo), in Piero Messina’s clever but often perplexing ‘Another End’, whose futuristic love story beyond the grave is a mighty challenge to unravel.
Demba
Although a bit too dry for a wide audience, Mamadou Dia’s ‘Demba’ has moments of visual grace, a great central performance, and a compelling subject at its core.
From Hilde, With Love
German director Andreas Dresen’s biopic of anti-Nazi activist Hilde Coppi, ‘From Hilde, With Love’ is diligent and thoughtful but too tastefully restrained.
La cocina
A disappointing, maddeningly self-indulgent plunge into the tensions and inequities in the kitchen of a Times Square eatery, designed as an anti-capitalist diatribe messily juggling personal and choral storytelling but saved to some degree by excellent chiaroscuro camerawork and a strong cast.
The Editorial Office
In the week between the Grammys and the Super Bowl, Human Rights Watch announced that Vladimir Putin and other military officials should be investigated for war crimes following Russia’s assault on Mariupol. On Valentine’s Day it was reported that UNESCO calculated...
Every You Every Me
Michael Fetter Nathansky, with assistance from lead actress Aenne Schwarz, inspects a shaky relationship in the shadow of work pressures in this adequately sensitive, surreal, and discomfiting look at marriage and its dissatisfactions.
Market Voices
by Liza Foreman For our daily column Market Voices, The Film Verdict will be checking in with the peeps peopleing the shop floor at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin, to give readers a feel for the first major film market of the year. Stay tuned. Pedro Peira,...
Crossing
Jennie Livingston’s seminal Paris is Burning was probably the first hit film to show what LGBTQ+ people have always known: we make our own families. They’re often not biological but they are carefully chosen, proving that genetics is no determinant of unconditional...
Muna
A teenager navigates the social pressures of school and the expectations of family in Muna, a thoughtful coming-of-age drama about personal desires and dislocated grief.
My Favourite Cake
A small jewel of an Iranian romantic comedy, ‘My Favourite Cake’ pits an older woman determined to find a measure of happiness against the restrictions of the Islamic regime and the loneliness of aging, while the film’s creators Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha have been banned from traveling to Berlin.
The Eternal Memory
The devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease on a couple becomes an engaging, moving chronicle in the skillful hands of documentarian Maite Alberdi.
CineVerdict: La memoria infinita
El devastador impacto de la enfermedad de Alzheimer en una pareja se convierte en una crónica que cautiva y conmueve en las hábiles manos de la documentalista Maite Alberdi.
Small Things Like These
Cillian Murphy follows his huge ‘Oppenheimer’ success with glum but powerful personal project ‘Small Things Like These’, a soulful literary psychodrama about mercy, empathy, complicity and dark misdeeds in 1980s Ireland.
Janet Planet
Celebrated stage dramatist Annie Baker paints childhood as a midsummer daydream full of tragicomic adult behaviour in her droll, charming film debut ‘Janet Planet’.
Unifrance’s Game Changer, Daniela Elstner
By Liza Foreman PARIS - The Hôtel du Collectionneur is awash with French cinema talent and journalists buzzing between interview rooms at the tail end of the annual UniFrance Meetings in Paris a few weeks ago. But Daniela Elstner, the Executive Director of the French...
A Different Man
Aaron Schimberg’s darkly funny body-horror fairy tale ‘A Different Man’ takes a satirical scalpel to the beastliness of beauty.
MEET THE INTERNATIONAL JURY of Berlinale 2024
Berlinale 74 presents the International Jury, who will be presenting the awards for:Golden Bear for Best Film (awarded to the film’s producers), Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, Silver Bear Jury Prize, Silver Bear for Best Director, Silver Bear for Best Leading...
Madame Web
Despite a tangled narrative web, this arachnid superhero saga makes a far better would-be tentpole in Sony’s Spider-verse than ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ or ‘Morbius,’ thanks mainly to Dakota Johnson.
Checkpoint Carlo Chatrian
Carlo Chatrian is about to unleash his fifth and final Berlinale.
Snap Chat With Simone Baumann
TFV speaks to Simone Baumann, Managing Director of German Films.
ITALIA IN FOCUS AT BERLIN
The Berlinale European Film Market (EFM) this year spotlights the artistry of Italian filmmakers and will offer industry participants opportunities to network with a variety of Italian producers, distributors, investors and experts. The 2024 EFM kicks off February 15...
20 Days in Mariupol
The start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is captured with total professionality by AP correspondent Mstyslav Chernov and his team in ’20 Days in Mariupol’, in iconic images that strike the heart forcefully in a classic, masterful documentary on war.
Lisa Frankenstein
This female-gaze take on 1980s teen movies must have looked great on paper, but it never comes to life on screen.
EUFCN Location Award Finalists
European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN) member film commissions had the opportunity to submit one location from a feature film or a TV series shot in their territory and released between Oct. 3rd 2022 and Sept. 11th 2023. The Location Award Jury selected the five...
IFFR 2024: The Verdict
Rotterdam Film Festival’s 53rd edition balanced an uneven competition program full of sombre three-hour dramas with more adventurous sidebars, essay films, experimental video art and pop superstar guests.
Palestinian Cinema at IFFR 2024: Pictured but Not Forgotten
Scattered over different sections with few ripples in the media, four films detailing the Palestinian experience stood out at Rotterdam.
Kiss Wagon
Indian director Midhun Murali’s prize-winning animated shadow-puppet epic ‘Kiss Wagon’ is loopy and confusing but still a dazzling, highly original visual feast.
Confidenza
Daniele Luchetti’s ‘Confidenza’ (Trust), from the Domenico Starnone novel about a dangerous confidant, features a noteworthy performance from Elio Germano.
Stero
Language is an instrument of oppression and a tool to combat it in Tevin Kimathi and Millan Tarus’ charming tale of childhood resistance, Stero.
Berlinale issues Call for Freedom of Movement, Freedom of Expression for Directors Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha
Earlier this month, the Berlinale announced the selection of the Iranian film My Favourite Cake by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha in Competition at this year’s 74th edition of the festival. Since then, the festival has learned that Iranian writers/directors...
Location Flashback: The Fault in Our Stars
This is an establishing shot of the hotel where Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Gus Waters (Angel Elgort) stay while on their trip to Amsterdam. The Fault in Our Stars is an American coming of age romance film directed by Josh Boone, based on the novel of...
IFFR 2024: The Awards
Three very different films from Japan, India and Australia won Rotterdam’s Tiger Awards, underlining the festival’s range of new talent.
Portrait of a Certain Orient
Awash in a luxuriant atmosphere of passion and emotional discovery created by exquisite b&w images of seas rivers and jungles, Marcelo Gomes’s three characters struggle to shake off the past and move forward post-WW2 in ‘Portrait of a Certain Orient’.
Workers’ Wings
Ilir Hasanaj’s deeply empathetic documentary ‘Workers’ Wings’, is centred on manual labourers who have suffered workplace injuries, is a tender and intimate marvel.
Grey Bees
Dmytro Moiseiev’s laconic portrait of a solitary beekeeper with an evolving political consciousness in the “grey zone” of Donetsk is sage and affecting.
Scud’s Farewell to Filmmaking
TFV interviewed outspoken Hong Kong director Scud, who brought his tenth and perhaps final film to Rotterdam.
Arab Cinema Center names Mohannad Al-Bakri Cinema Personality of The Year
The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) will bestow its 5th Arab Cinema Personality of the Year Award to Mohannad Al-Bakri during the 74th Berlin International Film Festival.
Eco Village
Fumbling first love stirs up a frenzy in this indie debut that gets further away the closer you get.
78 Days
Using the aesthetics of home video, with 78 Days Emilija Gasic crafts a poignant coming-of-age drama set amidst the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO.
Locarno Shorts Weeks: 29 films for 29 Days
Throughout the month of February, the Locarno Film Festival will showcase 29 dazzling short films as part of the Locarno Shorts Weeks, one of its most highly awaited online spin-off events for audiences around the world, with the leap year bringing one extra day and...
Location Flashback: Oceans Twelve (2004)
In this scene, Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty Rusty (Brad Pitt) and the rest of Ocean’s team arrive at their hotel in Asterdam in preparation for a big heist they hope will pay off their debt to Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Ocean’s Twelve is the second...
Steppenwolf
Kazakh writer-director Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s stylish but brutal neo-western thriller ‘Steppenwolf’ takes place once upon a time in the Wild East.
Argylle
Yet another star-packed, high-gloss caper lacking in wit, stakes, charm, or a reason to exist.
Daphne was a torso ending in leaves
In the spritely and tactile essayistic ode to a heroine of Greek myth Daphne was a torso ending in leaves, Catriona Gallagher reflects on the legacy of an ancient arboreal transformation.
The Manetti Bros. and Italian Genre Cinema
TFV correspondent Max Borg investigates the Manetti-verse and how the Italian duo scored a Focus program at this year’s IFFR.
Tenement
The traumas of Cambodia’s past stretch their icy fingers into the present in Tenement, a deeply unsettling psychological horror set in a rundown Khmer-era housing block.
Animalia Paradoxa
Using a blend of stop-motion animation and live-action, Niles Atallah gorgeously crafts a mesmeric, dying world of analogue detritus and vestiges of magical knowledge, in which a half-amphibian being dreams of survival.
IFFR Pro winners announced for CineMart 2024 at the Pro Awards Ceremony
IFFR’s co-production market CineMart presented seven awards to projects presented during the IFFR Pro Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 30 January, which was co-hosted together with Catalan Films. The winners were selected from the 16 features and 4 immersive projects in...
Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others
A solitary artist rents her Tehran house out to a film crew, in an ingeniously layered, droll reflection on how we construct memory and community.
I Do Not Come To You By Chance
The cast shines, but this adaptation of the popular Nigerian novel could use a little more life.
After The Long Rains
Damien Hauser’s enchanting, sun-baked drama ‘After the Long Rains’ has bigger questions beneath its welcoming glow.
“I like creating work that people are repulsed by”: An interview with Rachel Maclean
The feted Scottish film and video artist Rachel Maclean talks Barbie, James Bond, pink-punk maximalism and the subversive power of bad taste.
IFFR Announces Tiger Shorts Competition Winners 2024
IFFR awarded 3 films from among the the 21 competitng Tiger Shorts of 2024. The jury included former Tiger Short Award-winner Mónica Lima, writer, programmer, and researcher Yasmina Price and distributor, curator and festival producer Jade Wiseman. The KNF (Circle of...
Swimming Home
A cryptic Deborah Levy novel is stylised for the screen as an elusive and surrealistic dance of the subconscious, as an uninvited guest crashes a poet’s family vacation.
Location Flashback: Ted Lasso (Season 3, episode 6) 2020
In this scene, Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) is forced into taking a training run while the team is in Amsterdam. He makes the best of it by taking his coach and mentor Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) to the location of the Skinny Bridge from the James Bond movie, Diamonds...
Stormskerry Maja
A major piece of Finland-Swedish literature comes to life with epic results in Tiina Lymi’s dramatic adaptation, ‘Stormskerry Maja’,
Flathead
Australian director Jaydon Martin’s debut documentary ‘Flathead’ is a feast of gorgeous monochrome cinematography and a compassionate, humane, quietly spiritual work.
CineVerdict: La historia se escribe de noche
Veredicto: ‘La historia se escribe de noche’ es un retrato inusual de los apagones que han azotado a Cuba durante los últimos años y un ejercicio exquisito de atmósfera cinematográfica
History Is Written at Night
‘History Is Written at Night’ is an unusual portrait of the blackouts that have plagued Cuba over the past few years and an exquisite exercise in atmosphere.
Adorable illusions: Debbie Harry and director Amanda Kramer discuss virtual reality, deepfake porn and New York punk.
The iconic Blondie singer narrates and appears in Kramer’s new documentary ‘So Unreal’, a mind-bending deep dive into prophetic cyberpunk cinema.
Under a Blue Sun
Set in the Negev Desert where action blockbuster ‘Rambo III’ was shot, ‘Under a Blue Sun’ is an intricately layered doc scrutinising the intersection of war simulation, oppression and entertainment.
Five Experiences from IFFR’s Immersive Media Reviewed
From Aay Liparoto’s powerful ‘Small Acts of Violence’ to Rachel Maclean’s darkly surreal ‘I’m Terribly Sorry’, Rotterdam kept Immersive Media viewers up-to-date.
Eternal
Danish director Ulaa Salim’s romantic sci-fi weepie ‘Eternal’ is a glossy but underpowered inner-space odyssey that falls short of its Christopher Nolan-sized ambitions.
Tiina Lymi on the Language of Film
Finnish director-screenwriter-actress Tiina Lymi. whose ‘Stormskerry Maja’ had its international premiere in Rotterdam, reflects on making the spoken word realistic on screen.
Moses
Baffling, free-ranging and mesmeric, ‘Moses’ roams through a text on religion by Freud with deadpan Finnish humour that grounds its kooky performance art.
Mário
Director Billy Woodberry’s documentary portrait of Angolan poet, revolutionary and Pan-African icon Mário Pinto de Andrade offers an austere but absorbing history lesson.
Location Flashbook: A Bridge Too Far (1977)
In this scene of A Bridge Too Far, a German soldier (Lex van Delden) returns from an attempt to surrender to the Allied forces, but has to tell his Lieutenant (Maximillion Schell) that the enemy said, “No, thank you.” A Bridge Too Far is an epic war film directed by...
DUCK
In the 16-minute short DUCK, visual artist Rachel Maclean co-opts the inherent suspicions of cinematic espionage to craft this surreal mash-up about the escalating media paranoia.
Milk Teeth
A young woman challenges the superstitious fears of her cult-like patriarchal community in Swiss director Sophia Bösch’s ambitious but uneven dystopian fairy-tale debut ‘Milk Teeth’.
The Paragon
A joyous Kiwi midnight-movie oddity that channels ‘80s fantasy and DIY gumption in a cosmic quest for a hyper-dimensional crystal.
Chile in our Heart and Eyes
Showing films by Chilean directors in exile, IFFR’s Focus on ‘Chile in the Heart’ helps us better understand the country and the 1973 coup d’état that changed it.
EFP launches first latin american critics’ awards for european films
With a focus on the Central and South American continent, European Film Promotion will be launching the Latin American Critics’ Awards for European Films for the first time. Following the model of the well-established and successful Arab Critics’ Awards introduced in...
CineVerdict: Con Chile en el corazón… y en la mirada
Al mostrar filmes de directores exiliados, el Focus Chile en el corazón de IFFR 2024 nos ayuda a entender mejor el país y el día en que cambió de golpe.
Head South
An absurdist, Gothic twist takes Jonathan Ogilvie’s coming-of-age comedy and New Zealand post-punk subculture origin story into delightfully uncharted territory.
So Unreal
Amanda Kramer’s debut documentary ‘So Unreal’ revisits classic sci-fi movies and vintage cyberpunk thrillers looking for cautionary clues about our current age of digital dystopia.
Entertainment Oxygen Officially Launches Premier Film Festival Streaming and Networking Platform “eoFlix”
Entertainment Oxygen (eo) unveiled eoFlix, a comprehensive festival streaming and networking platform “eoFlix stands at the forefront of the industry, offering an unmatched, seamless blend of networking, dynamic live and online streaming, empowered self-distribution...
Pierre Monnard is Back in French
The Swiss director is bringing his new film ‘Bisons’ to Rotterdam.
Vanja Kaludjercic and Clare Stewart on Rotterdam’s Present and Future
The mainstream and the niche coexist at IFFR this year under artistic director Kaludjercic and managing director Stewart.
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Johan Grimonprez’s complex, cacophonous ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ is a feat of design, narration, sound, and cinema about an important chapter in Congo’s tragic relationship with the UN, the U.S., and Belgium.
Sebastian
In ‘Sebastian’, Mikko Mäkelä presents a frank and graphic portrait of a writer as a young sex worker in literary London.
Ama Gloria
An intimate and profound study of a child’s need for maternal love, with outstanding acting from 6-year old Louise Mauroy-Panzani and her nanny, Ilça Moreno Zego.
CineVerdict: Reinas
Reinas, dirigida por Klaudia Reynecke es una buena película coming of age que confirma la presencia de una voz con sello propio en el cine latinoamericano
Reinas
Reinas, directed by Klaudia Reynicke, is a coming of age film that confirms her unique voice in the Latin American Cinema.
IFFR offers the 2024 Tiger Shorts Competition Program
International Film Festival Rotterdam offers the Tiger Short Competition Program. For the 2024 edition there will be twenty-one short and mid-length films compete for one of three equal awards. Qualifying films are between 1 and 63 minutes long, and they will be...
European Creativity Shines at Sundance
The Europeans were in form at Sundance, where they showed their first new films of 2024.
Handling The Undead
Thea Hvistendahl’s half-Stephen King, half-Kafka first feature, ‘Handling the Undead’, is a confident three-pronged narrative on the irreversibility of death.
Ibelin
Computer games offer a severely disabled young man an emotionally rich alternative life in Norwegian director Benjamin Ree’s moving, visually impressive documentary ‘Ibelin’.
A New Kind of Wilderness
In a Norwegian doc world premiering at Sundance, a moving family story is occasionally snagged by unconvincing dramatic contrivances.
Grimm Vandekerckhove named IFFR’s fifth annual Robby Müller Award recipient
Grimm Vandekerckhove is a Belgian cinematographer known for his collaborations with directors such as Bas Devos, Stephan Streker, Jeremy Guez and Fien Troch. After graduating from the LUCA – School of Arts in Brussels (2011), he started as a second unit camera...
Meet the IFFR Jury
The Tiger Competition Jury consists of Marco Müller, former director of Locarno, Venice, and IFFR (1989–1991); Ena Sendijarevi?, a Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker known for her acclaimed debut Take Me Somewhere Nice (IFFR 2019) and the Netherlands’ Oscars submission Sweet...
Eternal You
Facts come with chills in this cautionary doc overview of an ethically thorny new reality: the sale of immortality via AI simulations of the dead.
Veni, Vidi, Vici
Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici’ is an incredibly clear-eyed take on the absolute power the rich have in a capitalist society.
Berlin Film Festival announces Panorama, Forum and Generation section line ups for 2024
Berlin Film Festival has announed the films for the Panorama, Forum and Generation sections. The 2024 Panorama: Bridges Between Lived Experiences and Cinematic Possibilities Afterwar by Birgitte Stærmose | with Gëzim Kelmendi, Xhevahire Abdullahu, Shpresim Azemi,...
Europeans at the Sundance Film Festival 2024
In collaboration with the Sundance Film Festival and with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA of the European Union, EFP provides a meeting space for the European film industry at the DoubleTree Hotel, The Yarrow, to promote and celebrate the diversity of European...
Santa Barbara International Film Festival 39 (SBIFF) Announces Line Up
Santa Barbara. International Film Festival will showcase 45 world premieres and 77 U.S. premieres from 48 countries, along with tributes featuring the year’s top talent, panel discussions, and free community education and outreach programs. “We have a wonderfully...
Duhok 2023: The Verdict
The Duhok International Film Festival held a successful, vibrant 10th edition in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The Film Verdict 2024 Editorial Calendar
The Film Verdict announces it's 2024 Film Festival coverage. EFP European Films at Sundance Jan 18 – 28 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) Jan 25 - Feb 4 Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) FEB 15 – 25 Hong Kong International Film Festival March...
I.S.S.
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Cold-War-in-space thriller benefits from a lean-and-mean B-movie sensibility crossed with seamless effects work and potent performances.
The Film Verdict Welcomes 2024
More reviews, more coverage in the new year.
TFV2024: Innovación y mayor cobertura
Será un año lleno de descubrimientos y más cobertura de las películas.
TFV 2024: L’anno che verra’
Per il 2024, continuiamo con innovazione e crescita; ancora più recensioni e festival.
En Route vers l’Avenir : The Film Verdict en 2023 et au-delà
TFV offre des opportunités équitables aux cinéastes du monde entier.
Mean Girls
A pleasant-enough musical reworking of the 2004 comedy, hitting the big screen on its way to becoming a slumber-party staple for decades to come.
Entertainment Oxygen adds 3 new Festivals
Entertainment Oxygen (eo), announces three new international festival partners - Soho London Independent Film Festival (January 25-28, 2024), Auroville Film Festival in India (January 22-28, 2024) and Utah International Film Festival (February 12-17, 2024)....
Night Swim
This haunted-swimming-pool thriller goes from creepy to ridiculous and back again, but as January-dumped horror films go, it’s a cut above.
El Gouna: The Verdict
Taking place just two months after the onset of the horrendous war in Gaza, the El Gouna Film Festival’s ‘Special Edition’ was a sober but not gloomy affair that paid its respects to the Palestinian people and their cinema.
El Gouna 2023: The Awards
The El Gouna Film Festival awards this year included ’Goodbye, Julia’, a Sudanese film by Mohamed Kordofani about two women divided by their cultures, which won the Cinema for Humanity Audience Award, while Egyptian director Ibrahim Nash’at’s ‘Hollywoodgate’ won as best documentary and Hong Sang-soo’s latest ‘In Our Day’ got the best narrative nod.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
This superhero sequel represents something never-before-seen in cinema: a boring James Wan movie.
Alonso Duralde’s Top 10 Films of 2023
From personal journeys of discovery to man’s inhumanity to man, the stories shared in the films of 2023 speak to our moment in history and will continue to do so for generations to come.
East End Studios, located in Queens, NY under construction
East End Studios, located in Sunnyside, Queens has begun construction. Just minutes from Midtown Manhattan via the 59th Street Bridge, Sunnyside will feature three large 37’ clear state of the art stages and one purpose-built flex 27; clear stage. The flex stage...
Netflix announces ‘Too Much’ to begin filming in the UK in 2024
Netflix announces ‘Too Much’, a new rom-com series created by multi award-winning writer, director, producer and actor Lena Dunham (Girls/Catherine Called Birdy) and her husband Luis Felber. The series will begin shooting in the UK in 2024. Megan Stalter (Hacks) will...
Flemish Economy Minister doubles budget
Flemish Economy Minister doubles budget; Screen Flanders invests three million in 14 new projects. Due to the high demand and high quality of the submitted dossiers, Flemish Minister of Economy Jo Brouns has doubled the 1.5 million euros budget initially allocated to...
Egyptian star Yousra talks to Marianne Khoury
Two of El Gouna Film Festival’s leading ladies discussed Yousra’s film career in a special masterclass.
El Gouna Egyptian Shorts: Local Stories Impress
Egyptian filmmakers stand out in El Gouna’s official Short Film Competition.
Family Portrait
Director Lucy Kerr’s feature debut ‘Family Drama’ is slender and elusive, but highly atmospheric and hauntingly strange.
The Color Purple
Alice Walker’s saga of sisterhood and survival becomes a rousing and heartfelt screen musical.
The Wall
Vicky Krieps gives a striking performance as a racist Arizona border patrol guard in Belgian director Phillippe Van Leeuw’s otherwise underwhelming contemporary frontier western ‘The Wall’.
Zinet, Algiers, Happiness
A delightful Algerian documentary about cinema and the Casbah makes a superb companion piece to the newly-restored 35mm print of ‘Tahia Ya Didou’ by cult comic and director Mohamed Zinet.
International Film Festival Rotterdam 2024 Line up
Since its foundation in 1972, International Film Festival Rottredam has maintained a focus on independent and experimental filmmaking by showcasing emerging talents and established auteurs. The festival also places a focus on presenting cutting edge media art and...
A Window on Palestine at El Gouna
In a time of war, El Gouna’s special 2023 edition presents an insightful collection of recent films from Palestine, curated with the Palestine Cinema Days.
The Teacher
Gaining extra urgency in the light of current events, British-Palestinian director Farah Nabulsi’s debut feature ‘The Teacher’ is a well-intentioned but flawed drama set in the occupied West Bank
Q
An all-female Islamic sect in Lebanon first ensnares, then abandons a deeply spiritual woman, along with her mother and her daughter, in Jude Chehab’s intriguing but unstructured portrait of her unusual family in ‘Q’.
Sudanese Classic Shorts at El Gouna: The Desert vs Modernization
El Gouna is screening eight Sudanese shorts from the ’70s and ’80s to retell a forgotten chapter of African film history.
Aki Kaurismäki’s ‘Fallen Leaves’ wins the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films
The Finnish-German co-production 'Fallen Leaves' by Aki Kaurismäki has won this year’s Arab Critics' Awards for European Films, which is being presented for the fifth time by European Film Promotion (EFP) and Arab Cinema Center (ACC). 'Fallen Leaves' by Aki Kaurismäki...
Seven Winters in Tehran
The cruel and gripping story of Reyhaneh Jabbari, a 19-year-old Iranian woman convicted of murdering a man who attempted to rape her, unfolds like a thriller in Steffi Niederzoll’s documentary recreation, ‘Seven Winters in Tehran’.
From Abdul to Leila
French-Iraqi director Leila Albayaty explores her own complex cultural roots, painful family tensions and buried traumatic memories in her emotionally raw docu-musical ‘From Abdul to Leila’.
Lumières Award Nominations Announced
The Lumières Award presented by the Académie des Lumières to honor the best in the French-speaking cinema of the previous year. The awards ceremony is organized by the Académie des Lumières which consists of over 200 representatives of the international press based in...
Marwan Hamed: Industry First!
Marwan Hamed’s work cannot be separated from the industry aspects of his successful film career.
Dreaming & Dying
Magical realism and Far East ghost stories inject a thrilling, if not always crystal clear, element into Nelson Yeo’s fishy tale of an overage and not completely human love triangle, ‘Dreaming & Dying’.
Scrapper
A charmingly eccentric 12-year-old girl struggles to bond with her estranged father in writer-director Charlotte Regan’s funny, sunny, prize-winning debut feature ‘Scrapper’.
Ahmed Shawky discusses FIPRESCI, diversity, and post Arab Spring cinema
FIPRESCI President and head of CineGouna SpringBoard Ahmed Shawky aspires for more diversity in film circles and more freedom for Arab narratives.
Egyptian Director Marwan Hamed to receive El Gouna’s Career Achievement Award
Marwan Hamed is an Egyptian film director known for his distinctive style that blends tradition and modernity. His talent first shone through his directorial debut, 'Lilly', a short film adapted from a story by Yousef Idrees. This gem achieved resounding success,...
2023 IDA Documentary Award Winners
The IDA Documentary Awards are dedicated to the documentary genre, celebrating the best nonfiction films and programs of the year. It seeks to represent excellence in the documentary field from around the world by emerging and established documentarians. Best Feature...
Marianne Khoury and Intishal Al-Timimi Negotiate El Gouna’s Special Edition
“Art should not be sacrificed during wars”: El Gouna’s Intishal Al Timimi and Marianne Khoury tell TFV
El Gouna Film Festival to present special program WINDOWS ON PALESTINE
El Gouna Film Festival offers Window on Palestine, showcasing a collection of films that delve into the heart of Palestinian narratives. The carefully curated selection sheds light on the challenges faced by a resilient people, inviting audiences to gain a deeper...
Tricia Tuttle appointed as new director of the Berlin International Film Festival
Tricia Tuttle, a former director of the BFI London Film Festival, will become the new director of the Berlin International Film Festival next year, the German culture minister announced Tuesday. She will take over the directorship from 1 April 2024. The upcoming...
How to Have Sex
A timely coming-of-age drama about young women dealing with the complexities of sexual consent, writer-director Molly Manning Walker’s prize-winning debut feature ‘How to Have Sex’ is impressively nuanced and emotionally rich.
5 Questions for Matteo Garrone
Two African boys who dream of Europe cross the Sahara and the Mediterranean on a heroic journey in ‘Me Captain’. Italy’s Oscar entry from acclaimed filmmaker Matteo Garrone.
Voy! Voy! Voy!
Omar Hilal’s compelling ‘Voy! Voy! Voy!’, Egypt’s Oscar submission, dissects how far a bunch of Egyptian men will go to immigrate to Europe by impersonating blind soccer players,
The Duke and the Poet
Who wanted to assassinate Mihailo Obrenovic, the ruling Prince of Serbia, in 1868? As the true story plays out in The Duke and The Poet, director Milorad Milinkovic’s glossy tale of royal intrigue, almost everybody inside and outside the country had an ax to grind....
Five Questions for Milorad Milinkovic
Filmmaker and producer Milorad Milinkovic reveals he is also a history buff in his recreation of the assassination of Prince Mihailo Obrenovic III in Serbia’s Oscar entry, ‘The Duke and the Poet’.
5 Questions for Margreth Olin
Nine cinematographers worked on depicting the landscape of glaciers and fjords that shaped director Margreth Olin’s childhood in Norway.
The Boy and the Heron
At age 82, Hayao Miyazaki proves once again that he’s our greatest living animator with this haunting tale of a boy on a mystical adventure in WWII-era Japan.
João Canijo on Oscars, Dual Projects and Strindberg
The director of ‘Bad Living’ talks to TFV about how it feels to be Portugal’s Oscar submission for the third time.
Songs of Earth
A stunningly shot meditation on man and nature — or more like man in nature — that could have benefited from more substance.
Anna Hints on Safe Spaces, Nudity and Posters
Director Anna Hints discusses all things ‘Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’, Estonia’s Oscar entry.
Radu Jude Discusses Red Carpets, Barbie and Dracula
Exuberant director Radu Jude talks to TFV about Romania’s Oscar hopeful ‘Do Not Expect Too Much From the
End of the World’ and what’s coming next.
VISIT THE FUTURE OF AWARDS SCREENINGS TODAY
As part of The Film Verdict’s International Contenders Series, TFV launched a private Metaverse Screening Room(s). Sreening this week is dedicated to the 2023 Western drama, “The Last Ashes,” directed by Loïc Tanson. This film, Luxembourg’s submission for the...
Fabrique du Cinema Awards Finalists Announced
FABRIQUE DU CINÉMA AWARDS has been promoting the creativity of young and talented directors, actors and writers. Filmmakers from all over the world are invited to submit their work. With more than 1,300 submissions every year from more than 70 countries, the FABRIQUE...
Wonka
Musical prequel manages to find the sweet spot between the wicked psychedelia of the original Willy Wonka and the feel-good delights of the director’s Paddington movies.
Five Questions for Loïc Tanson, director of ‘The Last Ashes’
The filmmaker talks about ‘The Last Ashes’, an intriguing blend of European and American film traditions that is Luxembourg’s selection for the Oscar race.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy on taking ‘Banel & Adama’ to Cannes and the Oscars
Ramata-Toulaye Sy, the talented new director shooting in Senegal, gracefully glides from a Cannes premiere to the Oscar race.
The Peasants
Luminous hand-painting animates a famed Polish tale of female defiance in a rural world of predatory opportunism and survival.
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
More a retrospective documentary than a traditional concert film, this souvenir of Beyoncé’s recent smash tour will delight fans who want a peek behind the scenes even as those peeks occasionally distract from the artist’s extraordinary stagecraft.
The Last Ashes
A lone woman rides into famine-ridden 19th century Luxembourg hell-bent on revenge in Loïc Tanson’s enjoyably erudite first feature ‘The Last Ashes’, intriguingly poised between European fairy tale and the American Western.
“Miracles happen, you just need to look around”: an interview with Tinatin Kajrishvili and Lasha Khalvashi.
Tinatin Kajrishvili, the director and producer of Georgia’s official Oscar submission ‘Citizen Saint’ discuss superstition, crucifixion and the current boom in world-class Georgian cinema.
Winners of the Excellence Awards 2023
The European Film Academy revealed the winners of the Excellence Awards. The winners in these eight categories honouring the different arts and crafts of film making will receive their awards at the award ceremony of the 36th European Film Awards taking place on 9...
33rd Gotham Award Winners
The Gotham Awards are part of the Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), The awards were inaugurated in 1991 to honor US independent film, and expanded in 2004 to include the International film community, with an increase from six...
Wish
What was clearly designed to be a victory lap for Disney’s 100th anniversary will be mostly forgotten by the time the studio turns 101.
A “Special Edition” of El Gouna Film Festival 2023
Festival confirms dates will be December 14 – 21.
Asia-Europe Festival of Young Cinema Kicks off in Macau
Marco Mueller will direct the Asia-Europe Festival with Jerome Paillard handling the industry side.
IDFA 2023: The Verdict
IDFA 2023 received a staggering dose of real-life events on its opening night; the quality of its film selection and a few political moves helped it recover.
IDFA: The Awards
Shoghakat Vardanyan’s ‘1489’ wins Best Film at IDFA for its humor and humanity in what the jury called “a vivid evocation of 100 years of history in less than 100 minutes of cinema.”
The Night Guardian
For the fourth time, award-winning director Reza Mirkarimi is repping Iran at the Oscars with ‘The Night Guardian’, handling a predictably downbeat social drama set amid Iran’s swelling underclass with a delicate, sensitive touch, illuminated by young actor Touraj Alvand.
The Burden
Elvis Sabin Ngaibino’s IDFA 2023 documentary, ‘The Burden’, walks a familiar path of African misery, but his compelling subjects lends this sophomore feature documentary a deserved poignancy.
IDFA Forum Awards Announced
Mohammed Almughanni’s project Son of the Streets won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch, Amber Fares’ Coexistence, My Ass! took home the Forum Award for Best Rough Cut, and the DocLab Forum Award went to Turbulence by Ben Joseph Andrews and Emma Roberts. Each award...
14 Paintings
Just over a dozen artworks are observed in situ in 14 Paintings, a patient but cumulatively fascinating cross-section portrait of contemporary China.
Peter Greenaway at IDFA 2023
A star guest at the Dutch documentary festival, 81-year-old art-house provocateur Peter Greenaway discusses his two new feature projects, his fears for the future of cinema, and his own feelings of mortality.
The Kyiv Files
Dutch director Walter Stokman digs into recently declassified KGB archives in ‘The Kyiv Files’, an uneven but timely documentary about Ukraine, Russia and Cold War paranoia.
Napoleon
While this sumptuously mounted production delivers as a sweeping war epic, one hopes Ridley Scott’s promised director’s cut will fill in the emotional and historical blanks.
Hot Docs Welcomes Hussain Currimbhoy
Hussain Currimbhoy, whose film industry career and passion for championing works by marginalized filmmakers, is set to bring a new vision to Hot Docs, overseeing programming for Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto’s Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema...
As the Tide Comes In
Directors Juan Palacios and Sofie Husum Johannesen find beauty and sadness in ‘As the Tide Comes In’, a visually exquisite documentary about a tiny Danish island community menaced by climate change.
Tehachapi
French visual artist and film-maker JR chronicles his grand-scale collaboration with the inmates of a maximum-security prison in his didactic but uplifting documentary ‘Tehachapi’.
Limitation
A raw and immediate found-footage assemblage, ‘Limitation’ traces Russia’s hand in the coup that overthrew Georgia’s first post-Soviet president Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
Biljana Tutorov and Melissa Thackway Talk IDFA 2023 and the Power of Archives
Melissa Thackway and Biljana Tutorov, jury members for the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award at IDFA 2023, join TFV’s Oris Aigbokhaevbolo, the jury’s third member, in a discussion about the evolution of archives and the festival’s controversial opening night.
Alreadymade
Director Barbara Visser explores the controversial links between pioneering Dadaist artists Marcel Duchamp and Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven in her lively, adventurous, unconventional documentary ‘Alreadymade’.
Between Delicate and Violent
Sirin Bahar Demirel’s stimulating bricolage short, Between Delicate and Violent, combines archival imagery with animation to examine how pictures tell stories and whether they can be mined for truth.
In Wolf Country
Fear-stoking myths around wolves, back in Germany after a century, are dismantled in Ralf Bücheler’s doc ‘In Wolf Country’, appealing to nature management via science.
Magic Mountain
A haunting, poetic doc with political undercurrents, ‘Magic Mountain’ examines a once-grand sanitorium in the Georgian mountains lost to the vultures of capitalism.
18 German short films in contention for the 96th Oscars®
Animated Short Film BACKFLIP by Nikita Diakur (12 min, 2022, DE/FR, Best Animated Short Film - German Short Film Award 2022) I’M NOT AFRAID! by Marita Mayer (7 min, 2022, DE/NO, Fabian&Fred, Theatrical Run USA) LITTLE FAN by Sveta Yuferova, Shad Lee Bradbury (5 min,...
This Blessed Plot
Director Marc Isaacs takes a bumpy but engaging journey into post-Brexit England in his eccentric docu-fiction pageant ‘This Blessed Plot’.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
This tedious, overlong prequel sheds little new light on the Hunger Games universe, although Viola Davis and Jason Schwartzman camp it up with gusto.
I Would Like to Rage
Chloe Galibert-Laine’s latest video essay, I Would Like to Rage, reflects on the place of rage online and through this lens explores the blurred lines between authenticity and performativity
A Picture to Remember
Olga Chernykh’s poetic, vividly sensorial essay-doc debut ‘A Picture to Remember’ reconstitutes Donetsk as a cinematic site of memories for three family generations of women.
The Marvels
This admirable attempt at subverting superhero-movie formula and tone should have soared beyond where MCU movies typically go.
IDFA’s Orwa Nyrabia on Making Space for the Unclassifiable
IDFA’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia talks with TFV critic Carmen Gray about the festival’s role in times of tension, and where documentary might be heading.
While the Green Grass Grows
Peter Mettler’s multi-layered, monumental cine-diary is a meditation on our obsession with the other side that is as playful and surprising as it is frequently sublime.
European Film Awards 2023 Nominees
These are the 2023 nominees: European Film: • ANATOMY OF A FALL (ANATOMIE D'UNE CHUTE) directed by Justine Triet, produced by Marie-Ange Luciani & David Thion (France) • FALLEN LEAVES (KUOLLEET LEHDET) directed by Aki Kaurismäki, produced by Aki Kaurismäki, Misha...
Göteborg Film Festival Brings on Pia Lundberg
Pia Lundberg has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of Göteborg Film Festival. Lundberg, who most recently served as Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Sweden in London, has broad and varied experience in the film industry. She is a trained...
‘LOVE, COURAGE AND THE BATTLE FOR BUSHY RUN’ SECURES UK RIGHTS AHEAD OF AFM
Trinity Creative Partnership has acquired UK sales rights for the highly-anticipated historical war film Love, Courage and the Battle for Bushy Run, launching at AFM this week and set for release in 2024. The historical drama set against the backdrop of the Battle of...
4 Hubert Bals Fund supported films contend for International Oscar
For over 30 years, the Hubert Bals Fund has developed a distinguished taste for filmmakers with a forward-looking artistic vision. The HBF focuses on supporting filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe International...
Palisades Park Closes US & UK Sales on “Duchess” Ahead of AFM
Saban Films has taken U.S. rights to action-thriller “Duchess”, directed by Emmy Award nominee Neil Marshall’s (“Game of Thrones,”Hellboy”) Saban is expected to release the film in early 2024. The deal was announced by Palisades Park Pictures CEO, Tamara Birkemoe. “We...
Eastern European Film Festival Network (EEFFN) Collaboration Announced
It was announced at the CineEast festival Awards ceremony that the Eastern European Film Festival Network (EEFFN) brings together the five film festivals dedicated to promoting and showcasing Eastern European cinema. The primary objective is to enhance cooperation and...
Vilnius International Film Festival unveils distribution partnership with A24 and Baltic expansion
VIFF announces a new partnership with A24, one of the fastest-growing film studios in the United States. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for the VIFF distribution department and holds great promise for the cinema industry in the Baltic region....
IDA Documentary Awards Shortlists for Best Features and Shorts
Best Feature Documentary Shortlist • Against the Tide (India | BBC Storyville | Director: Sarvnik Kaur | Producer: Koval Bhatia, Sarvnik Kaur) • ANHELL69 (Colombia | Square Eyes | Director: Theo Montoya | Producers: Bianca Oana, David Hurst, Theo Montoya, Juan Pablo...
Five Nights at Freddy’s
This video-game adaptation never lives up to its premise’s potential as either a scary movie or an exercise in absurdism.
IDFA reveals main competition lineups and opening film for 36th edition
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) announced “A Picture to Remember “by Olga Chernykh as the opening film to IDFA 2023, alongside the main competition lineups for the fast-approaching edition. “A Picture to Remember” presents a deeply...
The Night Rain South Township
Chinese filmmaker Li Binbin’s directorial debut, ‘The Night Rain South Township’, won a special mention at Pingyao with an enigmatic story of a young man’s rediscovery of his cultural roots in a foggy town in China’s southwest hinterlands.
American Film Market to host over 245 companies and organizations
AFM is the film acquisition, development and networking event where more than $1 Billion in distribution and film financing deals are closed each year on completed films and those in every stage of development. Thousands of professionals from all corners of the...
Dance Still
Awarded by both the main and youth juries at Pingyao, ‘Dance Still’ is directing duo Qin Muqiu and Zhan Hanqi’s triumph of a slacker comedy, trading in jet-black absurdist humour aimed at China’s bewildered millennials.
City of Wind
In ‘City of Wind’, Mongolia’s Academy Award hopeful which has already collected prizes at Venice and Pingyao, director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir offers a charmingly intimate look at a gifted young city-dwelling shaman.
DOK Leipzig 2023: The Verdict
With its socially and politically engaged agenda, DOK Leipzig’s 66th edition felt especially timely this year during a major period of global turbulence.
DOK Leipzig 2023: The Awards
Peter Mettler’s personal and poetic reflection ‘While the Green Grass Grows’ wins DOK Leipzig’s Golden Dove as best international documentary.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Nearly three hours of Taylor Swift in concert might be too much of a good thing for newcomers, but devotees will wish this beautifully shot and edited performance doc had been even longer.
Director Lina Soualem Talks about Palestine’s Oscar submission ‘Bye Bye Tiberias’
Lina Soualem is touring global festivals with her very personal documentary’ Bye Bye Tiberias’, in “a moment of great tragedy and despair”.
El Shatt — A Blueprint for Utopia
‘El Shatt’, a commune established by 28,000 Dalmatian Croats in colonial Egypt where they fled Nazi persecution in 1944, is remembered in Ivan Ramljak’s romanticized but well-researched documentary.
Play Dead!
Documentary director Matthew Lancit addresses his existential health fears through horror movie tropes in ‘Play Dead!’. a compelling hybrid blend of non-fiction and playful fakery.
La Vourdalak
Adrien Beau’s ‘La Vourdalak’ is a lo-fi take on the 1839 Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy novella and a super-quirky, semi-scary, and supremely absurd film..
One Hundred Four
‘One Hundred Four’ is the number of refugees stranded on one of the world’s deadly smuggling routes, the Mediterranean, in Jonathan Schörnig’s real-time documentary.
An Asian Ghost Story
Mass wig exportation becomes the lens through which the fascinating, spectral doc An Asian Ghost Story explores Hong Kong’s late 20th-century modernisation and position between East and West.
White Angel — The End of Marinka
A hard-hitting immersion into life and death under Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine, ‘White Angel – The End of Marinka’ is seen through an evacuation team’s GoPro helmet footage.
Johnny & Me
Director Katrin Rothe’s animated bio-documentary hybrid ‘Johnny & Me’ brings to life the visually striking photomontage work of pioneering political artist John Heartfield.
Compound Eyes of Tropical
One of the traditional fables of Sang Kancil, the wily mouse-deer, is brought exquisitely to life in Zhang Xu Zhan’s electrifying, otherworldly animation, Compound Eyes of Tropical
Through The Night
Delphine Girard examines the possibly violent encounter between a man and a woman in her solidly unadorned debut feature, ‘Through the Night’, winner of the Audience Award at the Giornate degli Autori.
Location Flashback: Uncharted (2022)
In this scene, Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) wipes down a table at a New York City bar as he makes small talk with a patron before stealing a diamond bracelet off her wrist. "Uncharted", originally set to be released on December 18, 2020, faced delays due to the COVID-19...
DOK Industry Awards 2023 Announced
At the DOK Co-Pro Market, a total of three awards have been presented. Belarusian director Daria Yurkevich and her project “GENESIS" (Belarus, Germany) received the Saxon Award for the Best Documentary Project by a Female Director. The prize is endowed with 5,000...
Going viral: an interview with ‘The Standstill’ director Nikolaus Geyrhalter
The feted Austrian documentary maker talks about capturing the Coronavirus crisis on camera, filming in perilous places, and his life-changing rejection from film school.
Beauty and the Lawyer
A married LGBTQ+ couple worry if a future Armenia will honour the rights of their non-conventional family, in this intimately observational, activism-based doc.
Lumene: Privatisation
In the complex and thought-provoking essay film, Lumene: Privatisation, David Shongo reflects on the commodification of cultural memory and the lasting impacts of insidious colonial impositions.
Belarusian Filmmakers Talk Independence in Exile at DOK Leipzig
Belarusian Independent Film Academy founders, and the team of doc ‘Who, If Not Us? The Fight for Democracy in Belarus,’ discuss aims and challenges at DOK Leipzig.
Location Flashback: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
In this scene, Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) weaves his way through the Kunst Museum in an effort to elude J.G. Jopling (Willem Dafoe), a henchman, and also the man who killed his cat - sent by Madame D’s (Tilda Swinton) evil son and heir, Dmitri (Adrian Brody). The...
Togoland Projections
German director Jürgen Ellinghaus retraces the West African travels of a silent-era film director in ‘Togoland Projections’, a dry but engaging documentary about European colonialism’s screen legacy.
Zima
The chill is both atmospheric and emotional in Zima, a scratchy, punkish, magical realist animation about life in a quiet, snow-laden fishing village.
TFV Talks To Maria Fredriksson about The Gullspång Miracle
Maria Fredriksson plunged into the doc-making deep end for her debut feature ‘The Gullspång Miracle’, screening at DOK Leipzig.
The Standstill
Austrian documentary maker Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s symphonic Covid chronicle ‘The Standstill’ plays like a slow-motion disaster movie with immersive widescreen visuals.
The Mother of All Hybrids
Asmae El Moudir’s ‘The Mother of All Lies’ embodies both sides of DOK Leipzig’s festival identity.
Three Windows on South West
An ostensibly simplistic documentary about a flat in Kyiv, Three Windows on South West uses incidental memories to paint a fleeting collective portrait of another time.
Vika!
Polish director Agnieszka Zwiefka’s lively documentary ‘Vika!’ paints a celebratory but poignant portrait of Warsaw’s oldest club DJ.
Isabel Herguera, the Dream of a Master Animator
Spanish animator, author and producer Isabel Herguera bings her first feature to DOK L — a masterfully evocative work on feminism and women’s lives, ‘Sultana’s Dream’.
The Last Relic
Masses seduced by past imperialistic might and activists seeking change present clashing public spectacles in Marianna Kaat’s punchy, broad-strokes doc on modern Russia.
Meet the Juries of Dok Leipzig
Three juries comprised of distinguished filmmakers and arts professionals, as well as a jury of audience members, will be presenting awards for short and feature-length animated and documentary films in competition at the 66th edition of DOK Leipzig. The jury members...
“A festival is not there to create comfort”: An interview with DOK Leipzig artistic director Christoph Terhechte
The head of the world’s oldest documentary film festival talks controversial programming choices, magical public screenings, and the need to learn from uncomfortable history lessons.
The Gullspång Miracle
Eerie, gripping and expertly crafted, Maria Fredriksson’s mind-bending doc takes myriad twists through a Nordic family mystery.
Knit’s Island
A trio of documentarians traverse the forbidding digital landscapes of an online survivalist video game to explore the communities that have emerged there in this verité machinima, Knit’s Island.
The Exorcist: Believer
It takes a village to perform an exorcism, and it takes the power of Ann Dowd and Ellen Burstyn to make this familiar material compelling.
My Lost Country
‘My Lost Country’ is a personal documentary in which the director Ishtar Yasin uses multiple tools in a moving portrait of her Iraqi father.
San Sebastian 2023: The Verdict
This year’s San Sebastian was a sunny festival filled with discoveries.
San Sebastian: The Awards
Jaione Camborda’s delicate drama of a midwife, ‘The Rye Horn’, won the Golden Shell.
Dance First
Gabriel Byrne plays dual versions of Irish literary legend Samuel Beckett in Oscar-winning director James Marsh’s unrevealing but elegant and engagingly offbeat bio-drama ‘Dance First’.
Spanish Screenings XXL Wraps and migrates to ROMA’s MIA
BY LIZA FOREMAN SAN SEBASTIAN - Spain’s most important film festival draws to a close on Saturday night, concluding nine days of industry meets, film screenings and galas. The Spanish film industry’s post-pandemic recovery program: Spanish Screenings XXL, worked to...
CineVerdict: Mi país perdido
Mi país perdido es un documental personal en el que la directora usa múltiples herramientas en un conmovedor retrato de su padre irakí
Gamma Rays
Canadian director Henry Bernadet paints a sunny patchwork portrait of multicultural Montreal in his collaborative teen-driven docu-drama ‘Gamma Rays’.
Toll
Lively characters get involved in a farcical church course designed to rewire gays in the otherwise staid ‘Toll’ (‘Pedagio’), a story about coping with poverty and ignorance in remote Brazil.
A Turn of the Century Dream for Women’s Lib in India Leads Pack of Female Filmmaker Visions at San Sebastian Film Fest.
BY LIZA FOREMAN SAN SEBASTIAN -- Muslim Feminist writer and social reformer Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain published Sultana’s Dream in 1905. Spanish filmmaker Isabel Herguera’s big screen adaptation of that story, ten years in the making, has made the competition section at...
CineVerdict: Víctor Erice
Víctor Erice maestro del cine español recibe el Premio Donostia en el SSIFF.
Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) announces 2023 Lineup
TIFF 2023 Competition (Ab)normal Desire (Japan) Dir Kishi Yoshiyuki (World Premiere) Air (Russia) Dir Alexey German Jr. (World Premiere) Blind At Heart (Ger-Switz-Lux) Dir Barbara Albert Dwelling By The West Lake (China) Dir Gu Xiaogang (World Premiere) A Foggy...
Red Island
In equal parts fiercely amusing and roundly desolating, Robin Campillo’s ‘Red Island’, an offbeat look at the end of French colonialism in Madagascar, is a crowd-pleaser in San Sebastian’s Official Selection.
We Are the Hollow Men
Rati Oneli’s phlegmatic drama, We Are the Hollow Men, depicts the difficult relationship between an estranged father and son when the latter returns home after his mother’s death.
German Films Travel
BY LIZA FOREMAN SAN SEBASTIAN - It wasn't long ago that German directors making the festival rounds typically were Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlondorff. But a slew of newer directors has come up through the ranks in the past two...
Ex-Husbands
Griffin Dunne, James Norton and Miles Heizer co-star in Noah Pritzker’s underpowered but charming ensemble drama ‘Ex-Husbands’. which pays fond homage to a lost analogue era of bittersweet New York comedies.
Víctor Erice, Spanish Master
Revered Spanish filmmaker Victor Erice receives the Donostia Award at SSIFF.
The Royal Hotel
Australian writer-director Kitty Green takes a hellish holiday in the badlands of toxic masculinity with her punchy feminist Outback thriller ‘The Royal Hotel’.
The Rye Horn
Celebrating the natural cycles of life in women’s ever-changing bodies, Jaione Camborda’s second feature ‘The Rye Horn’ is a moving period drama that touches on abortion laws in 1971 Spain.
GOODBYE JULIA named Sudan’s official submission for 96th Academy Awards®
Mohamed Kordofani’s GOODBYE JULIA was just named Sudan’s official submission for Best International Film at the 96th Academy Awards. The acclaimed Sudanese title will be released in Egyptian theaters on October 25th; a few weeks after its Arab World premiere at the El...
Pirsas
Angelica Maria Torres Tamayo works through a personal tragedy in Pirsas, a deeply affecting documentary about a family trauma and the prospect of recovery.
US ShowBiz Sparks Investor confab
By Liza Foreman A bevy of high-power American executives hit the San Sebastian International Film Festival on Tuesday for the 2nd edition of the Creative Investors’ Conference. That conference serves mainly to put a spotlight on business beyond Europe. The film...
Amma ki Katha (My Amma’s Tale)
History, folklore, and contemporary realities intertwine in Amma ki Katha, Nehal Vyas’ essayistic meditation on national aspiration and how stories become enmeshed in state oppression.
The Creator
While lovely to look at, Gareth Edwards’ latest doesn’t make the case for why we should stop worrying and learn to love AI.
Mother, Couch!
Ewan McGregor goes from IKEA to maternity in Swedish director Niclas Larsson’s muddled but ambitious debut ‘Mother, Couch!’, a surreal family farce set inside a giant furniture store.
SURPRISE MOVIE AT SAN SEBASTIAN
David Fincher’s eagerly awaited new movie, "The Killer," is the surprise film at the 71st San Sebastian Festival. From the director of Se7en, Zodiac and The Social Network, and based on the homonymous novel by Alexis Nolent (Matz) and illustrated by Luc Jacamon, The...
A Silence
Emmanuelle Devos plays the complicit wife of the famous lawyer and closet pedophile Daniel Auteuil in Joachim Lafosse’s slow-moving family drama ‘A Silence’.
CineVerdict: El sueño de la sultana
El deslumbrante e imaginativo cuento animado de la directora española Isabel Herguera ‘El sueño de la sultana’ sobre una artista itinerante está inspirado en la pensadora feminista bengalí Rokeya Hossain y su cuento de 1905 sobre Ladyland, un país gobernado por mujeres.
Single Light
A young woman must deal with the physical and psychological bruises of a sexual assault in Shaylee Atary’s powerful dramatic short, Single Light.
Kalak
A deeply damaged Danish man relocates to Greenland in a bid to escape childhood sexual trauma in Swedish director Isabella Eklöf’s bleakly compelling drama ‘Kalak’, which is based on real events.
Sultana’s Dream
Spanish director Isabel Herguera’s exhilarating and imaginative animated tale about a roving artist is sparked by real-life Bengali feminist thinker Rokeya Hossain and her 1905 story about Ladyland, a country run by women.
They Shot the Piano Player
Spanish directing duo Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal recreate a dark chapter in Brazilian musical history in their visually ravishing animated docu-fiction hybrid ‘Shoot the Piano Player’.
Last Shadow at First Light
The 2012 Tohoku tsunami still holds an anguished Japanese-Singapore family in its clutches in ‘Last Shadow at First Light’, a complex, if at times overwritten, examination of survivors’ guilt in a first feature from Nicole Midori Woodford.
Fingernails
The road to love is paved with darkly surreal humour for Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed in Greek director Christos Nikou’s uneven but generally engaging low-fi sci-fi rom-com satire ‘Fingernails’.
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Achingly poetic and daringly original, Raven Jackson’s first feature ‘All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt’ chooses to tell the story of a Black girl growing up in Mississippi through atmosphere instead of conventional narration.
CineVerdict: Orlando, mi biografía política
Orlando, el extravagante manifiesto del director debutante Paul B. Preciado empuja los límites de los géneros masculino/femenino y también de los cinematográficos.
Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: “Phony Wars”
Godard reaches from beyond with one final film, a coarse and compelling act of montage, an expressive audiovisual treatment for a never-to-be-made made feature, Phony Wars.
Expend4bles
If Expend4bles were any more by-the-numbers, it would have a numeral in its title. Oh, wait.
3 Film Clinic movies head to the Oscars
Three films produced and distributed by Film Clinic will represent Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon at the 2022 Oscars® in the International Feature Film category. In Jordan, an independent committee of professional experts selected Amira to represent Jordan at the Oscars....
CineVerdict: Memoria
CINE VERDICT: Después de su inquietante pero bien recibido thriller `Sundown`, el director mexicano Michel Franco , continúa con `Memoria` un drama familiar-romance dibujado con plantilla , actuado por Jessica Chastain en el papel de una trabajadora social emocionalmente afectada, en Brooklyn.
Oldenburg Film Festival 2023: The Verdict
Germany’s premiere festival platform for rule-breaking indie cinema celebrated its 30th edition with audacious acid-punk UFO comedies, bleak kidnap thrillers and a ground-breaking peek into the multiverse.
Oldenburg 2023: The Awards
Turkey’s chilling political thriller ‘In the Blind Spot’ grabs the Best Film prize at Oldenburg.
Beautiful Friend
A sociopathic amateur film-maker kidnaps the woman he wants to play his fantasy girlfriend role in Truman Kewley’s quietly chilling psycho-thriller debut ‘Beautiful Friend’.
Grill
The cruelty of an uncaring welfare state is brought into sharp relief in Jade Hærem Aksnes’s stomach-churning satirical drama about poverty, Grill.
Seaweed
A young boy grieving the loss of his mother forms a bond with a desert drifter in the heart-warming Israeli drama, Seaweed.
The Wait
Spanish director F. Javier Gutiérrez’s atmospheric but underpowered horror western ‘The Wait’ offers a fistful of familiar supernatural tropes.
The Belgian Wave
Cult director Jérôme Vandewattyne uses a spate of real UFO sightings as the launchpad for ‘The Belgian Wave’, an incoherent but highly entertaining acid-punk sci-fi road movie about close encounters of the surreal kind.
Charcoal
A dark, absurdist farce of wicked schemes bred of hardship in smalltown Brazil reveals helmer Carolina Markowicz as a bold talent.
Oldenburg at 30: Impressions and Memories
Oldenburg Film Festival has evolved over the past 30 years, while preserving its intimate atmosphere and founding purpose: to celebrate and support the diverse voices and visions of independent filmmakers, to honor the creativity of the artists upon which the Festival...
Our Males and Females
A mother and father are confronted with an agonising dilemma as they attempt to prepare the body of their young transgender child for burial in Ahmad Alyaseer’s ‘Our Males and Females’.
From Dawn Till Noon on the Sea
A kidnapping sees the lives and fates of three troubled youths become entwined in Takayuki Hayashi’s serene and solemn feature debut, From Dawn Till Noon on the Sea.
Frames of Alicia
A troubled young Swedish woman finds Copenhagen to be a town without pity in Danish director Adam Benjamin Mikkelsen’s slight, disjointed but emotionally powerful debut ‘Frames of Alicia’.
Enter the Clones of Bruce
David Gregory’s entertaining documentary ‘Enter the Clones of Bruce’ chronicles the bizarre explosion in Bruce Lee lookalikes and copycat films that followed the martial arts superstar’s death 50 years ago.
Working Class Goes To Hell
Mladen Djordjevic’s slow-burn Midnight Madness selection has headier things on its mind than blood and guts.
Strikes Can’t Keep the Shine Off Movies at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival
2023 Toronto International Film Festival sparkles with starry debuts and international favorites.
Robot Dreams
A friendship between a dog and a robot in 80s New York provides the foundation for a beautiful and touching exploration of relationships in Robot Dreams.
Dream Maker
A man uses virtual reality to experience and retouch the memory of his deceased daughter in this poignant, thought-provoking Iranian sci-fi, Dream Maker.
Maestra
Maggie Contreras reveals workplace realities for female orchestra conductors as global candidates vie for a Paris contest title, in a warm, glossy doc with surprising political bite.
Homecoming
‘Homecoming’ is a powerful and poignant look at cultural repatriation.
Shame On Dry Land
Axel Petersén conjures a surreal, pure vibes, sun-baked noir that’s equal parts David Lynch and Dashiel Hammett.
I Told You So
Temperatures rise but drama stays stuck in this hellish, apocalyptic vision of Rome.
A Happy Day
‘A Happy Day’ is a stylized asylum seeker story that wraps its message inside a frustrating riddle.
Little Girl Blue
Mona Achache brings invention, curiosity and raw vulnerability to excavate traces of three generations of female writers in her family and power abuses in France’s literary scene.
Cleaner
A tentative friendship begins between a cleaner and the woman who employs her in Cleaner, a delicately wrought drama about relationships and their boundaries.
Spirit of Ecstasy
‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ is a sensitive look at coming-of-age through the unique lens of the ruthless world of finance.
Not A Word
Nina Palcek follows Lydia Tár in managing Mahler’s 5th with a spiralling personal life in slow-burn thriller ‘Not A Word.’
Solitude
The sweet and compassionate ‘Solitude’ is a modest drama with a big heart.
Woodland
‘Woodland’ is an exploration of generational trauma and healing that feels more like a sketch than portrait.
Venice 2023: The Verdict
The best thing about the 80th Mostra del Cinema was a stand-out film that almost all the critics were able to get behind and support wholeheartedly – and it won the Golden Lion for Best Film.
Venice 2023: The Awards
The Awards: Yorgos Lanthimos took home the Golden Lion with his wildly inventive feminist portrait ‘Poor Things’, the most popular film in the festival.
A Haunting in Venice
Branagh’s most successful Agatha Christie adaptation to date finds mystery and suspense in period, setting, and another distinguished ensemble.
A Big Thanks to the Film Community as TFV Begins its 3rd Year
We opened our Venice dailies with an anniversary salute to both the Biennale’s 80th Mostra del Cinema and The Film Verdict’s entry into its third year. I’d like to end with a few words of gratitude to all the many film festivals that have embraced and supported our...
Society of the Snow
‘Society of the Snow’, the edge-of-seat disaster movie that closes the 80th Venice Film Festival, directed by J.A. Bayona of ‘The Impossible’ fame, recreates the 1972 air crash of a Uruguayan flight in the Andes in great but respectful detail.
CineVerdict: La sociedad de la nieve
La caída del avión uruguayo en 1972 en los Andes es recreada respetuosamente y en gran detalle en “La sociedad de la nieve,” una película infartante sobre el desastre, que cierra el festival de cine de Venecia número 80, y es dirigida por J.A. Bayona, que ganó fama con “Lo imposible.”
Memory
Mexican director Michel Franco follows up his unsettling but well-liked Tim Roth thriller ‘Sundown’ with ‘Memory’, a paint-by-numbers romance/family drama starring Jessica Chastain as an emotionally damaged social worker in Brooklyn
Coup!
Writer-director duo Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman blend historical pandemic echoes with timeless political tensions in their old-fashioned but engaging class-war drama ‘Coup!’
Out of Season
An unexpected story of loneliness and yearning from Stéphane Brizé in which two former lovers come face-to-face with the disappointments of life, beautiful in its understatement and cinematic restraint yet still generating tremendous poignancy.
Wander to Wonder
The miniature beings that starred in an 80s television show slowly unravel in Wander to Wonder, a surreal animation that riffs on an enchanting children’s story trope.
We Should All Be Futurists
Silent film footage is repurposed in We Should All Be Futurists, a deliciously comic reimagining of Marinetti’s man-machine hybrid as a novel – intimate – cure for female hysteria.
Venice Film Fest Players Strike Deals Amid Hollywood Strike Action
By Liza Foreman Amid the somewhat muted Red Carpet activity affected by the ongoing strikes in Hollywood, sales companies have been ratcheting in deals on smaller as well as bigger titles. Most companies contacted by The Film Verdict were keeping mum on further news...
Woman Of…
In ‘Woman of…’, the passive heroism of a Polish working class father of two who identifies as a woman is affectingly portrayed in the inimitable style of Malgorzata Szumowska and her co-director and D.P. Michal Englert (‘Never Gonna Snow Again’).
Vermines
VERDICT: Creepy but derivative killer spider thriller is angrier at the world than at arachnids.
Venice Bridge Market Hits Milestones and Builds Better Platform for Producers
The Venice Production Bridge is the multi-faceted market arm of the Venice Film Festival, attended by festival business players. VBP focuses on producers and production than sales. By Liza Foreman When the Venice Production Bridge’s head honcho Pascal Diot started the...
Firedream
Firedream offers lessons of passionate honesty in work made with love. and creativity even with some shortcomings.
Holly
A high school girl demonstrates a special gift for empathy and healing others in Belgian director Fien Troch’s mysterious, multi-layered parable about the price of doing good.
Sentimental Stories
A largely deserted port plays host to subtle drama unraveling at a glacially pace in Xandra Popescu’s strangely beguiling study in stasis, Sentimental Stories.
Lubo
Part survival-revenge drama, part love story, Giorgio Diritti’s ‘Lubo’ addresses the Swiss state’s forcible removal of Jenisch children from their families beginning in the 1930s, and while Franz Rogowski’s magnetism keeps his morally complex character sympathetic, the film feels too much like a miniseries cut down to a very long feature length.
Gasoline Rainbow
The freewheeling independence of the open road is given a Gen-Z spin in the Ross Brothers’ kinetic and affecting hybrid documentary, Gasoline Rainbow.
CineVerdict: Malqueridas
Mujeres en prisiones chilenas retratan la maternidad y el crudo dolor de la separación en este empático e impresionista documental, de Tana Gilbert. filmado con teléfonos celulares.
Malqueridas
Women in Chilean prisons record motherhood and the raw pain of separation in Tana Gilbert’s empathetic and impressionistic, mobile-shot doc of solidarity.
CineVerdict: Lumbrensueño
Lumbrensueño da una lección de creatividad y amor al cine aún con algunas deficiencias.
On The Pulse
‘On The Pulse’ is an admirable but out-of-touch portrait of the gritty work of investigative TV journalists.
Origin
Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” is a highly ambitious attempt to fictionalize Isabel Wilkerson’s theory on the centrality of caste rather than race in determining discriminatory hierarchies, playing to the director’s strengths in terms of depicting personal relationships but also her weaknesses in several overly didactic sequences that treat characters and audiences like ignoramuses.
Venice Immersive: Variations on 360 Degrees
Various installations in the Venice Immersive put their own stamp on the 360-degree viewing experience.
Io Capitano
Director Matteo Garrone steps back from the edginess of stylized crime dramas and horror fantasies to recount the no less cruel and shocking journey made by two Senegalese teens to Europe in ‘Io Capitano’.
Following the Sound
Kyoshi Sugita’s “Following the Sound” ticks all the boxes for nipponophiles seeking some extremely austere storytelling and swathes of slow-moving, soothing imagery set in a small, serene town in Japan.
“SWEET DREAMS” CHOSEN TO REPRESENT THE NETHERLANDS
Ena Sendijarevi’s “SWEET DREAMS” has been chosen as The Netherlands’ official entry for the International Feature Film award at the 2024 Academy Awards. The film world-premiered at Locarno Film Festival, where, actress Renée Soutendijk won a Best Performance Leopard...
Snow Leopard
Rural herders, urbanite journalists and a young monk consider the fate of a captured, livestock-ravaging wild animal in “Snow Leopard”, an affective, nuanced and multilayered film bowing out of competition at Venice four months after the death of its Tibetan director Pema Tseden.
Italy Pavilion Interview: With the Stars Away, Business Comes into Play in Venice
By Liza Foreman The Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido has long been a focal point for delegates and stars gathered for the annual Venice International Film Festival. For the 80th edition of the festival this week, the beach hotel which houses both the Venice Production...
Hit Man
Richard Linklater’s farce about a phony hired killer is charming and unpredictable, but it would benefit from dropping the “based on a true story” angle.
Enea
A withering take-down of Rome’s vapid middle class, Pietro Castellitto’s (‘The Predators’) exuberant second feature ‘Enea’ is an amusing, fast-paced game that winks at gangster movies and bows in Venice competition.
Bye Bye Tiberias
Directed by Hiam Abbass’s daughter Lina Soualem, this beautifully layered, quietly intelligent documentary explores her female-centric family’s experiences of dispossession and exile following the 1948 Nakba, seeking to break the silence surrounding trauma.
Sea Salt
The inconsistencies of adolescence are the challenges of burgeoning womanhood are central to Leila Basma’s knotty and intoxicating coming-of-age short, Sea Salt.
TFV Talks to Nicola Borrelli
Director General Cinema and Audiovisual Nicola Borrelli at the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and for Tourism takes time to speak with The Film Verdict before Venice.
Sky Peals
An alienated young man becomes fixated on his late father’s extra-terrestrial origins in debutant director Moin Hussein’s underpowered but appealingly strange inner-space odyssey ‘Sky Peals’.
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Unspoken traumas are made manifest in Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi’s beautifully drawn and profoundly moving animated allegory, In the Shadow of the Cypress.
Coup de Chance
Infidelity is followed by murder in glamorous Paris in Woody Allen’s smooth-as-silk 50th film ‘Coup de Chance,’ shot entirely in French.
CineVerdict: El Paraíso
Una absorbente historia de codependencia edípica ambientada entre los traficantes de droga de Roma, “El Paraíso” cuenta con brillantes actuaciones que superan el sentimentalismo.
El Paraiso
An engrossing tale of Oedipal codependence set among Rome’s drug dealers, ‘El Paraiso’ boasts brilliant acting that overcomes sentimentality.
Priscilla
The gilded cage that was Priscilla Presley’s life with Elvis makes a perfect match for Sofia Coppola’s empathetic vision.
Venice Immersive: Bugs, Birds and Books
David Attenborough and Neil Gaiman are two of the star players in this year’s Venice Immersive lineup.
Evil Does Not Exist
Starkly opposing views of nature collide in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ which, despite its portentous title, is simplicity itself and in a minor key after ‘Drive My Car’.
MILC Metaverse Finds its Home with the Oldenburg Film Festival
Renowned for its innovation, for its 30th anniversary this year, the Oldenburg Film Festival has partnered with the MILC Platform and The Film Verdict to take its first virtual steps into the Metaverse. Users can immerse themselves in virtual Oldenburg and its rich...
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
William Friedkin’s final film sadly lacks the vibrancy and the claustrophobia of his previous stage-to-screen adaptations.
Pet Shop Days
Olmo Schabel’s directorial debut succeeds as a delivery system for ’90s-indie vibes, but it fails to elicit empathy for its spoiled, obnoxious lead characters.
The Killer
David Fincher brings his considerable style and craft to this procedural about a professional assassin, but not even Michael Fassbender can make the character distinguishable from a thousand other cinematic hired guns.
Allen, Besson, Polanski: Three Converging Scandals?
The Venice Film Festival has made headlines in some quarters for selecting the latest works of Allen, Polanski and Besson
The Beast
The inability to open oneself to love is the main beast of Bertrand Bonello’s striking and cerebral film that follows a stalled relationship over three time periods, though the message in the central portion doesn’t have the same resonance as the other two.
The Featherweight
‘The Featherweight’ is an inventive faux doc portrait of boxing great Willie Pep who faces his greatest fight yet: his own legacy.
Arni
Hungarian director Dorka Vermes’ feature debut ‘Arni’ is a slow-burn slice-of-life drama with an exceptional lead performance from newcomer Peter Turi.
The Palace
The Palace, Roman Polanski’s appallingly bland black comedy about the filthy rich, is set in a fancy Swiss hotel on New Year’s Eve 1999, and not the least bit funny.
IFTA & AFM STEADFAST LEADERSHIP AND VISION
Jean M. Prewitt is President and Chief Executive Officer, before joining IFTA, Ms. Prewitt was a Principal from 1994 to 1999 at a major Washington, D.C.-based lobbying and public relations firm, representing some of the world’s most prestigious entertainment and high...
Nuovo Mondo Deodato
The late Italian filmmaker Ruggero Deodato was at the center of one of Venice’s most
anticipated screenings.
Maestro
Bradley Cooper’s ambitious sophomore directorial effort, about Leonard Bernstein’s married life, soars and sweeps in some passages while falling flat in others.
CineVerdict: Sobre todo de noche
Sobre todo de noche, el atrevido y excitante debut de Víctor Iriarte, refrescante aún con una historia dolorosa, se estrena en Gionate degli autori en Venecia 2023
Foremost by Night
‘Foremost by Night’, the exciting and daring feature debut of Víctor Iriarte, is refreshing even with its painful story.
Adagio
Stefano Sollima delivers the kind of gritty, testosterone-driven underworld drama we’ve come to expect, boasting exceptional performances and location work, but a highly problematic undercurrent of homophobia can’t be brushed under the soiled carpet.
Hoard
Director Luna Carmoon’s richly imaginative debut ‘Hoard’ finds filth and poetry in a young woman’s traumatic journey from childhood to womanhood.
CineVerdict: Dios es una mujer
Casi 50 años después de la pérdida de un documental sobre la comunidad kuna de Panamá, el director suizo panameño Andrés Peyrot lo localiza y exhibe ante una comunidad emocionalmente comprometida, en este documental fascinante aùn con sus fallas.
Finally Dawn
Saverio Costanzo’s use of “La Dolce Vita” for a 1950s loss-of-innocence story set in Rome’s film world feels locked in its period charms, and despite excellent performances fails to resonate beyond the surface.
Oldenburg Film Festival Announces Line Up
Oldenburg Film Festival celebrates 30 years with it's latest selection: Allmen and the Secret of the Koi GER Director: Sinje Köhler Cast: Heino Ferch, Andrea Osvárt, Samuel Finzi, Uwe Kockisch Beautiful Friend USA Director: Truman Kewley Cast: Adam Jones, Alexandrea...
Stolen
The rich/poor divide in India is staggeringly vivid in Karan Tejpal’s first feature ‘Stolen’, the desperate search for a stolen baby that is powered by exciting chases and the constant threat of violence.
Wallace & Gromit in ‘The Grand Getaway’
Aardman’s beloved duo Wallace & Gromit return in a demanding but fun VR experience that is part of the 2023 Venice Immersive competition.
Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone reteam for an audacious comic odyssey that defies genre and convention.
An Endless Sunday
Dazzling camerawork and an exceptional trio of teenage actors dangle from a weak narrative thread in Alain Parroni’s intense first feature about underprivileged kids growing up without a future.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Wes Anderson’s second Roald Dahl adaptation packs a feature’s worth of deadpan humor and aggressive visual style into just 37 minutes.
Guillermo Arriaga Opens Up to TFV
by Liza Foreman Oscar-winning writer Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams, Amores Perros, Babel) wasn't even 30 when he was asleep in a car which fell off a cliff. But instead of ending his life, the near-fatal accident inspired the Mexican multihyphenate’s first screenplay...
Dogman
In a multi-faceted role, Caleb Landry Jones dazzles as the survivor of an inhuman childhood who believes only dogs can love him, in Luc Besson’s calculated, over-the-top yet poignant shaggy-dog story.
European Film Awards Documentary Selection
With 14 feature-length documentary films, the European Film Academy is presenting a strong Documentary Film Selection for the European Film Awards 2023. A committee consisting of a diverse range of invited European experts has chosen these 14 productions that have...
Ferrari
In his first feature film in eight years, director Michael Mann passionately captures a life where the drive for success and the threat of disaster were intricately intertwined.
Beatrice Fiorentino
The General Delegate of the International Critics Week Beatrice Fiorentino discusses her philosophy for the Venice sidebar.
Upon Open Sky
‘Upon Open Sky’, a Mexican road movie full of restraint and some surprises, premieres in Venice’s Orizzonti section.
El Conde
In El conde, Pablo Larraín’s darkly comic horror-satire reveals that turning a real-life monster into the protagonist of his own monster movie is an effective way to process historical tragedy.
God is a Woman
God is a Woman, nearly fifty years after a film documenting Panama’s Kuna community was lost, Swiss-Panamanian director Andrés Peyrot tracks it down and screens it before an emotionally engaged crowd in this fascinating though flawed documentary.
Hollywoodgate
A sobering observational documentary shot at an air force base in Afghanistan, where director Ibrahim Nash’at embedded himself in order to bear witness to the Taliban mindset.
CineVerdict: A cielo abierto
A cielo abierto, road movie mexicana con una controlada dirección y varias sorpresas se estrena en Horizontes in Venecia 2023
Comandante
The true story of an Italian submarine commander in World War II who sank enemy ships yet saved defenseless men is told with old-fashioned gusto and retro sentimentality in ‘Comandante’, with star Pierfrancesco Favino injecting life into the film.
Gaia Furrer
TFV talks to the Artistic Director of the Giornate degli Autori, as the Venice sidebar celebrates its 20th edition.
3 Questions for Roberto Cicutto
THE FILM VERDICT: You have often underlined the uniqueness of the Biennale di Venezia, which encompasses art, architecture, dance, music and theater as well as cinema. You stress that it “has never been just a showcase for talents and films, it has also been a mirror...
Chuck Chuck Baby
Debut director Janis Pugh’s off-beat musical rom-com ‘Chuck Chuck Baby’ is a rough-edged but warm-hearted celebration of working-class dreamers and queer liberation.
Location Flashback: Summertime (1955) Campo San Barnaba – Venice, Italy
Summertime (1955) Campo San Barnaba – Venice, Italy
Holding The Euro Umbrella at TIFF
TFV:A question to you both; how many times or years have you attended TIFF, Toronto for European Film Promotion? SONJA HEINEN: This year, it is EFP’s 25th year at TIFF! We started back then with a small table with a sign on it saying: “The Europeans.” In 2016 we...
EUREKA! The Europeans Are Coming
Europeans are coming. EFP and eurimages are coming to Toronto
Schutter Shines Optimism
Christian De Schutter, newly Elected EFP Board Members chats with TFV
Venice Memories
Publisher and film historian Peter Cowie brings insight and humor to his compact history of the Mostra del Cinema.
3 Questions for Alberto Barbera
Alberto Barbera, director of the 80th Venice International Film Festival, reflects on the future of cinema.
The Film Verdict at 1,000 Reviews
How The Film Verdict has grown since its first public bow in Venice.
48th Toronto International Film Festival Shines A Light On European Cinema
European cinema and international films load the Toronto slate.
Equalizer 3
The third film in Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua’s ultraviolent thriller series is the best one yet. (If only that meant more than it does.)
Bottoms
This queer comedy remains uncompromisingly outrageous and hilarious from start to finish, and if it’s too weird to be a box-office smash, then it has the makings of a future cult classic.
“The Teacher’s Lounge” selected as Germany submission for Best International Film Oscar®
The Teacher’s Lounge by Ilker Çatak (if... Productions Film) will enter the race for Germany to the 96th Oscars® in the “Best International Feature Film”category. The choice was decided by an independent nine member jury who were appointed by various associations...
Oldenburg Film Festival announces a few film highlights
Closing Night Gala offers the World Premiere of “Uppercut,” the American remake of Torsten Ruether’s film that opened at Oldenburg 2 years ago starring Ving Rhames and Luise Grobmann. Uppercut Torsten Ruether USA/Germany 2023, (World Premiere) A former boxer, whose...
“Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” named Estonia’s national entry for best International Feature Film Academy Award
“Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” named Estonia’s national entry for best International Feature Film Academy Award
The Happiest Man in the World
Teona Strugar Mitevska’s surrealistic vision of a Sarajevo dating event turned lab for reconciliation is refreshing and offbeat in grappling with the Siege’s legacy.
CineVerdict: El conde
‘El conde’, la oscura sátira de horror cómico revela que convertir a un monstruo de la vida real en el protagonista de su propia película de monstruos es una efectiva manera de lidiar con la tragedia histórica.
The 29th Sarajevo Film Festival Awards
Elene Naveriani’s wry celebration of feminist non-conformity from Georgia took topped the awards at Sarajevo.
Fairy Garden
Gergo Somogyvari’s humanistic doc portrait of life in the woods on Budapest’s margins spotlights the criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people and the homeless by Orban’s government.
Sarajevo 2023: The Verdict
Emotional highs and lows marked a politically charged Sarajevo edition that saw one day cancelled in solidarity against gender-based violence.
Requiem to the Hot Days of Summer
The quietude of a bucolic life, and the deep wordless bonds between a mother and son, lie at the heart of Giorgi Parkosadze’s serene doc, ‘Requiem to the Hot Days of Summer.’
Location Flashback: Verzasca Dam, Gordola, Ticino, Switzerland
Location Flashback: Verzasca Dam, Gordola, Ticino, Switzerland, James Bond, Pierce Brosnan
What’s to be Done?
Croatian documentary maker Goran Devic charts a decade-long battle for workers’ rights in ‘What’s to be Done?’, an engaging blend of reportage and artfully meta touches.
Europa
Sudabeh Mortezai’s caustic, unique take on a shadowy corporation expanding into Albania is part neo-colonial satire, part dystopian thriller.
Blue Beetle
‘Blue Beetle’ is a superhero movie with laughs, action, cultural specificity and human-sized stakes — here’s hoping there’s room for this character in the next reboot of the DC Universe.
Sarajevo Film Festival Halts Schedule, Discusses Femicide
Sarajevo Film Festival shut down its Wednesday schedule to honour a National Day of Mourning after a femicide in Gradacac and protests.
“Cinema can change things”: an interview with ‘Between Revolutions’ director Vlad Petri
The prize-winning Romanian director discusses his found-footage docu-fiction hybrid film ‘Between Revolutions’, clandestine screenings in Iran, and the political power of cinema.
Fran and Verka; or A Usual Day in an Abandoned Village
The long fingers of the Kosovo War reach into the present in Sovran Nrecaj’s patient and stark documentary about Fran and Verka’s isolated life in an abandoned village.
The Saudi Film Commission gears up to host the very first Saudi Film Confex
The inaugural Saudi Film Confex, launching in Riyadh will address three main topics: industry trends; global practices and challenges; and opportunities in filmmaking. Thoughtfully designed workshops will be spread over three days, featuring practical training...
Bottlemen
Director Nemanja Vojinovic’s visually striking documentary ‘Bottlemen’ finds poetry and beauty among the workers scrabbling to make a living from a giant Serbian trash mountain.
Silence of Reason
Kumjana Novakova masterfully contextualises archival testimony in her sensitive, formally inventive reckoning with violence against women as a weapon of the Bosnian War.
Heart of Sarajevo honoree Mark Cousins on the cities that shaped him
Belfast-born documentarian Mark Cousins, returning to Sarajevo after 29 years, gave a masterclass on his career and creative inspirations.
From the Corner of My Eyes
Domonkos Erhardt’s student short ‘From the Corner of My Eyes’ uses the malleability of the animated image to great effect to capture a miniature moment of connection.
Heart-pounding Opening Scene in Netflix “Heart of Stone” filmed in the Italian Alps
While Netlfix new film, "Heart of Stone" is shot throughout Europe, it opens with a dizzying sequence that begins in a glamorous casino and ends with Gal Gadot’s special agent parachuting off a 3,000-foot cliff after a high-speed ski chase that was filmed at the...
Medium
With ‘Medium’, Greek filmmaker Christina Ioakeimidi adapts Giorgos Sibardis’ novel about a 16-year-old girl coming of age across a scorching Athens summer. Premiered in Sarajevo International Film Festival
ANGELINA JOLIE RETURNS TO HUNGARY
Angelina Jolie is set to return to Hungary 13 years after she directed her Golden Globe nominated debut feature film "In The Land of Blood and Honey." This time she will be in front of the camera, portraying the legendary opera singer Maria Callas in Chilean director...
Lost Children
With ‘Lost Children’ Lola Cambourieu and Yann Berlier have created an aching, poignant and keenly observed depiction of a dislocated father-daughter relationship, premiered in Sarajevo International Film Festival,
The Permanent Picture
An elegant, playful exploration of the consolatory but deceptive nature of image-making across generations, from Catalan director-to-watch Laura Ferres is showing in Sarajevo International Film Festival,
Kudos to Lynne Ramsay
Globally feted Scottish writer-director Lynne Ramsay has carved a slender but unique body of work shaped by uncompromising attitude and aesthetic flair.
“Willie and Me” to Open the 30th Anniversary Edition of the Oldenburg International Film Festival
“Willie and Me” tells the story of a German housewife who escapes a lifeless marriage to venture on an impulsive journey to Las Vegas to see Willie Nelson's farewell concert. Eva Hassmann's multi-hyphenated directorial debut (as writer/director/producer/actor) is a...
“I wish I was hated by smarter people”: an interview with feminist psycho-horror director Jennifer Reeder
Jennifer Reeder discusses her new mind-bending avant-horror film ‘Perpetrator’, kick-ass gender-queer heroines, and the subversively surreal power of genre cinema. Showing in Sarajevo International Film Festival
Charlie Kaufman and the Heart of Sarajevo
Kaufman’s style could be deemed ‘screwball,’ could be deemed ‘surreality,’ and should probably be called ‘Screw Reality’. He is honored in Sarajevo International Film Festival
Self-Portrait Along the Borderline
The personal and the political entangle in Self-Portrait Along the Borderline, Anna Dziapshipa’s excellent essay doc about Georgian-Abkhazian relations through the lens of her own family history. It is competing in Sarajevo International Film Festival
Libertate
A chaotic power struggle plays out in 1989 Transylvania, in Tudor Giurgiu’s cynical, directionless drama of civic breakdown and compromise, is showing in Sarajevo International Film Festival
Doc Alliance Awards announced at the award ceremony of DokuFest in Prizren
The Doc Alliance Award for Best Feature Film, went to “Death of a City“ by João Rosas. The film follows the demolition of an old printing workshop in the center of Lisbon to make way for luxury flats. What starts out as a work-centred film turns out to be an evocative...
Valerija
Sara Jurincic’s experimental documentary Valerija charts an act of communion with long-deceased relatives, probing playfully at perceptions of remembrance and lineage. It screens in Sarajevo International Film Festival
Locarno 2023: The Verdict
Critics’ faves by Ali Ahmadzadeh and Radu Jude took home top prizes at a strong Locarno Film Festival.
The 76th Locarno Film Festival Awards
Critics and public alike applauded the top 76th Locarno Film Festival Awards to Iran and Romania.
De Facto
Selma Doborac’s formally audacious, challenging and chilling ‘De Facto’, a doc-fiction hybrid, decontextualises war crimes testimony to plumb the power of language. In Sarajevo International Film Festival
The Invisible Fight
Estonian director Rainer Sarnet’s ‘The Invisible Fight’ is an idiosyncratic tale featuring monks, metal rock, and a manically superb performance from Ursel Tilk.
Quality TV Competes at Sarajevo
Once again, the Avant Premiere Series lineup aims to explore the best of regional TV production in Sarajevo International Film Festival
CineVerdict: Mátalos a todos
Mátalos a todos de Sebastian Molina Ruiz combina la estética grunge en video con elementos epistolares para explorar el sentimiento adolescente de aislamiento .
Kill ‘Em All
A tentative friendship blossoms through video correspondence in ‘Kill ‘Em All’, a deftly observed docudrama filled with youthful uncertainty and poignant loneliness.
Lost Country
A teen comes of age as a troubled Serbia reckons with its direction in ‘Lost Country’, Vladimir Perisic’s sombre yet astute, politically-charged drama.
Excursion
Una Gunjak’s sensitive, richly textured Bosnian coming-of-ager about a lie’s repercussions questions sexual double standards in a society of repressed fears.
29th Sarajevo Film Festival Opens Its Doors
Lynne Ramsay, Charlie Kaufman and Mark Cousins Are Honoured at the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival.
Kiss The Future
Director Nenad Cicin-Sain’s engaging but slightly fawning documentary ‘Kiss The Future’ chronicles Irish rock supergroup U2’s love affair with war-torn Sarajevo during the Balkan wars.
Iranian Director Ali Ahmadzadeh Pressured to Withdraw ‘Critical Zone’ from Locarno
Ali Ahmadzadeh’s third feature ‘Critical Zone’ is an outspoken reflection of the rage in Iranian society today. It is under attack.
Critical Zone
In another angry bulletin from Iran in revolt, Ali Ahmadzadeh’s ‘Critical Zone’ hits censorship out of the ballpark.
Ukrainian Documentary “Photophobia” screening at Venice
Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekartík, two of the three filmmakers behind the award winning documentary Velvet Terrorist, have reunited for a film project called Photophobia, shot in Ukraine after the Russian invasion. Both filmmakers arrived in the country in spring...
SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL 2023 Dealing with the Past
The Dealing with the Past program at the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival is an additional platform for testimonies and stories that can serve as a base for developing film scripts, projects and films. The aim of the program is to initiate dialogue in the countries formed...
Lousy Carter
American indie darling Bob Byington will please his fans with this minor amusing look at an underachieving English lit professor whose greatest disappointment is himself.
Kudos to István Szabó
Feted Hungarian Oscar-winner István Szabó has spent his epic career probing Central Europe’s painful, morally complex history of post-imperial trauma and totalitarian tragedy.
Dammi
Riz Ahmed takes centre stage with Isabelle Adjani in ‘Dammi’, Yann Mounir Demange’s fragmentary, experimental and highly sensorial reckoning with his own bifurcated past.
Baan
An undisciplined feature debut burdened by regrettably immature dialogue that knee-caps a potentially interesting impressionistic exploration of what “home” means in a globalized world.
iNTELLIGENCE
A man learns of his own imminent death in iNTELLIGENCE, a strikingly graphic meditation on a curtailed life and the allure of immortality.
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
This biopic of a gamer-turned-racer delivers sports-movie uplift and racing-movie thrills while never letting up on the product placement.
Kudos to Renzo Rossellini
Renzo Rossellini has lived an adventurous life on the cutting edge of movies and politics.
Patagonia
A developmentally delayed young man falls under the spell of a pansexual itinerant children’s entertainer in Simone Bozzelli’s well-performed but psychologically ill-judged feature debut.
Touched
Claudia Roranius’s ‘Touched’ competently telegraphs a complex intimate relationship with unusual frankness and gorgeous visuals, and yet, it falls short of its own material in true emotional terms.
Stepne
Maryna Vroda’s richly lensed feature debut is a melancholic look at a dying part of north-eastern Ukraine that’s seemingly untouched by the present war, and while the narrative holds interest thanks especially to the protagonist, it’s the documentary-like scenes that are the film’s heart.
San Sebastián Film Festival: ZINEMALDIA STARTUP CHALLENGE
Ten projects based on metaverse, AI, machine learning and augmented reality, among others, to compete in the Zinema Startup Challenge.
Mohammed Soudani on Ticino, Filmmaking and Family
From soccer to filmmaking, Premio Cinema Ticino-winner Mohammed Soudani has lit, directed, produced and taught cinema in the Swiss region of Ticino, his home for five decades.
Locarno Pro industry awards & Heritage Online Restoration Contest winners 2023
Locarno Pro, the industry event of the Locarno Film Festival, has announced the winning projects
CineVerdict: Todos los incendios
En ‘Todos los incendios’ Mauricio Calderón cumple con el reto de hacer una película coming of age -sensible con interés LGBTQ+ y con un estilo personal.
All the Fires
With ‘All the Fires’, first-time director Mauricio Calderón Rico rises to the challenge of a sensitive coming-of-ager with LGBTQ+ interest and a personal style.
Essential Truths of the Lake
Lav Diaz returns to Locarno with A-list collaborators John Lloyd Cruz and Shaina Magdayao in ‘Essential Truths of the Lake’, a fiery noir-inflected takedown of the culture of criminal impunity shaping contemporary Philippine society.
Night Shift
The beguiling Night Shift follows two individuals as they meander around venerated institutions after dark, crafting an entrancing portrait of liminal existences.
The Legacy of Marco Solari
The President of the Locarno Film Festival for 23 years, Marco Solari makes a graceful bow as he steps offstage.
A Tortoise’s Year of Fate
A factory worker wrestles with a dispiriting future in this short about a fortune-telling tortoise and a desire for self-determination.
The Beautiful Summer
Laura Luchetti’s freely inspired adaptation of Cesare Pavese’s novel ‘The Beautiful Summer’ features an impeccable cast in a perennially relevant tale about the consequences of sexual awakening.
The Vanishing Soldier
Potent pacing and a charismatic lead propel this absorbing Israeli film in which a young soldier deserts his post during a Gaza incursion and escapes to Tel Aviv where he keeps running.
Kudos to Marianne Slot
Locarno’s 2023 Raimondo Rezzonico Award goes to producer Marianne Slot, who has brought the best of auteur cinema to discerning audiences around the world.
Switzerland selects “Thunder” as International Oscar Submission
Awards Watch: International Oscar® Selection
“I don’t want to make cute things”: an interview with director Radu Jude.
Prize-winning Romanian provocateur Radu Jude shares his thoughts on Jean-Luc Godard and Andrew Tate, the Barbie movie and the thrilling power of bad taste.
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
If the end of the world really is approaching, Jude may be our most trenchant Cassandra.
Location Flashback: Grindelwald Village, Switzerland
Grindelwald, a village in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps, is a popular gateway for the Jungfrau Region, with skiing in winter and hiking in summer. It’s also a base for mountain-climbing up the iconic north face of Eiger Mountain. In this scene, With Anakin Skywalk’s...
Manga D’Terra
Set on the multicultural fringes of Lisbon, Swiss director Basil Da Cunha’s third feature ‘Manga D’Terra’ is a slender but big-hearted blend of social realist drama and Afro-diaspora musical.
Meg 2: The Trench
Meg 2: The Trench wastes an hour or so before finally delivering what we paid to see: giant, prehistoric sharks eating tourists.
Animal
Dimitra Vlagopoulou shines in ‘Animal’, Sofia Exarchou’s sometimes sexy, sometimes poignant second feature film.
Yannick
Quentin Dupieux’s gentle satirical humor has been put to better use than in “Yannick,” a slight (in every sense) comedy in need of either more intelligence or delirium to make it meaningfully fill its 66-minute running time.
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) unveils 2023 Platform Program titles
TIFF unveils the 10 World Premiere features that comprise the Platform programme for 2023, along with the 2023 Platform jury members: Academy Award–winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins, joined by Cannes Jury Prize–winning director, writer, and actor Nadine Labaki, and 2022...
CineVerdict: Espectáculo a diario. 36 filmes en la retrospectiva mexicana en el Festival de Locarno
Espectáculo a diario. 36 filmes en la retrospectiva mexicana en el Festival de Locarno
Spectacle Every Day – 36 Films in Locarno’s Mexican Retrospective
Spectacle Every Day: The Many Seasons of Mexican Popular Cinema is a retrospective that comes to the Locarno Film Festival full of diversity, history and joy.
The Falling Star
Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel return with ‘The Falling Star’, another picture more wacky than substantial — and therein lies its charm and limitation.
Tsai Ming-liang Receives Locarno’s Leopard Award
Locarno celebrates the elegant, contemplative work of renowned Asian filmmaker and artist Tsai Ming-liang.
Location Flashback: Swiss Route 19 / Oberlap-Realp, Switzerland
Oberalp Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 2,044 meters (6,706 feet) above sea level, located on the border of the cantons of Graubunden and Uri in Switzerland through the Swiss Alps. In this scene, James Bond (Sean Connery) keeps his distance while...
Conann
Director Bertrand Mandico’s lurid saga of gender-queer decadence and visceral violence ‘Conann’ is a ravishing sensory feast for viewers with strong stomachs.
Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro on Hollywood, Locarno and Diversifying the Lineup
Artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro show TFV how bold programming makes Locarno a memorable festival.
Roberto Stabile reflects on the AVP Summit and Italy’s role in the industry
Roberto Stabile heads the second AVP Summit in Trieste.
Bold Stage Set at AVP with Honest Dialogue
The second Audio-Visual Producers (AVP) Summit ended last Friday after three days of panels and discussions tackling topics from the use of artificial intelligence to innovative methods to get indie production projects financed and off the ground, the production of...
MIRAMARE OPENS ITS DOORS TO AVP GALA
Despite its beauty, excellent food, and history, which dates back to 1400 BC, the port city of Trieste is one of the relatively lesser-known Italian destinations. By the second century BC, Trieste was under the control of the Romans, whose emperor Augustus built its...
Cinecittà boasts production of 3 films in competition at Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival’s opening film “The Commander” by Edoardo De Angelis, “Enea”, by Pietro Castellitto and “Finalmente l’alba” by Saverio Costanzo, are in the main category competing for the Golden Lion. “Three films shot in Cinecittà in competition at the...
Metaverse Spectacle: Oldenburg International Film Festival with MILC Platform and The Film Verdict
Prepare for the intergalactic spectacle as MILC Platform, in partnership with EPIC Games MegaGrant recipients Gamble Entertainment Group & Ave One Entertainment, sets the stage for the sci-fi indie feature 'Mischief Upon Mischief.' This thrilling film, written &...
Haunted Mansion
Actor Lakeith Stanfield brings human heart to Justin Simien’s mediocre corporate horror comedy ‘Haunted Mansion’.
Optimism Emerges at Vinciquerra-Ben Ammar Fireside Chat
Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra and Eagle Pictures president Tarak Ben Ammar swapped ideas at a lively encounter at the second Audio-Visual Producers (AVP) Summit in Trieste, Italy.
German Films at Venice International Film Festival
The German production "THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING" (ma.ja.de Fiction, THE BARRICADES) by Timm Kroeger will be shown in the Venezia 80 competitive section. Set in 1962, the black-and-white thriller is about a soon-to-be doctor of physics who is invited to an...
Maja Hoffman set to become President of Locarno Film Festival
The Board of Directors of the Locarno Film Festival have approved Maja Hoffmann, founder of the LUMA Foundation. Her name was put forward by the appointment committee tasked with finding a successor to Marco Solari, whose members are Edna Epelbaum and Francesco...
Venice International Film Festival 80th Edition Poster Revealed
This year's poster image was created by Italian illustrator and artist Lorenzo Mattotti for the sixth consecutive year. The image chosen for the 2023 poster “is inspired by the tradition of on the road movies," explains Lorenzo Mattotti, “and in this way seeks to...
Location Flashback: Dolder Grand Hotel, Zurich Switzerland
The Dolder Grand opened in 1899 as the Dolder Grand Hotel & Curhaus, and offers 175 luxurious rooms and suites, world-class restaurants, a spa, and an art collection that includes originals from Takashi Murakami and Salvador Dali. In this scene, after helping Mikael...
ITALY ASSERTS ITS ROLE HOSTS INDUSTRY LEADERS IN AVPSUMMIT
Audio-Visual Producers Summit (AVPSummit) kicks off The Film Verdict’s Publisher, Eric Mika will moderate an exclusive Fireside Chat with industry leaders Tarak Ben Ammar and Tony Vinciguerra, Sony Pictures
Oppenheimer
In ‘Oppenheimer’, writer-director Christopher Nolan has a stronger handle on the creation of the atomic bomb than on the inner life of the tortured genius behind that creation.
Barbie
With ‘Barbie’, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach bring an overflowing toybox of ideas to a funny, provocative, meaningful movie that defies its product-placement roots.
Netflix series “Sandman” Season 2 spotted filming at Durdle Door
“Sandman” season 2 starring Tom Sturridge, was seen shooting at Durdle Door in Dorset last month, shutting down the popular beach for a few days in the middle of the busy tourist season. During filming, secrecy was a priority and the project was only given a code name...
Spanish Productions at San Sebastian Film Festival Announced
On Friday the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas announced the 14 titles of Spanish productions (nine feature films, one medium-length film, one short and three TV series) to screen from 22-30 September in the Official Selection and in the New...
Tickets Available for Melbourne International Film Festival
With 79 countries represented and 275 films (including 40 straight from Cannes) this year’s feature a selection of global and local films, documentaries, world premieres, exclusive releases, and filmmaker conversations. MIFF is partnering with some of Australia’s top...
Diana Loomis to leave Searchlight Pictures at the End Of Summer
Diana Lomis, vice president of publicity at Searchlight Pictures will be leaving after finishing her work on “Flamin’Hot”, “Theater Camp”, and “Poor Things” this summer. After nearly 20 years with the studio, she will be launching a consultation company focused on...
Karlovy Vary: The Verdict
Punk rockers, kick-ass senior citizens and fresh new cinematic voices from Iran to India made for a strong edition of the long-running Czech fest.
57th Karlovy Vary Awards
Juries at the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival showered awards on the caustic Bulgarian tragifarce ‘Blaga’s Lessons’ and Sweden’s off-beat relationship satire ‘The Hypnosis’.
Facing Darkness
In his latest forensic documentary ‘Facing Darkness’, French director Jean-Gabriel Périot digs into the rich archive of amateur film footage shot in war-torn Sarajevo.
76 Locarno Official Selection
The 76th Locarno Film Festival offers 11 sections, 3 competitions and 20 awards, highlighting both quality and variety. It is a Festival that explores cinema from every perspective, discovering in-the-present filmmakers and films destined to have a future. Concorso...
Keeping Mum
Director Émilie Brisavoine goes from fear to maternity in ‘Keeping Mum’, an emotionally raw but generally engaging documentary about the mother who abandoned her in childhood.
71st San Sebastian Festival Announces first official selects
71st San Sebastian Festival Announces first official selects
Joy Ride
Raucous Asian-American road-trip comedy serves up bawdy laughs and star-making performances.
Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of a film becomes a moving portrait of place and the healing power of artistic endeavour in Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano.
Thomas Imbach on his Pilgrimage to See Jean-Luc Godard
Swiss filmmaker Thomas Imbach talks about his new documentary ‘Say God Bye’, which screens in the Proxima competition at Locarno.
Imago
Actor and screenwriter Lena Góra portrays her own bohemian rock singer mother in ‘Imago’, a baggy but compelling post-punk period piece from Polish director Olga Chajdas.
Citizen Saint
A flesh-and-blood saint causes chaos for a superstitious mountain community in Georgian director Tinatin Kajrishvili’s darkly satirical, bleakly beautiful fable, ‘Citizen Saint’.
Karlovy Vary: A “Russian spa town” no more?
Amid political turmoil in Europe and a push to overhaul Karlovy Vary’s identity for tourists, Russia plays a lesser festival role.
The Winners of KVIFF Eastern Promises 2023
KVIFF Eastern Promises, the festival's Industry section and film market, has the exciting mission of bridging the gap between talented filmmakers and their potential partners, festivals and audiences. “Just like every year, we’ve tried to curate a nice mix of projects...
Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story
A lively and engaging rock-doc. ‘Scream of My Blood’ chronicles the riotous career of “gypsy punk” band Gogol Bordello, including singer Eugene Hütz’s family roots in war-torn Ukraine.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
Hits all the marks of an adrenaline-packed summer spy thriller, with pacing that makes 163 minutes zip right by.
Celine Song on Directing her First Film and Working with Producer Christine Vachon
The Korean-Canadian filmmaker is taking her directorial debut ‘Past Lives’ around the world.
Blaga’s Lessons
There’s no dignity in a market economy, as a scammed pensioner turns scammer in this caustic Bulgarian tragifarce and thriller.
Red Rooms
A young woman becomes obsessed with a man accused of being a brutal serial killer in Pascal Plante’s slickly constructed and brilliantly unsettling thriller, Red Rooms.
CineVerdict: Brujería
La brutalidad colonial de enfrenta a la resistencia indígena en la historia sobrenatural con hechizos y brujería en esta película chilena situada en Chiloé.
The Hypnosis
An apparently well-put-together couple begin to come loose at the seams after a hypnotherapy session in Ernst De Geer’s awkward and offbeat satire, The Hypnosis.
Shorts That Impressed Us at KVIFF 57
From heart-breaking performances to queasy satire, from Pedro Costa to Christopher Lee, there was something for everyone in this year’s KVIFF shorts.
Restore Point
Death is not the end in Czech director Robert Hloz’s stylish and ambitious future-noir Euro-thriller debut ‘Restore Point’.
Death Becomes Him: Jan Soldat on Christopher Lee, death scenes and manipulating emotions
German filmmaker Jan Soldat explains his fascination with cinematic death scenes and the iconic actors who star in them.
LOS ANGELES LATINO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS
Los Angeles, June 6, 2023 – Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), one of the most prestigious events in Latino cinema, announced its winners last week. Academy Award®nominated actor Edward James Olmos, founder of the Latino Film Institute, announced...
Empty Nets
Behrooz Karamizade’s handsomely mounted drama Empty Nets is a compelling allegorical tale about the tragic loss of innocence at the hands of the powerful.
Pure Unknown
A forensic anthropologist works to return names to the unidentified dead that EU states have forsaken in this sensitive yet urgent and persuasive observational documentary.
The Film Distribution Innovation Hub Returns to KVIFF
Europa Distribution returns to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for a new edition of the Film Distribution Innovation Hub where 30 independent distributors, coming from all over Europe and beyond, are participating, The Film Distribution Innovation Hub...
In Camera
Naqqash Khalid delivers a blistering feature debut with this fragmentary portrait of an actor that delves into questions of performance and identity, In Camera.
Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife
Alexandru Solomon leads an offbeat, high-stakes pilgrimage that connects dark history past and present, interrogating the idolisation of Romanian mystic Arsenie Boca through re-enactment and activist exploits.
Kudos to Jalmari Helander
The Finnish director is the creative force behind ‘Sisu’, one of the action cinema highlights of the year.
A Year of European Support
In the past year, 179 European films received Film Sales Support (FSS) from Hamburg-based EFP (European Film Promotion) accomplishing its core mission to facilitate sales to countries outside of Europe. FSS plays a crucial role in facilitating investment in additional...
Update of “The Day of the Jackal” (1974) is currently filming in Budapest
New espionage thriller “The Day of the Jackal”, the contemporary reimagining of Frederick Forsyth’s classic novel, is set to start filming in Budapest. The series follows a professional assassin who is contracted by a French paramilitary dissident to kill French...
Morocco’s Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid visits set of Gladiator 2 in aftermath of small fire.
Earlier the month, Morocco’s Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, visited the filming location of "Gladiator 2" movie in Ouarzazate, following a recent minor fire at the studio. The small fire that broke out was quickly contained by...
We Have Never Been Modern
A fresh, humanistic period drama that satirises the modernist project of a Czechoslovak factory town, and its sinister demands of conformity on the eve of World War Two.
Kualoa Ranch, one of the original film locations, celebrates Jurassic Park’s 30th anniversary with commemorate LEGO® set give away
Earlier this month, Kualoa Ranch, which is a film location, tourist attraction, nature reserve and working cattle ranch, created an awareness promotion on Instagram offering free LEGO® sets from the 30th anniversary collection. LEGO® Jurassic World kits feature...
Noora Niasari’s Shayda, starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi, to close Locarno76
On August 12, on the Piazza Grande, Locarno will screen Shayda, the powerful debut film from Iranian-Australian Director Noora Niasari, starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival in 2022) and winner of the Audience Award at Sundance this year....
The San Sebastián Festival to offer a retrospective of the Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara
The San Sebastián Festival is devoting its latest classic film cycle, co-organised with the Basque Film Archive in collaboration with the Japan Foundation and the Etxepare Basque Institute in the framework of the Euskadi-Japan 2023 program, to the director Hiroshi...
The Lost Children
The reverie of an adult-free summer quickly becomes a monstrous nightmare in Michèle Jacob’s disconcerting portrait of childhood trauma, The Lost Children.
The Mother of All Lies
Moroccan documentary maker Asmae El Moudir blends the personal with the political in her formally impressive, puppet-driven, prize-winning family memoir ‘The Mother of All Lies’.
KINO LORBER ACQUIRES U.S. RIGHTS TO KAOUTHER BEN HANIA’S CANNES PRIZEWINNING DOC FOUR DAUGHTERS
Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to Academy Award-nominee Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters, winner of the L’Oeil d’Or Award for best documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. The film will screen on the international festival circuit and will open theatrically...
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Harrison Ford’s fond farewell to the long-running tomb raider franchise, ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ balances formulaic blockbuster elements with soulful nostalgia and an audacious time-jumping plot.
Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken
Familiar and forgettable, this mediocre animated feature is destined to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Wild Nights in Karlovy Vary
The festival’s Midnight Screenings confirm its commitment to versatile global genre cinema.
Kudos to Alexandre O. Philippe
The Geneva-born director is back in Karlovy Vary with his new William Shatner documentary.
Sorcery
A 13-year-old girl on a Chilean island reckons with colonial brutality in an ominous, supernatural tale of historical oppression and indigenous resistance.
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
The deliciously wry, gently unfurling tale of a middle-aged Georgian woman who rejects small-town conformity won the Swiss Film Prize for best film and best director.
No Hard Feelings
Brash comedy gives way to heartfelt sentiment, but Jennifer Lawrence, whose multifaceted talent gets showcased here, carries the story across the finish line.
Elemental
Visual delights, a sweet love story, and that potent Pixar sentimentality carry this animated feature past a periodic table’s worth of script flaws.
A Backwards Glance at Mexican Animation
Backward Glance at Mexican Animation
Annecy: World Animation’s Fun Showcase
The world’s foremost animation film festival is back with another ambitious edition.
Kudos para José Iñesta
CineVerdict: Kudos para José Iñesta, fundador de Pixelatl, un porrista de la animación es galardonado con Premio de la Industria MIFA en Annecy
Kudos to José Iñesta
An animation cheerleader wins the Mifa Animation Industry Award.
Imcine Takes a Bow
IMCINE takes a bow: The Mexican Institute of Cinematography comes to Annecy with a full hand.
Rita Basulto
Rita Basulto
Patricio Plaza
Léalo en español n animator and film director born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Patricio Plaza studied visual arts and audiovisual communication at the National University of La Plata. He worked as a commercial 2D animator for various studios for over 20 years,...
Marcos Almada
Marcos Almada is a children's book author, illustrator and filmmaker. He has created characters such as Oscar the Possum and Domingo Teporingo, as well as those starring in Dr. Gecko's Show, a TV series developed by CONACYT and INMEGEN. Alongside producer and animator...
Diego Huacuja T
Designer and illustrator Diego Huacuja T is the creative director and co-founder of the company Basa, specialized in design and animation. His fusion of different forms of visual expression and his passion for design and animation have led Diego and his company to...
Aria Covamonas
Aria Covamonas (he/she), by her own admission, was born in 1979 (Solar Common Era) on Earth, a naturally occurring planet in the solar system. Aria is a self-taught filmmaker, photomonteur, and animator. They are best known for their animated films, which are notably...
Miguel Anaya Borja
After studying Graphic Communication Design at the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM), Miguel Anaya Borja has worked in the areas of art direction, graphic design, advertising, production, and animation. He taught animation courses at the Universidad...
Amanda Woolrich
An engraving artist as well as a painter and animator, Amanda Woolrich has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Faculty of Visual Arts of the UNAM. In 2019 and 2021 she was a recipient of a fellowship from the National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA) for young...
Amanda Woolrich
Amanda Woolrich es artista de grabado, pintora y animadora. Es egresada, con licenciatura y maestría de la Facultad de Artes Visuales de la UNAM. Fue beneficiaria del programa de jóvenes creadores del FONCA en 2019 con Aquí y allá y en 2021 con Trasiego ambos con...
Miguel Ángel Anaya Borja
Miguel Ángel Anaya Borja es un animador mexicano participante con k8 en el Festival de Annecy
Aria Covamonas
Aria Covamonas, artista mexicana de la animaciòn, sus cortos animados participaron en el Festival de Annecy 2023
Diego Huacuja T.
Diego Huacuja T. es un animador e ilustrador mexicano, sus cortos animados participan en el Festival de Annecy 2023
Marcos Almada
Marcos Almada en un ilustrador, autor de libros infantiles y cortos animados. Participò en el Festival de Annecy 2023
Patricio Plaza
Patricio Plaza autor de cortos animados, participò en competencia en el Festival de Annecy con Carne de DIos
Rita Basulto
Rita Basulto, creadora de cortos animados participa en competencia en el Festival de Annecy
IMCINE agradece el aplauso
Cineverdict: IMCINE el Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografìa llega a Annecy con las manos llenas de sorpresas y animaciones mexicanas
Una mirada retrospectiva a la animación mexicana
Una mirada retrospectiva a la animación mexicana, exitosa hasta fechas recientes.
Mexico Expanded
Mexican cinema and filmmakers are everywhere at Annecy this year.
CINEVERDICT: Kudos a Jorge R. Gutiérrez
CineVerdict: El creador mexicano de animación Jorge Gutiérrez habla con TFV sobre su parte favorita del proceso creativo, lo sorprendente de ganarse la vida con lo que le gusta y tiene además consejos para todo el mundo
Kudos to Jorge R. Gutiérrez
The renowned Mexican creator of animation talks with TFV about his favorite part of the filmmaking process and the awesomeness of being paid for something you love to do.
CINEVERDICT: ¡Los cortos mexicanos van a Annecy!
Los cortos mexicanos van al Festival de Animación de Annecy, imaginativos y atrevidos, esperan hacer una gran impresión
Mexican Shorts Go to Annecy
With their daring appeal, five Mexican shorts are ready to bowl over the animation festival’s audiences.
m-appeal celebrates 15th Birthday closing deals on the Croisette
Founded in 2008, m-appeal is a dynamic world sales company well- established on the international market. With a carefully curated selection of about 8 films per year, and a focus on original international art-house and genre cinema. They take a particular interest in...
The Flash
The first and last 10 minutes demonstrate the winning superhero saga this might have been, but the middle two hours are devoted to sloppy, shameless fan service.
A Wolfpack Called Ernesto
Mexican documentarian Everardo González is at his best in a shockingly brutal film without a drop of blood.
CINEVERDICT: Una jauría llamada Ernesto
Un documental estremecedor, brutal pero sin una gota de sangre, muestra a un documentalista mexicano en su mejor momento
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
It might be damning with faint praise, but this reboot finds more fun (and visual coherence) in the toy robots than the five earlier efforts directed by Michael Bay.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Breathtaking maximalism, for fans of ‘RRR’ and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (not to mention the previous animated Spider-Man movie).
Cannes 2023 Awards
Women filmmakers swept most of the top awards from Competition to Un Certain Regard and Critics’ Week.
Hounds
A taut, failed caper story with film noir elements set during a long night in the underbelly of Casablanca is well-paced and grittily shot.
Cannes 2023: The Verdict
Anointed auteurs padded the competition while the scramble for tickets became exhausting.
The Old Oak
After angry, affecting portraits of northern England’s working class families in his previous two films, in ‘The Old Oak’ director Ken Loach travels to a former mining village where Syrian refugees are being resettled, to tell a moving but more generic, less engaging story than its predecessors.
Salem
A powerful, at times remarkable sophomore feature from Jean-Bernard Marlin that takes the usual “Romeo and Juliet” plot, drops it into the projects of Marseille, and then widens its scope with a story of an apocalyptical plague and magical redemption.
Bread and Roses
Sahra Mani’s raw documentary about the dire situation for women in Afghanistan, as well as those all but abandoned in so-called safe houses across the border, forces Western audiences to pay attention and stop averting their gaze from the Taliban’s reign of terror.
Perfect Days
In his minor-key but charming Cannes contender ‘Perfect Days’, German art-house veteran Wim Wenders delivers a poetic paean to Zen and the art of toilet maintenance.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon
Pham Tien An’s first feature follows a young man’s slow spiritual journey with long takes, magical imagery and rarely seen glimpses into Vietnamese society.
The Pot au Feu
The pièce de résistance of unabashed culinary cinema, Tran Anh Hung’s ‘The Pot au Feu’ serves up a French country idyll in romantic 19th century sauce for audiences whose tastes run to the fine wines and 12-course meals.
Levante
Cine Verdict: La directora brasileña debutante Lillah Halla hace una película llena de entusiasmo y empatía sobre una talentosa jugadora de voleibol que resuena en el panorama actual de los derechos reproductivos.
Power Alley
Brazilian newcomer Lillah Halla makes a film full of zest and empathy about a talented volleyball player that resonates in today´s pro-choice panorama.
Pictures of Ghosts
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s poetic docu-essay Pictures of Ghost is a passkey to his previous films as well as a personal reflection on his relationship with Recife and cinephilia, but this terrifically edited meditation is also a more universal ode to the way memories become ghosts that inhabit the physical spaces of our lives.
Terrestrial Verses
A sardonic angry look at Iran today, ‘Terrestrial Verses’ approaches the country’s malaise in a series of black comedy skits.
No Love Lost
Erwan Le Duc conjures a stylish and swoony look at the quick flame of first love and the lingering, unresolved pain of heartbreak.
Kidnapped
Marco Bellocchio’s tense, edge-of-seat historical thriller, ‘Kidnapped,’ is the devastating true story of a 6-year-old Jewish boy abducted in 1858 to be raised a Catholic.
CineVerdict: Cerrar los ojos
“Cerrar los ojos” es una apasionada y atractiva reflexión sobre el arte, la memoria, la identidad y la recuperación del tiempo pasado. Una película del venerado maestro vasco-español Víctor Erice, contada atípicamente, pero que típicamente aborda grandes temas.
Asteroid City
Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzmann and a cast of thousands reach for the stars in director Wes Anderson’s visually ravishing retro rom-com ‘Asteroid City’.
Close Your Eyes
A passionate, big-issue film from revered Spanish maestro Victor Erice, ‘Close Your Eyes” engagingly reflects on art, memory, identity and recapturing time past.
The Buriti Flower
Portuguese-Brazilian directors João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora return to Cannes with a complex, highly-charged chronicle of how different generations of a Brazilian indigenous community fight back against intruders on their ancestral lands.
Club Zero
Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s offbeat school thriller about a classroom cult of teenage diet extremists, ‘Club Zero’ is visually delicious but lacks dramatic bite.
Man in Black
Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing’s second entry at Cannes 2023 is an intensely physical portrait of the life and tribulations of Chinese composer Wang Xilin.
The Other Laurens
In his feature-length debut, Claude Schmitz aims to simultaneously pay homage to, and blow up, film noir tropes, and while that’s not exactly the result, his film is a handsome, largely enjoyable play on the genre that becomes a bit too shaggy by the end.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Entertaining and impressive – but not enough to justify Disney’s ongoing effort to turn their traditionally animated features into mostly-CG animated features.
The Film Verdict announces the acquisition of Moving Image Middle East (MIME)
The Film Verdict (TFV) announced today that it has acquired Moving Image Middle East (MIME). “The Film Verdict filled the void to provide film reviews during a time when international reviews dramatically declined, TFV recognized the lack of consistent “trade”...
The Book of Solutions
Back after a long hiatus with his most personal film to date, French writer-director Michel Gondry’s ‘The Book of Solutions’ is a scrappy, self-indulgent but entertaining love letter to asshole artists.
If Only I Could Hibernate
Japan-educated Mongolian filmmaker Zoljargal Purevdash’s first feature provides a sensitive yet sobering account of a teenager’s struggle for his family’s survival, even if it means sacrificing his own future.
Firebrand
Alicia Vikander steps into the robes of Henry VIII’s last queen in a drama more concerned with turning Katherine Parr into feminist icon than is historically believable, yet bold visuals and a fine cast raise the appeal of Brazilian auteur Karim Aïnouz’s first time in Cannes competition.
World Class Location for International Filming
TFV first met Steven Davenport last March at AFCI Week in Los Angeles, where she sat down to record a podcast with Eric Mika, President and Publisher of The Film Verdict (now available). Ireland is a world-class location for international production with an abundance...
May December
The combined talents of Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and veteran indie auteur Todd Haynes are largely wasted on humdrum Cannes competition contender ‘May December’.
1 Year old Mongolian Film Council celebrates the first Mongolian Film at Cannes
TFV first met Nomin Erdine last March at AFCI Week in Los Angeles, where she sat down to record a podcast with Eric Mika, President and Publisher of The Film Verdict (now available). The establishment of the Mongolian National Film Council was made possible through...
Killers of the Flower Moon
Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro compete to out-grimace each other in Martin Scorsese’s latest monumental but lumbering period true-crime thriller ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’.
Banel & Adama
French-Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s strikingly shot, solid debut set in the Senegalese Sahel features a compelling central figure whose monomaniacal love for her husband sets nature itself against their village.
The Rapture
In this promising feature debut, French writer-director Iris Kaltenbäck has turned what sounds like a high-concept pitch for a Hollywood comedy — a girl tries to pass off her best friend’s baby as her own — into a thought-provoking, emotionally involving look at both...
Zoljargal Purevdash becomes the first Mongolian director in Cannes’ Official Selection
The director of ‘If Only I Could Hibernate’ on script labs, working with children and bringing Mongolian cinema to Cannes.
The Zone of Interest
‘Sexy Beast’ and ‘Under The Skin’ director Jonathan Glazer makes his Cannes debut with his coldly compelling, boldly experimental Holocaust drama ‘The Zone of Interest’.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Banel & Adama is the only first feature in Cannes competition
The French-Senegalese director of ‘Banel & Adama’, Ramata-Toulaye Sy, talks to TFV about shooting on location, writing, and having a first film in the main competition in Cannes.
Saudi Film Biz Goes Pro
No one could have predicted that just five years after cinemas reopened in Saudi Arabia in 2018, the Kingdom would become a hub for entertainment. In fact, as part of HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s Saudi Vision 2030, there will be at least 300 theaters...
Four Daughters
An enthralling “fictional documentary” by Kaouther Ben Hania exploring the psychological states of a strong-headed Tunisian mother and her four daughters, two of whom joined Islamic State, through staged recreations and interactions with actors playing their roles.
About Dry Grasses
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s melancholy, dialogue-heavy rumination on personal responsibility, politics and the weight of provincial isolation is intellectually rigorous and always engrossing but largely lacks the well-earned emotional gifts of his more recent masterworks.
A Prince
French farmer-filmmaker Pierre Creton combines his professional horticultural knowledge and his idiosyncratic cinematic language to produce an enigmatic, enthralling and intensely erotic film about a young gardener’s rite of professional and sexual passage in rural Normandy.
Black Flies
A punishing, loud plunge into the brutality of EMT work in Brooklyn’s grittiest hoods that banks on Sean Penn’s stardom but is tone-deaf to its problematic treatment of immigrant communities and women.
CineVerdict: Los delincuentes
Una deliciosa ensoñación sobre cómo escapar de la adormecedora esclavitud diaria del capitalismo y encontrar el verdadero significado de la libertad. Los delincuentes es increíble hechizo de tres horas que seguramente será captado por múltiples territorios.
The Delinquents
A delicious reverie on escaping capitalism’s numbing daily drudge and finding the true meaning of freedom, “The Delinquents” is a rare three-hour charmer sure to be scooped up in multiple territories.
Catalonia, A Giant in Film Locations & Incentives
TFV first met, Carlota Guerrero Manager at Catallunya Film Commission. in March at AFCI Week in Los Angeles, where she sat down to record a podcast with Eric Mika, President and Publisher of The Film Verdict (now available on spotify). Catalonia hosts an average of...
Rai Cinema – €86million Supported the Backbone of the Italian Film Industry
Paolo Del Brocco has been CEO of Rai Cinema, the production arm of Italy’s public broadcaster Rai, since 2010. He joined Rai in 1991 and was managing director of Rai Cinema from 2007 to 2010. With investments in roughly half of Italy’s film output, Rai Cinema is the...
Youth (Spring)
Wang Bing’s intimate portrait of the Chinese youth who sew the world’s clothing for a pittance, ‘Youth (Spring)’ speaks truth to the global economy.
On the Edge
Nicolas Peduzzi’s doc following a devoted Paris psychiatrist on hospital rounds is as warmly human as it is indignant at the capitalist gutting of public services.
The Nature of Love
Ever since humans were able to grunt to communicate affection for another person, the world’s greatest minds have grappled with understanding and defining the elusive, unpredictable, and disorienting feeling of desire. If history’s deepest thinkers haven’t been able...
Bega Metzner brings passion, Culture, and film to Moab Film Commission
TFV first met Bega Metzner last March at AFCI Week in Los Angeles, where she sat down to record a podcast with Eric Mika, President and Publisher of The Film Verdict (now available). Born and raised in New York City by her director father and photographer mother, Bega...
$100m FILM INVESTMENT FUND ANNOUNCED
ROAA Media Ventures, Saudi Cultural Development Fund and MEFIC Capital disclosed that they have come together to establish a Film Investment Fund for the Kingdom. The agreement was announced during an exclusive industry breakfast hosted by Saudi Cultural Development...
FROM SILK ROAD TO FILM ROAD
Italy and China, two ancient lands far away from one another, have historic ties going back centuries. It is generally believed that Marco Polo, a Venetian, was the first Westerner to explore China and chronicle his journey. In more recent times, Italian filmmaker...
Monster
A gripping drama — almost a mystery — about ordinary people, ‘Monster’ from Japanese master Kore-eda Hirokazu connects to viewers.
Fast X
This isn’t merely a sprawling, ridiculous summer blockbuster — it’s the Platonic ideal of the sprawling, ridiculous summer blockbuster, a delight for fans of the loony franchise.
Anselm
Wim Wenders’ new film is a visually arresting study of Anselm Kiefer, evoking the artist’s preoccupations with history and mythology to craft a suitably elegant portrait.
Tiger Stripes
Malaysian writer-director Amanda Nell Eu’s groundbreaking Cannes premiere ‘Tiger Stripes’ is an offbeat body-horror monster movie with sharp feminist claws.
The Goldman Case
This riveting courtroom drama distils Pierre Goldman’s complex life into one of its defining moments while crafting a ranging reflection on past and present injustice.
Occupied City
’12 Years a Slave’ director Steve McQueen exhaustively chronicles the Nazi occupation of his adopted hometown Amsterdam in his formally adventurous but lumbering. disjointed documentary ‘Occupied City’.
Tristan Albrect has higher ambitions for Valias then the Dom at 4,545 meters
TFV first met Tristan Albrecht last March at AFCI Week in Los Angeles, when he sat down to record a podcast with Eric Mika, President and Publisher of The Film Verdict (now available on Spotify). “Filming in Valais feels like home, or perhaps even better!” says Mr....
Ava Cahen leads the Cannes Critics Week
The Critics Week “helps showcase the diversity of the first features’ landscape.”
One of the goals of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2023 is to position the Kingdom as a prime location and film hub for the industry worldwide. The two main pillars of this project are AlUla and Neom. AlUla is a historical area near the Hijaz Mountains in the...
The Saudi Film Festival
As one drives to opening night of the Saudi Film Festival in a festival-branded, air-conditioned car, the iconic Ithra building rises up out of the encroaching desert of the Eastern Province like a mirage. The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture is a magnificent...
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture – aptly named Ithra, for ‘enrichment’ in Arabic – is Saudi Arabia’s leading center for all things creative and cross-cultural. Ithra opened its doors to the public in 2018 as an ambitious Aramco initiative to empower and...
Ahd Kamel
Actress and filmmaker Ahd Hassan Kamel appeared on the festival scene playing Ms. Hussa in the ground-breaking Saudi film Wajdja, followed by roles in the 2018 BBC2/Netflix series Collateral and a turn co-starring in the 2022 Amazon thriller All the Old Knives...
Fatima Al-Banawi
Already a luminous presence on the Saudi film scene, Fatima Al-Banawi is a multi-talented actress and writer who is now completing her first feature film as a director. She was selected for TIME magazine’s Young Generations Leaders List in 2018 for her storytelling...
The Saudi Film Festival’s Visionary Founder Looks Forward
Over nine editions, the dream of a film festival in Saudi Arabia has become a reality.
Meet Julien Rejl, New Head of the Quinzaine des Cinéastes
The new General Delegate of the Quinzaine talks to TFV about conflicts of interest, streaming and Quentin Tarantino.
Italian Screens
By Caren Davidkhanian Led by Roberto Stabile, Italian Screens was launched jointly by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Cinecittà for the Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture, and the Academy of Italian Cinema and David di...
Interview with Italy’s Ambassador to South Africa
By Caren Davidkhanian Italian Screens will be in Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town this month thanks to Paolo Cuculi, Italy’s ambassador to South Africa, who says that the event will contribute to strengthening the cultural ties between his country and South...
TFV Takes Oldenburg Out Of This World
In a groundbreaking collaboration that aims to set a new standard for the convergence of technology and the arts, we are thrilled to announce that the renowned Oldenburg International Film Festival has partnered with the innovative teams at MILC Platform and The Film...
Book Club: The Next Chapter
The talent outshines the writing, but these travel companions make for a breezy Italian trip.
There Is A Stone
Tatsunari Ota’s second feature, the winner of Jeonju IFF’s international competition, teases ravishing visuals and taut emotions out of two strangers’ uneventful walkabout in a small town in Japan.
CineVerdict: El caso Padilla
El premiado documental de Pavel Giroud desentierra imágenes ocultas durante cincuenta años en una crónica lacerante y definitiva del suicidio político del poeta cubano Heberto Padilla.
Jeonju Co-director Min Sungwook Talks to TFV
From “crisis is opportunity” to the joy of discovering impressive new titles, Jeonju veteran Min Sungwook takes us behind the scenes of a beloved South Korean festival.
This Is the President
Lee Chang-jae’s documentary about former South Korean president Moon Jae-in mixes footage of his current incarnation as a gardening retiree with glowing testimonials from his aides, but lacks context for non-domestic audiences.
From You
Shin Dong-min’s monochrome and monotonous three-part drama about a young fashion designer, a rookie actor and a filmmaker came tops at Jeonju International Film Festival’s Korean competition.
Breath
Korean filmmaker Jéro Yun reflects on death and its visceral (dis)contents by tracking the demanding routines and discerning perspectives of an undertaker and a trauma cleaner.
The Padilla Affair
Pavel Giroud’s award-winning documentary unearths footage hidden for fifty years in a searing, definitive chronicle of Cuban poet Heberto Padilla’s political suicide.
Where Would You Like To Go?
Kim Hee-jung’s modestly scaled but emotionally potent South Korean-Polish co-production assesses the emotional fallout from a high-school drowning accident, with nods aplenty to late Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieslowski.
Love Again
The lazy takedown on Love Again is that it’s like a Hallmark Channel movie, but that’s not a fair comparison; I’ve seen Hallmark movies where the romantic leads have better chemistry, where the screenwriters have crafted better banter (and more skillfully summoned the...
A Brighter Tomorrow
Nanni Moretti returns to his forte, sardonic Italian socio-political commentary, in the meandering collage film ‘A Brighter Tomorrow’ (‘Il Sol dell’avvenire’).
Sensitive Content
Upending the online practice of blurring sensitive content, Narges Kalhor’s short documentary celebrates those bravely sharing uncensored images of Iran’s recent protests.
Filming
The sumptuously photographed documentary depicts the realities of a location film shoot while ruminating on filmmaking with the help of Robert Bresson.
Incident
Bill Morrison’s latest found footage film uses multiple perspectives to dissect and interrogate the lethal shooting of Harith Augustus in 2018.
Heart of an Astronaut
This documentary about astronauts and the doctor that administers to them finds quiet profundity within the mechanics of interplanetary bodies.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3
James Gunn bids farewell to the MCU with a whimper, not a bang.
Ardent Other
Alice Brygo’s arresting film is an experiential recreation of the crowds massing around the burning Notre-Dame in 2019 and myriad responses to the catastrophic events.
Alonso Duralde Joins ‘The Film Verdict’ as Chief U.S. Film Critic
‘The Film Verdict’ announces its first U.S.-based reviewer.
Night Falls
Young miner-turned-filmmaker Jian Haodong delivers an authentic glimpse of life in China’s rural hinterlands in a semi-autobiographical road movie about a man’s lonely return to his village during the pandemic.
Tomorrow Is A Long Time
Taiwanese arthouse A-lister Leon Dai and new actor Edward Tan front Singaporean filmmaker Jow Zhi Wei’s visually enchanting, structurally disciplined first feature.
Kissing the Ground You Walked On
Inspired by the sentiments of Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Seagull’ and mirroring the aesthetics of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Drive My Car’, Macau filmmaker Hong Heng-fai’s first feature offers sensual and sultry drama about love, art and human existence.
Netflix and UNESCO Reimagine African Folktales
Six directors across Africa make shorts for Netflix.
Insight Into FESPACO
As a lover of African and African Diaspora film, attending the Fespaco film and television festival in Burkina Faso for the seventh time since 2005 was an inspiring experience. As one of Africa's largest and oldest film and television festivals and markets, Fespaco...
AFCI Week
Film commissioners from around the world gathered in Hollywood March 27-30 for AFCI Week 2023 – the premier global conference for film commission professionals. Held at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, the conference brought together more than 125 film...
The 28th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) was an excellent success for Burkina Faso's capital. Thousands of Burkina Faso residents and international festivalgoers packed the Palais des Sports complex in the Ouaga 2000...
Limbo
Ruggedly beautiful landscapes and elegant monochrome visuals help make up for a thin plot in Australian director Ivan Sen’s politically charged neo-western crime thriller ‘Limbo’.
Leon
Thierry Mugler’s steadfast love for his partner, the Polish performance artist Krzysztof Leon Dziemaszkiewicz, lies at the heart of “Leon,” a sympathetic look at what it’s like for a deeply insecure exhibitionist to live in the shadow of the world-famous man he adores.
Italy Sets Cultural Agenda With Hollywood
Lucia Borgonzoni has been undersecretary of Italy’s Ministry of Culture since 2018, the same year in which she won a seat in the Italian Senate for the Northern League party becoming one of her country’s youngest senators. Although Borgonzoni has been involved in...
The Last Seagull
Noted Bulgarian director Tonislav Hristov turns his camera on an aging beachside charmer whose years as a gigolo for women tourists are nearing their end just as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine make him rethink his future.
Mighty Afrin: in the Time of Floods
The border between documentary and fiction is troublingly blurred in this exquisitely composed immersive story of a young girl living in the flooded plains of the Brahmaputra River who goes to Dhaka in search of her father.
Till the End of the Night
Love is only slightly warmer than death in German director Christoph Hochhäusler’s genre-blending, gender-bending, hit-and-miss crime thriller ‘Till the End of the Night’.
Under the Sky of Damascus
A superficial, ethically problematic documentary about gender-based violence in Syria whose “topic-of-the-moment” theme can’t paper over glaring flaws in structure, scope, and treatment of its subjects.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Michelle Yeoh plays a kick-ass Chinese-American matriarch fighting the forces of darkness across multiple universes in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, a wildly inventive, prize-winning philosophical action comedy from writer-director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The winner of 7 Oscars, including Best Picture.
Blue Bag Life
A riveting cine-memoir that breaks through all the pitfalls of film-as-therapy, accompanying artist Lisa Selby as she tries to come to terms with her largely absent heroin-addicted mother as well as her own struggles with addiction, that of her partner, and her fears of continuing the cycle of maternal dysfunction.
Welt Der Wunder Visionary CEO Hendrik Heys Takes Action
TFV talks with Hendrik Hey, the founder of MILC (Media Industry Licensing Content)
Navalny
Director Daniel Roher’s gripping documentary about the poison plot against Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny gains extra urgency in the light of Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Euro Powers Look Inward to Secure Oscar Noms
As more and more international films gain popularity in various Oscar categories, it seems as though the once dominant Italian and French film industries are reexamining their approach to nominating their films. Italy hasn’t been able to take home an Oscar since 2013...
David di Donatello Gets Gender Equality Overhaul
Piera Detassis is the most influential woman in the world of Italian cinema. After a long career covering all aspects of the film industry, from cinema historian to film critic and journalist, as well as organizer of some of the most significant cinema events in...
All Quiet on the Western Front
Edward Berger’s deeply disturbing anti-war film is an unforgettable adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s literary classic, affording a visceral sense of life and death in the trenches of WWI. It won 4 Oscars, including Best International Feature.
Daughter and Son
Sachiko and Ming share an apartment and predilection for role-play in Cheng Yu’s enigmatic and intriguing exploration of one relationship through the prism of many.
Les Chenilles
Two Levantine immigrants working in a Lyon café bond in this meditation on friendship and the long fingers of history which claimed the Berlinale Shorts top prize.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Mexican visionary Guillermo Del Toro’s first animated feature is a visually ravishing but dramatically wooden update of much-filmed Italian fairy tale ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’.
Berlin 2023: The Verdict
Despite dark times on the world stage, audiences poured back to Berlin’s first post-COVID festival.
73rd Berlinale Awards
Kristen Stewart’s jury awarded the Golden Bear to the French documentary ‘On the Adamant’, about a floating psychiatric hospital on the Seine.
On the Adamant
French documentarian Nicolas Philibert’s latest feature, competing in Berlin, gives voice to the patients in a psychiatric day care centre floating on the Seine.
Italian Screens 2022 Delivers Results
After years of what can be perceived as an Italian crisis of its films performing internationally, it appears that the crisis is ending and Italian films are on the uptick again, along with coproductions that have been rising after a dip caused by the pandemic....
The Walls of Bergamo
An outstanding, deeply moving documentary that finally addresses the pandemic not simply as a record of a tragedy but a collective trauma needing to be processed as a community.
Love to Love You, Donna Summer
From early days in Boston to the height of her stardom and sudden crash, this affectionate documentary made with major family involvement doesn’t probe deep enough or contextualize her career, but it reminds us that Donna Summer was a terrific performer whose talents were minimized by the moniker “Queen of Disco.”
The Beads
Two young women travel to a remote cottage so one of them can administer a chemical abortion in this languorous vignette of rebirth and sororal care.
The Fundraiser
Todd Field’s Tár supplement provides compelling extra notes to his masterfully composed film.
Eastern Front
Mostly filmed in the Ukraine war zone by brave battlefield paramedics, ‘Eastern Front’ is a raw and immersive reportage documentary that feels like an urgent first draft of history.
Art College 1994
Painter-filmmaker Liu Jian’s third animated feature (his second in Berlin competition) lacks the bite to capture the painful realities faced by Chinese art school students as their country opened up to the West and capitalist ideals.
And, Towards Happy Alleys
Indian director Sreemoyee Singh’s moving documentary And, Towards Happy Alleys transcends its overly relaxed editing and sometimes dispersive focus.
Are Festivals Playing It Safe?
Festival directors of San Sebastian, the Viennale, Locarno and Berlin talk to TFV.
Suzume
The latest YA fantasy adventure from Japanese anime master Makoto Shinkai is a beautifully written and animated work of the imagination that incorporates elements of ‘Your Name’ and ‘Weathering with You’ and often sails beyond them.
Passages
Passages is a steamy, sensitive, and surprisingly funny look at the complications of modern love.
Living Bad
This companion to Bad Living is a repetitive exploration of deceitful mothers and toxic families that offers no new insights.
ALLENSWORTH
James Benning’s latest, bowing in the Berlin Forum, offers a powerful comment on racial politics in the U.S. in a static-shot portrait of the first settlement to be founded and governed by African-Americans.
Bad Living
The feel bad movie of Berlinale is a bleak and punishing look at familial decay that’s both manipulative and dishonest.
Dipped in Black
This deeply personal documentary follows an Australian Aboriginal man as he escapes the chokehold of the big city to reconnect with Country.
CineVerdict: 20.000 especies de abejas
La historia de sobre un niño de 8 años que siente una creciente desesperación de ser percibido como masculino es extraordinaria por su sensibilidad y percepción. Será un parámetro en la discusión fílmica sobre género, sexualidad e identidad.
Afire
Christian Petzold is in top form with this intimate summer drama that quietly builds to an unexpected, heart-wrenching finale.
Curti Mirrors Minerva
Gianluca Curti grew up in one of the most important dynasties of Italian cinema. He is the CEO of independent Italian producer and distributor Minerva Pictures, a 2,000-title-strong company founded by his grandfather, Antonio Curti, in 1953, and headed by his father,...
A Kind of Testament
This strange and engrossing short blends a surreal and slippery story about a bizarre online relationship with Stephen Vuillemin’s glorious animation.
Profile: João Canijo
Portuguese auteur João Canijo is making his Berlinale debut with a Competition/Encounters diptych set in a hotel.
In Water
South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo teases all the humour and melancholy out of his young cast in a comedy of awkward manners, bowing in the Berlin sidebar Encounters.
20,000 Species of Bees
Extraordinary for its sensitivity and perception, Estibollz Urresolo Sologuren’s story of an 8-year-old girl’s growing discomfort with being perceived as a boy is a landmark in the filmic discussion of gender, sexuality and identity.
Opponent
Payman Maadi gives another outstanding performance in a deeply layered refugee drama that isn’t always the sum of its parts.
Claire Simon
A Berlin regular, French documentarian Claire Simon is back in the Forum section with her film ‘Our Body’, chronicling the everyday routines in a gynecological hospital.
Music
Angela Schanelec returns to Berlin with another weird, challenging film destined to thrive only in ultra-art houses and academic spaces based on its austere approach to narrative enjoyment.
The Plough
French director Philippe Garrel in The Plough is faithful to his intimist style, working with his three children in a classic tale.
Terra Mater – Mother Land
Set amidst a landscape of mountainous detritus, Kantarama Gahigiri’s short is an abstract but strikingly powerful rejoinder against the exploitation of Africa.
Remembering Every Night
Japanese director Yui Kiyohara’s second feature combines delicate human drama, mesmerising imagery and a reflection on personal and social history.
Infinity Pool
Canadian writer-director Brandon Cronenberg’s darkly satirical sci-fi horror thriller about sun-seeking tourists on a clone-killing crime spree, ‘Infinity Pool’ is a deliriously debauched joyride into Hell.
In the Blind Spot
A bold and chilling political thriller of shifting perspectives in which the weight of state-sanctioned terror begins to crush a security agent in eastern Turkey, where trauma and paranoia rip apart the social fabric.
#Manhole
Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s silly single location thriller is too straight-faced to be any fun.
The Shadowless Tower
Zhang Lu’s ‘The Shadowless Tower’ is gentle, impressionistic story set in historic old Beijing is a rambling account of complicated family ties and individual loneliness.
Waking Up in Silence
This tenderly moving documentary observes a group of Ukrainian children adapting to their new lives, after having been re-homed in former military barracks in Germany.
Antonio Bigini
Bologna-based film curator and director Antonio Bigini is in Berlin with his fiction debut ‘The Properties of Metals’, premiering in the Generation sidebar.
Letta Defines Leadership
Giampaolo Letta is arguably the most powerful man in Italy’s film industry. He hails from an influential Italian family. His father, Gianni, is a well-known journalist and politician who was undersecretary of state in four Silvio Berlusconi governments. His cousin,...
CineVerdict: Tótem
Tòtem, la segunda pelìcula de la mexicana Lila Avilés se estrena en competencia en el Festival de Berlín.
Totem
In Totem Mexican director Lila Avilés shows sensibility and a strong hand. In Berlin Festival competition
The Burdened
A hard-pressed couple in Yemen’s port city of Aden search for a doctor to perform an abortion in Amr Gamal’s excellent, understated yet hard-hitting portrait of a family and their city in desperation.
Sisi & I
Frauke Finsterwalder delivers yet another take on the life of Empress Sisi, but can’t escape the long shadow of the much more spirited ‘Corsage’.
Disco Boy
Debutant director Giacomo Abbruzzese’s Berlin competition contender ‘Disco Boy’ is a stylish but silly yarn about disco-dancing soldiers and shamanic eco-warriors.
Malene Choi
Korean-born Danish filmmaker Malene Choi talks to The Film Verdict about her fiction debut ‘The Quiet Migration’, premiering in the Panorama section.
Orlando: My Political Biography
In Orlando, My Political Biography director and LGTB+ activist Paul B. Preciado extravagant manifesto pushes the boundaries of feminine-masculine genres as well as cinematographic ones.
Between Revolutions
Vlad Petri’s visually captivating yet structurally slippery found-footage film reflects on the suppression faced by young, idealistic Romanian and Iranian women under self-avowed “revolutionary” regimes.
Ingeborg Bachmann: Journey into the Desert
Margarethe von Trotta’s deeply perceptive study of Austrian poet Ingeborg Bachmann, played by a dazzling Vicky Krieps, portrays the great writer’s struggle to combine freedom and commitment.
Reality
Sydney Sweeney shines in Tina Satter’s captivating, word-for-word account of Reality Winner’s FBI interrogation
CAPTAIN ITALIA
by Caren Davidkhianan Roberto Stabile, Head of Special Projects of Directorate General of Cinema and Audiovisual-Ministry of Culture at Cinecittà, is the man behind ANICA’s renewed drive to revive and expand Italy’s international film markets, from bringing new luster...
Past Lives
A remarkably delicate, moving romance destined to be a major indie hit, boasting superb dialogue, terrific performances and an insightful understanding of how the what-ifs of life so often dangle around the perimeters of our lives.
Jill, Uncredited
This thoughtful compilation film draws our gaze to something unregistered across decades of British cinema and television – the face of a particular extra, Jill Goldston.
Kill Boksoon
A slick but hollow Netflix actioner about an aging professional assassin balancing work and motherhood, inspired in parts by “Killing Eve” but without the bite.
All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White
Babatunde Apalowo’s masterful international debut examines a real Nigerian life engaged in a denial of love and its pleasures.
Matria
Álvaro Gago´s first feature Matria is the moving and humorous portrait of a hardworking yet almost powerless woman, in which the myth of matriarchy in Galicia is debunked.
The Cemetery of Cinema
‘The Cemetery of Cinema’ conveys an important point about Guinea’s deplorable relationship with film archives, despite its director’s theatricality.
Manodrome
Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody co-star in ‘Manodrome’, director Andrew Trengove’s timely thriller about toxic masculinity and incel culture.
AMBASSADORS OF AN ART FORM
HEADLINE: AMBASSADORS OF AN ART FORM Koen Van Bockstal (1961) is a historian of Ghent University by training. After a short period as a history and aesthetics teacher in secondary education and freelance journalist at De Morgen, he worked for over 18 years in the...
Superpower
Actor and activist Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman codirect a diary-like travelogue through war-torn Ukraine, highlighted by three brief interviews with Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky.
Perpetrator
Cult director Jennifer Reeder’s hallucinatory high-school horror thriller ‘Perpetrator’ puts a queer feminist spin on teen slasher conventions.
CINE VERDICT Matria
Matria la ópera prima de Álvaro Gago es un retrato conmovedor y lleno de humor que es contrario a la idea del matriarcado en Galicia.
BlackBerry
The backstory to the creation of the world’s once-most-popular smartphone is much wackier than can be imagined, as evidenced in Matt Johnson’s good-humored rise-and-fall business chronicle.
Kudos to Enzo d’Alò
The acclaimed Italian animator is unveiling his first English-language film at the Berlinale in the Generation section.
CINE VERDICT El Eco
La directora Tatiana Huezo regresa a su primer amor cinematográfico con El Eco documental conmovedor y bellamente fotografiado participante en la sección Encuentros en el Festival de Berlín.
The Echo
Mexican-Salvadoran director Tatiana Huezo returns with The Echo to her first cinematographic love in this moving and beautifully photographed documentary about teenagers in a Puebla community.
The Beast in the Jungle
Had Henry James been alive and well in the 1980s, it’s unlikely you would have ever seen him getting busy on the dance floor. He probably wouldn’t have even set foot in a nightclub. And yet director Patric Chiha has had the rather novel idea to take one of the...
ATLAS INTERNATIONAL REACHES NEXT GEN
Born in Belgium, Michel Vandewalle was drawn to the world of entertainment as a very young man. He was part of an international orchestra and participated in theater and dance in school and later as a teenager started working in front of and behind the camera. There...
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything
Director Emily Atef’s Berlin world premiere about a teenage girl’s forbidden love for an abusive older man, ‘Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything’ is beautifully filmed but fifty shades of boring.
Last Things
The nature and potential of non-human evolution are explored to disquieting effect in Deborah Stratman’s essayistic blend of science fact and science fiction.
White Plastic Sky
Prize-winning Hungarian director duo Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó foresee a bleak future for humankind in their visually striking debut feature ‘White Plastic Sky’, an animated eco-disaster movie with a lyrical fairy-tale edge.
The Survival of Kindness
Rolf de Heer’s stripped-down story of a black woman who escapes from a cage and walks through a landscape heavy with racism and pandemic fear aligns with much of his intensely humane films, yet it feels weighed down by the uncertainty of its ultimate message.
The Siren
Iranian director Sepideh Farsi opens a revelatory and very chilling window on a city under siege by a foreign power in her powerful, animated coming-of-ager, ‘The Siren’.
She Came to Me
Opening the Berlin film festival, Rebecca Miller’s quirky New York rom-com ‘She Came to Me’ feels creaky and clumsy in places, but is saved by its fine cast and off-beat charm.
SIMONE BAUMANN DISCUSSES CURRENT AFFAIRS
SIMONE BAUMANN DISCUSSES CURRENT AFFAIRS
CEO VINCENZO MOSCA REFLECTS ON THE INDUSTRY
Vincenzo Mosca's career began in '86, when he was hired at SACIS, RAI's commercial company, with responsibility for program sales to Western European television stations. He was later appointed head of the Paris office of SACIS, with a specific mandate to develop...
Iron Butterflies
The downing of Malaysian Airlines’ passenger flight MH17 in 2014 over Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine becomes a prophetic and highly symbolic event portending the current war and its methods in Roman Liubyi’s doc, whose poetry can seem forced but is still capable of shocking.
TFV talks to Tiger Award winner Cyrielle Raingou
Raingou’s first feature, ‘Le spectre de Boko Haram’, is a moving documentary that views the horrors of terrorism through the eyes of children.
Simone Baumann Reconfirmed as Managing Director of German Films
The German Films supervisory board, chaired by Philipp Kreuzer announced that the contract of Managing Director Simone Baumann has been extended by another five years. "Simone Baumann has successfully managed the fortunes of German Films since 2019, including during...
International Film Festival Rotterdam 2023
As it finally returned from Covid-19 limbo under new artistic director Vanja Kaludjercic, the Dutch film festival reaffirmed its core mission to promote fresh, socially conscious, culturally rich cinema.
52nd INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM OFFICIAL AWARDS
Mixing the personal with the political, the Dutch festival made a strong post-pandemic comeback with prize-winning films on Islamist terror, border tensions, jailed teenagers and tender pregnancy dilemmas.
Playland
The ghosts of Playland Cafe, Boston’s oldest gay bar pre-demolition, return in this heartfelt, multi-layered tribute to marginalised history, DIY spirit and queer performance.
Before the Collapse
Prize-winning French novelist Alice Zeniter makes a confident directing debut with ‘Before the Collapse’, a lively mystery drama about bed-hopping bohemians in emotional crisis.
Killing a Traitor
Acclaimed Iranian director Masoud Kimiai pours cinematic rage into his recreation of a 1952 politically-motivated bank robbery that resonates with the protests of today.
Under The Hanging Tree
A murder investigation in Namibia is haunted by echoes of colonial genocide in Perivi John Katjavivi’s flawed but intriguing supernatural crime thriller ‘Under The Hanging Tree’
Three Sparks
A sensitive, intricately layered and hand-crafted portrait of mountain life in northern Albania, women’s labour and ancient laws.
Four Little Adults
This entertaining rom-com offers a freshly subversive, anti-bourgeois twist on the genre, as a pastor and politician in Helsinki open up their marriage to non-monogamy.
Human Nature
A couple reflect on a failed pregnancy in the midst of the pandemic in Monica Lima’s tactile and delicate drama about the desire to nurture and propagate.
Não Sou Nada — The Nothingness Club
An outlandish, radical trip inside Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa’s mind, gorgeously realised as a mysterious office of alter-egos and clacking typewriters.
Natura
Matti Harju’s debut feature is a hypnotic slow-burning anti-thriller that is more interested in exploring disillusionment and social imbalance than narrative twists or action spectacle.
Copenhagen Does Not Exist
A young Danish woman mysteriously vanishes in director Martin Skovbjerg’s smart, stylish blend of sensual romantic drama and moody suspense thriller ‘Copenhagen Does Not Exist’.
Southern Storm
A cynical private detective becomes enthralled by a woman he is been paid to surveil in this unconventional and tender tale based on Juan Saenz Valiente’s graphic novel.
Gagaland
A street dance craze becomes a way of life for kids live-streaming from the social margins, in this psychedelic celebration of self-expression.
Kudos to Hélène Louvart
Established in 2020, the Robby Müller Award honors outstanding lifetime achievements in cinematography. Rotterdam has previously bestowed this prestigious award upon Diego García (Mexico), Kelly Reichardt (USA) and Sayombu Mukdeeprom (Thailand), and is now focusing on...
Luka
Director Jessica Woodworth’s monochrome anti-war drama ‘Luka’ is visually stunning but weighed down by its ponderous, pretentious tone.
La Palisiada
An oblique, inventive anatomy of an investigation and execution in ‘90s Ukraine, and a legacy of Soviet violence passed down to today’s generation.
Prosinecki
An ageing footballer reflects on his career in this layered rumination on the nature of the beautiful game adapted from the filmmaker’s own short story.
IFFR Special Guest Profile: Steve McQueen
The Oscar-winning director and Turner prize-winning artist draws parallels between Hollywood’s historic racism and his own father’s lived experience in his latest cinematically huge art-work ‘Sunshine State’.
New Strains
Actor-director duo Artemis Shaw and Prashanth Kamalakanthan make inventive use of vintage lo-fi video technology for ‘New Strains’, a slight but hugely charming pandemic rom-com.
A Primeira Idade
Banishments cannot stave off knowledge in this visually bold fable about a colony of children insulated from death and memory.
Tito
Filmed on a tiny camera smuggled into Haiti’s National Penitentiary, this portrait of an inmate is upsetting, enraging, and deeply moving.
Drawing Lots
The black-humoured snapshot of a disorderly Georgian seaside community where love and crime bring scant reward.
Superposition
An isolated Danish family encounter spooky doubles of themselves in ‘Superposition’, a twist-heavy psycho-thriller from first-time feature director Karoline Lyngbye.
Birdland
Revolution is coming in this intricate, densely layered vision of the burning of a forest and the girl who harnesses the technology of dissent.
TFV Talks to Jolinde den Haas
Jolinde den Haas is the innovative project manager of IFFR Pro immersive, a festival showcasing the most unique and interesting new immersive narrative experiences.
One Last Evening
A couple’s farewell dinner in Hanover descends into chaos in this pandemic-era portrait, with a political sting in its tail, of an anxious, divided generation.
Night and Fear
Sound and images captured during several years of documentary making form the basis for this haunting essayistic meditation on fear and its effects.
Day of the Tiger
A runaway tiger means extra trouble for a strife-torn married couple in Romanian director Andrei Tanase’s engaging but slight feline chase drama ‘Day of the Tiger’.
IFFR director Vanja Kaludjercic talks to TFV
Rotterdam’s artistic director savors her first in-person festival with films from Japan, India, Indonesia and even a superhero movie.
The Store
Director Ami-Ro Sköld blends live action with stop-motion animation in ‘The Store’, an impressive social drama which takes place in a Swedish supermarket.
Munch
Unexpected formal flourishes can only spice up conventional ideas on tormented genius in this take on the life of Norway’s Expressionist painter Edvard Munch.
ALiEN0089
Valeria Hofmann’s uncanny and unsettling film explores the collisions between a video game and the real world, when a young woman attempts to call out online harassment.
5 Seasons of Revolution
Using photos, footage, and fragmented clips, the mononymous director Lina presents an account of the Syrian Crisis as both a national and interpersonal tragedy.
The (Physical) Return of Rotterdam
The 52nd IFFR kicks off its first full-scale, physical edition since the pandemic, amid heightened industry scrutiny after a controversial restructure.
When It Melts
For her first stab behind the camera, veteran Belgian actress Veerle Baetens, who’s best known for co-starring in the Oscar-nominated country music tearjerker, The Broken Circle Breakdown, certainly hasn’t taken the easy road. By adapting writer Lize Spit’s 2016...
TFV Talks to Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken
The filmmaker touches on the challenges of making a film about revered Norwegian painter Edvard Munch and his iconic painting, ‘The Scream’.
Cine Verdict entrevista a Patricia Ortega
La directora venezolana Patricia Ortega habla de su viaje de autodescubrimiento y los placeres del sexo en ´Mamacruz´en la competencia de Sundance.
Animalia
In ‘Animalia’, Sofia Alaoui’s gorgeously shot debut feature, ideas of spirituality mix with commentary on class and religion in a package that refuses to easily yield the keys to its own meaning.
TFV in Conversation with Lin Alluna
Danish director Lin Alluna talks about her seminal encounter with Aaju Peter, the Inuit activist who inspired ‘Twice Colonized’.
TFV Talks to Anna Hints
The director of ‘Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’ explains the origin of her film to Max Borg.
TFV Interviews Patricia Ortega
Venezuelan director Patricia Ortega talks about her journey of self-discovery and the pleasures of sex in ´Mamacruz´, competing at Sundance.
Pianoforte
Jakub Piatek’s classical music documentary covers the prestigious Chopin Competition, presenting a group of talented kids in a story that starts slow but becomes truly buoyant in its final third.
Twice Colonized
Danish documentary filmmaker Lin Alluna’s feature-length debut veers away from the political to reveal the internal conflicts tearing at the Greenland-born, Denmark-educated and Canada-based Inuit civil rights activist Aaju Peter.
The Stroll
A timely and compassionate Sundance documentary premiere, ‘The Stroll’ puts a highly personal spin on New York City’s hidden history of black transgender sex workers
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
An intimate, visceral immersion into the rituals of the Estonian smoke sauna, a healing space where women confide in one another.
CINE VERDICT: Mamacruz
Kiti Manver interpreta a una abuela religiosa que accidentalmente descubre el porno en Internet, dando lugar a una comedia que empodera a las mujeres mayores al tiempo que ironiza sobre la disminución de fieles católicos en España.
Mamacruz
Kiti Manver plays a religious grandmother who accidentally discovers online porn, igniting a comedy that empowers older women while poking fun at Spain’s dwindling Catholic faithful.
Cinema Sabaya
Low-key but engrossing, this study of Jewish and Palestinian women who take a beginners’ filmmaking class together sidesteps the threatened stereotypes, as Orit Fouks Rotem creates an atmosphere of quiet realism in her first feature film.
Hilma
Hilma, Lasse Hallström’s beautifully crafted biopic brings to life an almost unknown Swedish painter who was an avant gardiste, spiritualist and theosophist.
Darkling
Dusan Milic’s psychological thriller-cum-horror set in post-war Kosovo excels in creating an unsettling atmosphere, but its conclusion doesn’t quite deliver on its promise.
Mediterranean Fever
Palestine’s Oscar submission is an uneven story of a depressed man hoping to get his neighbor to bump him off, told in a vaguely black comedy manner.
Shot in the Arm
Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s conventional but compelling documentary ‘Shot in the Arm’ examines the anti-vaccine movement before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kings of the World
Colombian writer-director Laura Mora’s prize-winning road movie ‘Kings of the World’ is a messy but big-hearted love letter to the loveless.
Cairo Conspiracy
Sweden’s shortlisted International Oscar hopeful, formerly known as ‘Boy from Heaven’, is a solid though cautious, slow-burn loss-of innocence tale wrapped around the struggle between State versus Religion, designed for Western consumption.
Babylon
Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie lead a starry cast in ‘Babylon’, Damien Chazelle’s huge, ambitious but flawed love letter to Hollywood in the Roaring Twenties.
The International Contenders: Our Verdict
As a quick perusal of The Film Verdict’s Oscar coverage shows, the Academy Awards are no longer an exclusively or even a mostly American thing. With our reviews, interviews and profiles, we have tried to capture the world-wide excitement of filmmakers and producers...
TFV Interviews Pan Nalin
“I can believe in cinema again!” The Indian director of ‘Last Film Show’ talks about making an ode to celluloid in the digital age.
TFV Interviews Ove Musting
The Estonian filmmaker talks about the unwittingly timely release of ‘Kalev’.
Profile: Lukas Dhont
The celebrated Belgian director is once again representing his country in the Oscar race.
TFV Interviews Petr Vaclav
The Czech director discusses the challenges of making the multilingual biopic ‘Il Boemo’.
A Ballad
Bosnian director Aida Begic gives a 21st century feminist remix to a 19th century folk story in her baggy but formally ambitious ‘A Ballad’, the Oscar entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Eami
The plight of the indigenous Ayoreo, the last tribe to avoid contact and reclaim its territories in the Paraguayan Chaco Forest, is painstakingly and poetically rendered in this drama premiering at Rotterdam.
CINE VERDICT: Eami
La difícil situación de los indígenas ayoreo, la última tribu en evitar el contacto y reclamar sus territorios en la selva del Chaco paraguayo, se plasma de forma minuciosa y poética en este drama que se estrenó en Rotterdam y es candidata al Oscar Internacional 2023 por Paraguay.
The Employer and the Employee
A subtle character study successfully explores guilt, filial duty and labor relations between a young farmhand and his boss, set among the vast soybean plantations along the Uruguay Brazil border.
CINE VERDICT: El empleado y el patrón
Un sutil estudio de personajes que explora con éxito el sentimiento de culpa, el deber filial, y las relaciones laborales entre un joven peón y su patrón, ambientado en las vastas plantaciones de soja a lo largo de la frontera entre Uruguay y Brasil.
TFV Interviews Jerzy Skolimowski
The Polish filmmaker discusses his bond with the animal star(s) of ‘EO’.
Profile: Alice Diop
French director and documentarian Alice Diop makes a bright debut in fiction filmmaking with her complexly layered, multi-prize-winning ‘Saint Omer’, exploring the dark side of motherhood.
A Piece of Sky
A beautifully shot, rigidly ice-cold story of love, disease and crushed dreams that will play best with festival crowds and highly selective art houses.
Holy Spider
Ali Abbasi’s Iranian-set noir, based on a real serial killer of prostitutes, explores the social and religious culture that is often used as an excuse for violence against women.
Profile: Houman Seyyedi
Talented filmmaker Houman Seyyedi takes a ride on the dark side in Iran’s Oscar entry, ‘World War III’.
TFV Interviews Gunnar Vikene
The Norwegian director talks about his very personal epic ‘War Sailor’.
CINE VERDICT Profile: Laura Mora
Laura Mora entrega con Los reyes del mundo –primera colombiana en ganar la Concha de oro– una épica caótica y onírica que es ahora la candidata colombiana a los Oscares.
Profile: Laura Mora
Laura Mora became the first Colombian director to win the Golden Shell at San Sebastian for her chaotic, dreamlike epic, ‘The Kings of the World.’ It is now Colombia’s Oscar hopeful.
CINE VERDICT Los reyes del mundo
La premiada road movie de la escritora y directora colombiana Laura Mora es una carta de amor desordenada pero con gran corazón para los que carecen de afecto
Winners
The UK’s official Oscar submission is a sweetly knowing homage to classic cinema, especially the modern masters of Iran.
Last Film Show
Oscars voters have always had a soft spot for movies about movies – and Last Film Show should very much fit their bill as they survey the candidates for the Best International Film Academy Award. India’s submission for the category is a lushly-lensed feature aimed...
World War III
A manual day laborer is selected to play Hitler in a film, but this stroke of “luck” leads to terrible tragedies on the film set in Houman Seyedi’s expertly crafted, realistic/metaphoric tale about authoritarian society.
Nostalgia
Mario Martone directs an emotional terror tour through Baroque, Camorra-ridden Naples, where actor Pierfrancesco Favino has a rendezvous with destiny.
TFV Interviews Mario Martone
The busy Italian filmmaker, who is concurrently a veteran stage and opera director, describes the genesis of Italy’s international Oscar submission.
TFV Interviews He Shuming
The Singaporean director recounts his full immersion in the Oscar promotion process and looks ahead to remakes.
Domingo and the Mist
In Costa Rica’s Oscar entry, magic realism meets environmental degradation in the austere tale of a widower’s resistance against ruthless developers.
CINE VERDICT Domingo y la niebla
El realismo mágico se encuentra con la degradación ambiental en un austero relato costarricense sobre la resistencia de un viudo contra los constructores sin escrúpulos.
War Sailor
An intriguing and seldom-told WWII story gets the standardized treatment in this epic-scale Norwegian drama.
Profile: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu, the celebrated director returns to his homeland with a brilliant, excessive, quasi-autobiography that will represent Mexico in the International Oscar race.
CINE VERDICT Profile: Alejandro González Iñárritu
CINE VERDICT Alejandro González Iñárritu, el célebre director regresa a su país con una quasi autobiografía brillante y desmesurada que representa a México en la carrera internacional por los Óscares
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Mexican master Alejandro G. Iñárritu (‘Birdman’, ‘The Revenant’) takes time off for a very personal project with autobiographical and cinematic undertones.
CINE VERDICT: Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades
El maestro mexicano Alejandro G. Iñárritu (‘Birdman’, ‘The Revenant’) hace un paréntesis para un proyecto muy personal con matices autobiográficos y cinematográficos.
TFV INTERVIEWS LORENZO VIGAS
Venice Golden Lion winner Lorenzo Vigas talks to TFV about his latest film ‘The Box’ (‘La caja’), which has been submitted by Venezuela for the International Oscars 2023.
CINE VERDICT ENTREVISTA A LORENZO VIGAS
El ganador del León de Oro de Venecia, Lorenzo Vigas, habla con TFV sobre su última película, La Caja, que ha sido presentada por Venezuela como candidata para el premio Oscar Internacional 2023.
CINE VERDICT: La caja
Lorenzo Vigas continúa con su visión crítica de las figuras paternas y las implicaciones más amplias de la ausencia paterna en esta sutil historia de madurez anclada en la excepcional presencia de su joven protagonista.
The Box
Léalo en español The box in the title that young Mexican teen Hatzin (newcomer Hatzin Navarrete) picks up containing his father’s remains may look like a simple mini-casket, but the emotional baggage that goes with it is far weightier than what’s inside. In the third...
The International Contenders Face Off
It’s a year of diversity at the Academy Awards, with striking entries from both veteran directors and newcomers.
Kalev
Estonia’s official Oscar submission ‘Kalev’ finds timely modern echoes in a true sporting saga that took place during the dying days of Russian occupation.
CINE VERDICT: Blanquita
Un complejo thriller basado en un escándalo verdadero de abusos sexuales que involucra a políticos chilenos, sacerdotes, empresarios y niños desamparados, donde nadie es totalmente inocente o culpable.
TFV Interviews Maryam Touzani
The Moroccan director and screenwriter of ‘The Blue Caftan’ talks about the personal origins of her films.
Profile: Saim Sadiq
A young Pakistani director sets records with his first feature film.
Ajoomma
He Shuming’s feature debut ‘Ajoomma’, Singapore’s Oscar hopeful, is an amusing look at life’s second act with a warm, winning performance by Hong Huifang.
CINE VERDICT: Utama
Sundance estrena un fascinante retrato de la vida en los Andes bolivianos, donde una sequía amenaza el sustento de una pareja de ancianos quechuas y su rebaño de llamas.
Riverbed
Lebanese actress Carole Abboud brings a sense of wistful loneliness to the role of an independent woman estranged from her adult daughter in Bassem Breche’s sketch-like feature debut.
Victim
Competing forms of victimhood expose a rotten racist society in Slovak director Michal Blaško’s prize-winning Oscars submission ‘Victim’.
Cairo 2022: The Verdict
A modern and glam festival continues under new management.
Cairo 2022: The Awards
Firas Khoury’s notable feature debut ‘Alam’ about Palestinian teens living in Israel fought off the competition to win Cairo’s main prize.
River of Desire
Jealousy, betrayal and revenge weave through Sergio Machado’s sultry, fatalistic melodrama set in the Amazon, where a woman becomes the object of desire of three passionate brothers.
The Family
The toxic privilege of Algeria’s ministerial elite is the target of Merzak Allouache’s fitfully successful mix of class satire and political thriller.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2022: The Verdict
Documentaries by Lea Glob, Simon Chambers and Angie Vinchito, all major prizewinners, show the diversity and topicality of the post-pandemic Dutch festival.
Far from the Nile
Cairo awarded its best documentary prize to this broadly appealing fly-on-the-wall documentary about a group of musicians from countries bordering the Nile who go on a demanding hundred-day-tour of the U.S.
Uncanny Me
As we stand on the edge of increasing digital frontiers, Katharina Pethke’s thought-provoking film explores the mechanics and implications of creating a virtual doppelganger.
The Nightsiren
A past tragedy haunts the Slovak woodlands in this eerie mystery-horror in which a woman labelled a witch by villagers reclaims her power.
Alam
Writer-director Firas Khoury refreshingly normalizes the lives of a group of Palestinian teens in Israel and then adds a political overlay in this notable debut that deserves more attention than accorded in Toronto.
Mother Earth’s Inner Organs
Ana Bravo-Perez searches for the demons released by the extraction of fossil fuels from her native Colombia in this disquieting hybrid documentary.
Light Upon Light
Danish director and anthropologist Christian Suhr’s feature documentary offers a respectful yet compelling peek into the surprisingly diverse communities of Sufi worshippers within the Islamic tradition of Egypt.
IDFA 2022: The Awards
Lea Glob’s ‘Apolonia, Apolonia’, an exploration of what’s at stake in an artist’s life, wins the International Competition at IDFA 2022.
Something You Said Last Night
Luis De Filippis’ laid-back tale about an embattled but loving family on vacation pops with a riveting Carmen Madonia as the trans sister.
19B
Ahmad Abdalla’s latest is a handsomely produced, effective drama about a redundant Cairene house guard, the sole resident of a dilapidated mansion, trying to stave off the encroaching collapse of his world.
Colette and Justin
Alain Kassanda connects Congolese history to family history in this revealing debut documentary.
Houria
Young actress Lyna Khoudri sparkles as an Algerian dance student forced to reorder her priorities after she is physically assaulted in an emotion-clad feminist drama directed by Mounia Meddour (‘Papicha’).
Merkel
The rise and tenure of Germany’s first female leader gets favourable treatment in this politically star-studded documentary by Eva Weber.
Money, Freedom, a Story of CFA Franc
Lena Ndiaye’s documentary may be the most important contemporary document on Francophone Africa’s malignant economic relations with France.
Thessaloniki International Film Festival: The Verdict
After a muted few years of Covid caution, the 63rd edition of My Big Fat Greek Film Festival was back in full Dionysian mode.
Black Stone
Greek-British director Spiros Jacovides transforms an eccentric Athens family’s secrets and lies into warm-hearted comedy in his prize-winning debut feature ‘Black Stone’.
Free Money
Lauren DeFilippo and Sam Soko examine a newfangled Western method of aid to Africa and return with predictable answers in this largely agreeable fare.
Paradise
In stunning images, Alexander Abaturov’s debut shows global warming heroes in far-flung northeastern Siberia, abandoned by the Russian government.
Much Ado About Dying
Simon Chambers’ family-filming-family masterpiece is a tender and often funny chronicle of a dying man who secretes his brilliant charisma every moment the camera finds him awake.
Awards of the 63rd Thessaloniki Intl. Film Festival
Valentina Maurel’s dysfunctional father-daughter drama is the big winner at Thessaloniki.
Bastards
A youthful gathering in a sunny Greek villa becomes an orgy of sex, drugs and violence in ‘Bastards’, a flawed but lively debut feature from director Nikos Pastras.
Stuntwomen
A fascinating and troubling behind-the-scenes look into the work of female stuntwomen, who must frequently portray victims at the hands of violent men.
Manifesto
A profoundly disturbing found-footage assemblage portraying a young Russian live-streaming generation brainwashed by militarised education and normalised violence.
Apolonia, Apolonia
A multi-layered, intensely personal exploration of what’s at stake in an artistic life, through a sprawling portrait of French painter Apolonia Sokol.
Behind The Haystacks
Writer-director Asimina Proedrou’s grimly compelling debut feature ‘Behind The Haystacks’ is a contemporary Greek tragedy about family conflicts and border tensions.
How is Katia?
A Ukrainian paramedic wrestles with personal tragedy and public injustice in Christina Tynkevych’s powerful, prize-winning fiction-feature debut ‘How is Katia?’
Iman
A Greek-Cypriot family fall apart against a backdrop of terrorism and racial tension in ‘Iman’, a glossy thriller from writer-director duo Corinna Avraamidou and Kyriacos Tofarides
The Taste of Apples is Red
Director Ehab Tarabieh’s debut fiction feature ‘The Taste of Apples is Red’ is a brooding slow-burn thriller about long-buried family secrets returning to haunt a close-knit Druze village in the Golan Heights.
All You See
A highly stylised, thought-provoking meditation on being stared at without being truly seen, as female immigrants to the Netherlands reflect on their experiences across generations.
Devil’s Peak
Simon Liu utilises his familiar febrile aesthetic as a way to explore and represent Hong Kong’s tumultuous recent history, to deeply disquieting effect.
Narcosis
A grieving family struggle to move beyond tragedy in Martijn de Jong’s poetically filmed debut feature ‘ Narcosis’, the official Dutch submission to the Oscars.
IDFA’s Orwa Nyrabia on How Festivals Stay Relevant
The artistic director of IDFA speaks his mind to TFV critics Oris Aigbokhaevbolo and Carmen Gray in an interview that reveals profound thinking about what a film festival is and its importance in times of war and political despair.
Aurora’s Sunrise
A powerful, accessible blend of animation and archive that bears witness to the Armenian genocide through the eyes of survivor and Hollywood silent star Aurora Mardiganian.
Cavewoman
Director Spiros Stathoulopoulos reimagines the ancient Greek drama ‘Electra’ as a World War II revenge thriller in ‘Cavewoman’, a boldly experimental mix of close-up acting and rich sound design.
Retreat
A father and son share a tense, creepy mountain holiday in Swiss director Leon Schwitter’s minor-key but atmospheric debut ‘Retreat’.
Maria Novaro Speaks to TFV
The head of the Mexican Film Institute on how IMCINE has fostered the growing number of women filmmakers in Mexico and on the launch of TFV’s Spanish language reviews in Cine Verdict.
CINE VERDICT: Maria Novaro Habla de cine
La directora del Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía habla sobre cómo el IMCINE ha fomentado el creciente número de mujeres cineastas en México y sobre el lanzamiento de las reseñas en español de TFV en Cine Verdict.
CINE VERDICT: Endangered
En Endangered las documentalistas Heidi Ewing y Rachel Grady hablan con urgencia pero sin sensacionalismo al reportar los peligros que enfrenta la prensa en lugares sin conflicto armado declarado.
Endangered
In Endangered documentarists Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are urgent but never sensationalistic in reporting on the dangers faced by the press in places where there is no official armed conflict.
Venus
Catalonian director and horror specialist Jaume Balaguero’s latest offering is a messy and almost incoherent tale of demonic uprising.
CINE VERDICT: Venus
La más reciente película del director catalán y especialista en horror Jaume Balagueró es una desordenada y casi incoherente historia de surgimiento diabólico.
Home is Somewhere Else
My home is somewhere else, is a bilingual “animentary” uses the voices of Mexican immigrants, both legal and undocumented, to reveal their fears and dreams through imaginative drawings that allow for greater intimacy and understanding.
CINE VERDICT: Mi casa está en otra parte
Mi casa está en otra parte es un documental bilingüe que utiliza las voces de los inmigrantes mexicanos, legales e indocumentados, para revelar sus miedos y sus sueños a través de imaginativos dibujos de animacion que permiten una mayor intimidad y comprensión.
The Film Verdict launches CINE VERDICT
The Film Verdict (TFV) is proud to announce the debut of CINE VERDICT, a section featuring Spanish language content written by Spanish language critics for the international marketplace. CINE VERDICT is conceived as a tool for Spanish language professionals who buy,...
DOK Leipzig 2022: The Awards
Theo Montoya’s debut feature ‘Anhell69’ featuring the queer young generation in Colombia wins the International Competition at DOK Leipzig.
DOK Leipzig 2022: The Verdict
The 65th edition of East Germany’s longest-running independent film festival offered a lively mix of parties and premieres, critical voices and formal experiments.
A Hawk as Big as a Horse
An offbeat, multi-layered “documentary fairytale” in which a film crew help a bi-gender ornithologist enact Twin Peaks-inspired fantasies in the woods outside Moscow.
The Pawnshop
Polish director Lukasz Kowalski celebrates a different kind of pawn star in his prize-winning docu-comedy debut ‘The Pawnshop’.
Motorrodillo
This observational documentary follows the travails of a female driver who is part a grass-roots public transit system connecting the villages of northern Colombia.
One Mother
French director Mickaël Bandela reassembles his broken family history into a multi-media memory mixtape in his messy but stylish bio-documentary ‘One Mother’.
Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudovic Reels
Prize-winning Serbian director Mila Turajlic unearths a fascinating lost chapter in Cold War history in her latest archive-heavy documentary ‘Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudovic Reels.’
Subtraction
Two of Iran’s biggest actors, Taraneh Alidoosti and Navid Mohammadzadeh, play double roles in Mani Haghighi’s chilling, fast-paced thriller with allegorical overtones about life in contemporary Iran.
Sub Terra
Life is seen through the eyes of a mysterious creature living beneath the soil in this curious but at times unsettling underground animation from Jeffrey Zablotny.
A Life Like Any Other
A searching and honest recalibration of one family’s narrative, as the director reinterprets her father’s obsessive home movies from her mother’s perspective of domestic unfulfillment.
The Mechanics of Fluids
Gala Hernandez Lopez’s essay film addresses the incel phenomena from a position of fascination and empathy, seeking to understand the pain of isolation in a connected world.International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film
The Dependents
Canadian diplomat’s daughter Sofia Brockenshire assembles a rich mosaic of memories from her family’s globe-trotting history in her visually impressive essay-film debut ‘The Dependents’.
The Homes We Carry
Afro-German documentary director Brenda Akele Jorde’s debut feature ‘The Homes We Carry’ is a touching family saga of love and loss, historic betrayal and mixed cultural identity.
Make or Break
This atmospheric animated documentary uses collage and fleeting rotoscoped drawings to convey the brutality and dislocating effect of state care in the GDR.
On Taphonomy
The life and work of German palaeontologist Johannes Weigelt is itself placed under the microscope in this inventive and unexpectedly charged miniature portrait.
A Bunch of Amateurs
In her prize-winning documentary ‘A Bunch of Amateurs’, director Kim Hopkins finds hope, humour and heart-warming humanity in an ailing amateur film-making club in northern England.
The Hamlet Syndrome
A few months before Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country began, a group of five young Ukrainian men and women, not all of whom were professional actors, collaboratively developed a theatrical production. They examined their experiences of armed conflict and...
Geographies of Solitude
This warm and inquisitive documentary is both a portrait of activist and self-taught scientist and the spit of land she’s called home for forty years.
Cowboy Poets
Mike Day’s gently ambling documentary offers a fragmentary look at the unique tradition of cowboy poetry.
Klokkenluider
Featuring a strong ensemble cast including Tom Burke and Jenna Coleman, Neil Maskell’s directing debut ‘Klokkenluider’ is a chilling comedy conspiracy thriller about whistleblowers on the run from mortal danger.
She Said
Director Maria Schrader’s timely and gripping newsroom drama ‘She Said’ stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as the campaigning reporters who helped bring Harvey Weinstein to justice.
The Visitor
Martin Boulocq’s timely drama exposes a complex web of family, class, and economic codependency in modern Bolivia, where evangelical churches recruit and exploit indigenous communities.
Pretty Red Dress
In ‘Pretty Red Dress’, the vibrant debut feature from British writer-director Dionne Edwards, a troubled family of black Londoners learn to express their true selves with a little help from Tina Turner and a fabulous frock.
Mirror Mirror
Three women struggle for independence in an increasingly conservative society in Belmin Söylemez’s award-winning drama set in an Istanbul acting workshop.
Black Night
A man’s search for redemption after participating in a group murder neatly exposes a community’s moral rot in Ozcan Alper’s rugged mountain thriller, winner of the best Turkish film award at Antalya.
Rheingold
German-Turkish director Fatih Akin’s Wagnerian hip-hop biopic ‘Rheingold’ tells a lively but familiar raps-to-riches story.
Out of Darkness
A nomadic tribe clashes with mysterious monsters in director Andrew Cumming’s gripping, stylistically bold Stone Age survivalist horror thriller ‘The Origin’.
Stonewalling
Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka’s latest is slow but thoughtful and strangely engaging on the subject of a young Chinese woman on the verge of making a potentially life-changing decision.
Maternal
A cocky 14-year-old rebel becomes a mother in Pilar Palomero’s closely observed and vibrant tale, whose mixed pro/non-pro cast is convincingly upbeat.
San Sebastian: The Verdict
San Sebastian celebrated its 70th anniversary with grace and good programing.
Pornomelancolía
Director Manuel Abramovich’s controversial docu-fiction portrait of Mexican porn star Lalo Santos, ‘Pornomelancolía’ is empathetic and absorbing, despite being disowned by its leading man.
Marlowe
For the 100th film of his career, Liam Neeson switches from action thriller to classic film noir in a flyweight but generally entertaining post scriptum to Raymond Chandler’s immortal detective series, co-starring Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange.
San Sebastian: The Awards
San Sebastian’s top prize went to a Colombian coproduction for the first time in its history, and to a woman director for the third year running.
Runner
Writer-director Marian Mathias celebrates small acts of kindness and empathy in her opaque but haunting debut feature ‘Runner’.
Walk Up
Emotions are delicately explored over drinks in South Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s beguiling and deceptively simple relationship tale.
The Wonder
Oscar-winning director Sebastien Lelio’s handsome literary mystery thriller ‘The Wonder’ stars Florence Pugh as a kick-ass nurse fighting fake news and dubious miracles in 19th century Ireland.
The Substitute
Set in the barrios of Buenos Aires, Diego Lerman’s classroom drama movingly praises a dissatisfied young lit teacher who can’t help but interfere in his students’ lives.
Great Yarmouth – Provisional Figures
Brexit Britain offers only hellish horrors to exploited migrant workers in ‘Great Yarmouth – Provisional Figures’, a bleakly compelling social-realist thriller from Portuguese director Marco Martins.
Il Boemo
The life and loves of 18th century Czech opera composer Josef Myslivecek, and his dazzling Italian career and fall into obscurity, are lovingly and authentically reconstructed in Petr Vaclav’s sumptuous period production.
Thunder
Carmen Jaquier’s powerful debut feature ‘Thunder’ chronicles a stormy collision between religious faith and sexual rapture in early 20th century Switzerland.
Oldenburg International Film Festival: The Verdict
The emphatically indie small-town German fest continues to make a big splash with its eclectic mix of art-house, cult, experimental and left-field genre movies.
Sparta
Screening in San Sebastian competition after it was pulled from Toronto, Ulrich Seidl’s most controversial film to date underlines the sleaze and creepiness of pedophilia so forcefully it is painful to watch.
The Great Silence
Katrin Brocks’ feature debut takes full advantage of its exotic setting in a highly dramatized if not always convincing story about a devout young woman who’s about to become a nun when her violent brother turns up at the convent.
The Black Guelph
Actor turned director John Connors makes a powerful statement with his debut dramatic feature ‘The Black Guelph’, a gritty Irish crime thriller about secrets, lies and trauma passed down the generations.
Raw
The atmosphere is thick in this humid Andalusian-set drama in which a teenage boy encounters the first pangs of his burgeoning homosexuality.
The Sound of Dreaming
Lucid dreaming and entangled destinies give an otherworldly aspect to Kalani Gacon’s intoxicating and bittersweet tale of romantic longing in Kathmandu.
Aberrance
Director Baatar Batsukh raises the bar for Mongolian genre cinema with his twist-heavy, visually impressive psycho-horror debut ‘Aberrance’.
Prison 77
Director Alberto Rodriguez grippingly reconstructs the post-Franco years, using historical riots and prisoners demanding human rights as a microcosm of Spain as it made a screeching transition from fascism to democracy.
Radio Silence
A silly joke on a quiet weekend away becomes a painful indicator of impending doom in this low-key Norwegian break-up drama.
A Long Break
Years of guilt and shame are exorcised in Davit Pirtskhalava’s stagy drama tracking the aftershocks of bullying.
Parsley
Jose Maria Cabral’s historical drama about the appalling 1937 ‘Parsley massacre’ in the Dominican Republic is a well-mounted but utterly harrowing picture of atrocity.
Junk Space Berlin
Debutant director Juri Padel’s low-budget cyberpunk thriller ‘Junk Space Berlin’ elevates its scrambled plot and fuzzy intentions with dazzling digital glitch-art visuals.
Linoleum
Director Colin West’s soulful sci-fi comedy drama ‘Linoleum’ balances its sentimental message with sharp jokes, strong performances and deft plot twists.
Still Is
This ambiguous single-take drama poignantly depicts a mundane morning in a family home, subtly exploring grief and the ways we hold on and move on.
Our Father, The Devil
Revenge is not so sweet in ‘Our Father, The Devil,’ director Ellie Foumbi’s gripping, horror-tinged thriller about African immigrants with a shared history of violence.
The Gravity
Social tensions and strange cosmic disturbances collide in French director Cédric Ido’s imperfect but admirably ambitious genre-blurring thriller ‘The Gravity’.
Brasier
An 11-year-old girl has a sexual awakening when she joins an older girls’ football team, but she struggles to understand and control taboo desires.
Blanquita
A complex thriller based on a true sexual abuse scandal involving Chilean politicians, priests, businessmen and homeless children, where nobody is wholly innocent or guilty.
Brothers
A gory, suspenseful debut from Kazakhstan’s Darkhan Tulegenov offers a moody, pessimistic take on the crime thriller that interrogates class inequality and hypocrisy.
A Man Of Reason
Jung Woo-sung’s accomplished directorial debut is a South Korean actioner brimming with inventive flash that marks him as a filmmaker to watch.
Way Out Ahead Of Us
A vague, dreamlike lyricism is prioritised over socio-political critique in Rob Rice’s collaboratively-minded doc-fiction portrait of a family facing uncertain futures in the Californian desert.
We Don’t Dance for Nothing
A young Filipina migrant worker in Hong Kong dreams of dancing her way to freedom in Stefanos Tai’s imaginative photo-montage musical ‘We Don’t Dance for Nothing’.
The Fabelmans
Steven Spielberg solidifies his legendary origin story playing with truth, fiction, and the magic of moviemaking.
Look at Me
Javier Bardem and Chris Rock star in this febrile melodrama, directed by Sally Potter, about an explosive moment in a relationship.
Venice Film Festival 2022: The Awards
Strongly worded films with clear social and political attitudes took the prizes at the 79th Venice Film Festival, led by Laura Poitras’s Golden Lion winner ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.’
Daughter of Rage
Laura Baumeister’s feature debut is a critical and compassionate portrait of lives on the precarious edge of Nicaraguan society.
Venice 2022: The Verdict
A crowded, often frustrating reset of the first post-Covid festival partly obscured the high-quality programming.
I Like Movies
A caustically funny and sharply perceptive portrait of adolescence and the toxic perils of obsessive cinephilia.
Vicenta B.
Director Carlos Lechuga sends a powerful farewell letter to a country adrift in depression and despair in this heartbreaking chronicle of the post-Cuban revolution.
No Bears
The world premiere of Jafar Panahi’s simple but militantly engrossing ‘No Bears’, which comes to grips with the thin line between art and reality, took place in Venice competition while the director remained in prison in Tehran after his second arrest on July 11.
Christopher at Sea
Inspired by Schubert’s song cycle Die schone Mullerin, Christopher at Sea is a dizzying animated odyssey into solitude and obsessive, unrequited desire.
My Girl Friend
A harmless ruse to enable some teenage fumbling upsets the equilibrium of a relationship in Kawthar Younis’ pointed chamber piece.
The Listener
Steve Buscemi makes a rare return to directing for ‘The Listener’, starring Tessa Thompson, a well-meaning but slender single-person drama about hurting and healing in a post-Covid world.
Goliath
Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s reinvention of the western is a cutting political allegory, a taut revenge tale and a visual extravaganza rolled into one.
Tria
A family is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice in this stomach-churning dystopian tragedy about the chilling effects of social control.
Blonde
Pre-release hype will be the biggest friend to this mess of a pseudo-biopic that reduces Marilyn Monroe to a disturbed child-woman with Daddy issues, never offering a glimpse of the screen magic notwithstanding Ana de Armas’ impressive recreation.
Snow in September
A teenage boy’s worldview is unsettled by a confusing encounter with an older woman in this riveting Mongolian coming-of-age drama.
Beyond the Wall
A shattering drama that courageously portrays Iran as a violent Big Brother police state, Vahid Jalilvand’s third film is a shrill, breath-taking mind-trip driven by between two exceptional actors, Navid Mohammadzadeh and Diana Habibi.
Saint Omer
Alice Diop’s superb fiction debut is a marvel of control and depth, using the trial of a Senegalese woman guilty of killing her infant to honestly explore the complexities of motherhood while foregrounding it all within France’s racist currents.
Vera
Award-winning documentary team Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel plunge deep into the heart of the adult daughter of spaghetti western star Giuliano Gemma in a wonderfully touching film portrait that tips its Stetson at the illusory side of documentaries.
Lord of the Ants
Director Gianni Amelio recreates a dismaying but true story from 1960’s Italy, when a brilliant writer who does little to hide his love for young men is persecuted and put on trial by a laughably outmoded justice system.
Call of God
A young woman’s first love turns out to be a bad dream in the final film of South Korean master Kim Ki-duk, a visually striking if (for Kim) restrained relationship film that was posthumously completed by Estonian producer and director Artur Veeber.
The Eternal Daughter
Joanna Hogg’s latest exploration of mother-daughter relations sees Tilda Swinton playing both roles in an etiolated ghost story whose artificiality kills its characters despite Swinton’s admirable performances.
When the Waves Are Gone
Philippine auteur Lav Diaz offers a damning and doomed critique of the violent state of his country through the on-screen physical and psychological disintegration of a policeman weighed down by the guilt of his officially-sanctioned murderous past in ‘When the Waves Are Gone’.
Love Life
A young couple dealing with the tragic loss of a child finds their love for each other challenged in a deeply original drama from Koji Fukada (‘Harmonium’).
Amanda
Writer-director Carolina Cavalli paints a charming picture of a charmless heroine in her confidently quirky debut feature ‘Amanda’.
In Viaggio
Italy’s premier documaker Gianfranco Rosi turns his attention to Pope Francis and his non-stop foreign travels, stressing the ecumenical core of his messaging as he comments on the world’s horrors.
The Whale
In a career-best performance, Brendan Fraser turns Darren Aronofsky’s apartment-bound drama about an unhappy English teacher crippled by obesity and his daughter’s distance into a classic piece of filmmaking whose emotions are truly immense.
Immensity
Penélope Cruz is a joy as a 1970s mother whose free spirit is frozen by her husband’s stereotyped insensitivity, yet other elements of Emanuele Crialese’s film, which is equally focused on the daughter’s certainty she was born the wrong gender, are less transcendent.
The Last Queen
An old-fashioned historical epic on steroids in which a bloodthirsty corsair makes an alliance with the King of Algiers but then determines to conquer the ruler’s headstrong wife.
August Sky
This deft and low-key drama uses fires raging in the Amazon to explore how a young woman is drawn to religion in search of some form of stability.
North Pole
A teenage girl’s sense of isolation is writ large across the screen in this frosty Macedonian coming-of-age short that is warmed by a compelling lead performance.
The Baldwin Archives
A 1963 BBC interview with James Baldwin, and conducted by Peter Duval Smith, is recreated in this polished and energising narrative short.
5pm Seaside
Two men share in intimate and intense moment on a deserted shoreline in this short drama about violence, emancipation, and the fine lines between the two.
The Water Murmurs
Story Chen’s Palme D’Or-winning short is a mesmerising journey through memory and melancholia as a woman takes a farewell tour of her hometown.
Nezouh
Touches of magical realism aren’t enough to hold together this well-meaning yet clumsy story of an adolescent girl in war-torn Damascus whose father refuses to accept that changed circumstances make his pose as the family guardian irrelevant.
Master Gardener
A timely occasion to foreground the growing role of American extremists like the Proud Boys is largely manqué in Paul Schrader’s unconvincing story about a marked man trying to redeem himself, starring Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Artist Nan Goldin’s activism in holding the Sackler family accountable for the opioid crisis is seen as a natural extension of her rebellious, freely lived and proudly messy life in Laura Poitras’ well-structured, powerful documentary.
Bobi Wine: Ghetto President
Whatever its structural defects, Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp’s documentary is an important document of political tyranny in this decade.
Bones and All
Luca Guadagnino again proves his understanding of the yearning for a fellow soul that defines all feelings of difference in this beautifully played road trip movie which uses cannibalism as metaphor.
Like Turtles
Midlife crisis meets coming-of-ager in this sensitive, elegant first film set in Rome and directed by Italian actress Monica Dugo.
Padre Pio
Abel Ferrara’s total misfire aims to merge the story of a 1920 class-related massacre with the contemporaneous crisis of faith of Italy’s most popular 20th century saint, but the poor script, bad acting and overall lack of cohesion make this just a time-waster.
A Couple
A monologue on love, marriage, devotion and utter deception that will play best to fans of either Leo Tolstoy or Frederick Wiseman — perhaps to both.
The Origin of Evil
A wicked French thriller that goes overboard but does it in fun and clever ways, with nods to both Hitchcock and Chabrol.
Banu
War and patriarchy deprive Azerbaijani women of their sons in an intimate, courageous drama that intertwines personal and political plot lines, directed and acted by first-time director Tahmina Rafaella.
White Noise
Noah Baumbach and an inspired cast headlining Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig enjoyably bring Don DeLillo’s “unfilmable” novel about America in the Eighties to life with retro gusto, while straining to make it relevant.
Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous
Paris-based Lebanese filmmaker Wissam Charaf’s second feature takes a delicately droll and deadpan approach in depicting social malaise in Beirut, as seen by a migrant Ethiopian maid and a bomb-surviving Syrian refugee.
Princess
A rare fictionalized look at a Nigerian sex worker in Italy that celebrates its subject, flaws and all, with a spirited central performance and a laudable sensitivity destined to find welcoming arms worldwide.
The March on Rome
Mark Cousins’ thought-provoking examination of the rise of Fascism through a detailed analysis of a 1922 propaganda film that signaled the start of a far-right ideology whose insidious roots continue to find fertile ground.
Sarajevo Film Festival 2022: The Verdict
The Balkan region’s prime cinematic gathering bounced back from pandemic shutdown with a strong film program, starry guests and plenty of party attitude.
You Will Not Have My Hate
Director Kilian Riedhof’s deluxe weepie ‘You Will Not Have My Hate’ is based on a best-selling memoir about a Parisian family dealing with the aftermath of terrorist violence.
Sarajevo 2022: The Awards
Croatian director and actor Juraj Lerotic was the big winner at Sarajevo, taking home both the Best Film and Best Actor prizes for his sensitive and devastating feature ‘Safe Place’.
Love Dog
This debut feature from Bianca Lucas is an unusual portrait of contemporary America and an incredibly intimate, heart-wrenching depiction of grief.
The Eclipse
The past is a foreign country full of shadowy horrors in ‘The Eclipse’, Serbian director Nataša Urban’s prize-winning documentary about unreliable memory and collective amnesia.
Ribs
Farah Hasanbegovic uses a beautifully simple hand-drawn animation style to bring to life this meditation on physical limitations and finding acceptance in our own bodies.
That’s How The Summer Ended
Atmosphere is everything in this ambiguous, slightly absurd short that leaves a great deal left unsaid, but perfects a lingering sense of melancholy.
No Place for You in Our Town
This engrossed fly-on-the-wall style documentary follows a group of Bulgarian football hooligans, detailing their highs and lows in a changing world.
Six Weeks
A rebellious teenage mother gives her newborn baby daughter up for adoption in Noemi Veronika Szakonyi’s emotionally raw, elegantly shot drama ‘Six Weeks’.
Riders
Two unlikely Balkan bikers and a Slavic Pixie Dream Girl share an eventful road trip in ‘Riders’, director Dominik Mencej’s slight but sweet semi-homage to ‘Easy Rider’.
Atonal Glow
This portrait of a musical prodigy brims with the same energy as its subject’s piano playing while depicting the boy as well as the talent.
Another Spring
Serbian director Mladen Kovacevic finds echoes of the current Covid pandemic in Europe’s last smallpox outbreak in his artful, atmospheric found-footage documentary ‘Another Spring’.
Safe Place
Raw, authentic emotion and inventive lyricism combine in Juraj Lerotic’s sensitive, devastating reckoning with an acute mental health crisis in the family.
Babajanja
This personal essay film inflected with horror movie motifs delves into childhood notions of bogeymen and the sobering truth behind them.
Men of Deeds
A murder cover-up in a corrupt town is the catalyst for an inept police chief’s crisis of conscience in Paul Negoescu’s downbeat portrait of masculinity in meltdown ‘Men of Deeds’.
Locarno 2022: The Verdict
The 75th edition of the Locarno Film Festival reinforced what’s been apparent for some time: programming a major festival largely composed of world premieres that falls between Cannes and Venice is no easy task. Embracing its cinephilic reputation with more conviction...
Liturgy of Anti-tank Obstacles
This deceptively simple documentary explores the nature of creation by juxtaposing the work of Ukrainian sculptors who’ve turned their hands to the war effort.
Locarno 2022: The Awards
Brazilian director Julia Murat’s bold, brave and important feature ‘Rule 34’ (‘Regra 34’) walked off with the Pardo d’oro for best film at Locarno in a surprise win.
Bachelorette Party
The celebration of a forthcoming marriage is depicted with poignancy and subtlety in Lola Cambourieu and Yann Berlier’s intimate short.
Serviam – I Will Serve
A twisted sister at an all-girl Catholic school pushes her fanatical faith to dangerous extremes in Ruth Mader’s gripping psycho-horror thriller ‘Serviam – I Will Serve’.
Our Lady of the Chinese Shop
Complex and a bit obscure, Ery Claver’s directing debut is a clever contemplation of religion, power, and politics in Angola.
Loving Highsmith
Swiss director Eva Vitija gets up close and personal with much-filmed thriller author and queer icon Patricia Highsmith in her well-crafted documentary ‘Loving Highsmith’.
Rule 34
Julia Murat’s film about a law student with a pornographic pastime is a brave, immoral, and important work.
Matadero
Director Santiago Fillol revisits the brutal political climate of 1970s Argentina through the lens of cinema in his dry but elegant period thriller ‘Matadero’.
Matter Out of Place
Award-winning documentary director Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s latest exquisitely composed opus looks at the global garbage crisis, from Maldive palm groves strewn with plastic to festering landfills, encompassing community rubbish collections and recycling plants in a cinema-essay style whose noninterventionist approach caters to audiences already committed to the cause.
A Woman
Past the rather dull international title, Jean Paul Civeyrac’s ‘A Woman’ is a serviceable drama with thriller-esque features and Sophie Marceau in the lead role.
Stella in Love
A troubled teenage girl finds love and liberation in the nightclubs of 1980s Paris in director Sylvie Verheyde’s slight but charming autobiographical retro-drama ‘Stella in Love’.
I Have Electric Dreams
There’s much to admire in Valentina Maurel’s dramatic depiction of a dysfunctional father and daughter relationship, chiefly its terrific performances
Little Ones
Debuting director Julie Lerat-Gersant imbues tremendous sympathy for her 16-year-old pregnant protagonist in this unpretentious, heartfelt drama whose overall predictability doesn’t detract from its modest strengths.
A Perfect Day for Caribou
Jeff Rutherford’s debut feature film is enlivened by a screenplay packed with truths about the damage parents and partners can cause.
Medusa Deluxe
Debut director Thomas Hardiman’s off-beat single-shot murder mystery ‘Medusa Deluxe’ is a dazzling catwalk show of spiky comedy, fluid camerawork and fabulous hair.
Fairytale
Alexander Sokurov indulges his fascination with the corrosiveness of power in this mesmeric, bewildering and often tedious phantasmagoria combining deep fake technology with the graphic arts.
Tommy Guns
Backed by Vasco Viana’s superb cinematography, Carlos Conceição’s film about a squadron of soldiers in pre-independence Angola rises above its narrative gaps.
Stone Turtle
An intriguing though not always well-integrated attempt to engage with different forms of storytelling, including traditional Malaysian folklore, at the service of a feminist revenge tale.
Lola
A pair of eccentric bohemian sisters build a machine that can change the future in Irish director Andrew Legge’s flawed but admirably ambitious lo-fi sci-fi oddity ‘Lola’.
My Neighbor Adolf
A misfire of perplexing obliviousness, in which we’re meant to believe that Udo Kier’s character once bore a striking resemblance to Hitler. The best that can be said about this limp comedy is that it could have been far more offensive.
Declaration
Class inequality, corruption and power dynamics between the sexes is the background to this working-class Malayalam drama anchored by the nuanced female lead, played by Divya Prabha, and mesmeric images in a latex glove factory.
Bullet Train
Brad Pitt plays a laconic hit man in director David Leitch’s ‘Bullet Train’, a laborious action comedy about mayhem and murder on an Oriental express.
LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL AUG. 3-13, 2022
A Far Shore
Japanese director Masaaki Kudo turns a compassionate eye on a 17-year-old nightclub hostess with a toddler, sent skidding toward prostitution in a heart-felt story set on Okinawa.
June Zero
Director Jake Paltrow’s multi-character drama about the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, ‘June Zero’ is a bold but muddled patchwork.
My Love Affair With Marriage
Signe Baumane’s animated feature is so brilliant in presenting a female perspective on love and marriage that you forgive its need to tell us the science behind romance.
In Broad Daylight
Ambiguity abounds in Emmanuel Tardif’s elusive Québécois drama about a family’s self-imposed isolation after an unexpected event and the spreading fractures in their fragile status quo.
Pamfir
Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s debut is a propulsive drama employing folkloric elements and mythic overtones in its portrayal of a man trying to navigate a provincial criminal underworld.
You Have to Come and See It
Spanish director Jonas Trueba reunites his favorite actors for a 64-minute chamber piece, in a relaxed, engaging, free-wheeling exchange of moods and ideas between two 30-something couples.
Karlovy Vary: The Verdict
The masks were off and the parties were on at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 1-9) in a 56th edition brimming with street music, audiences hungry for edgy new movies and civilian crowds gaily mixing with festival-goers in what felt like the first...
Karlovy Vary 2022: The Awards
CRYSTAL GLOBE COMPETITION Grand Prix – Crystal Globe SUMMER WITH HOPE Directed by: Sadaf FOROUGHI Special Jury Prize YOU HAVE TO COME AND SEE IT Directed by: Jonás Trueba Best Director Beata PARKANOVA for WORD Best Actress (jointly awarded) Taki...
Beautiful Beings
Cruel and delicate, this Icelandic drama shows troubled kids as the product of the actions and inactions of adults.
See You Friday, Robinson
Two cultural titans, Jean-Luc Godard and Ebrahim Golestan, exchange online messages in director Mitra Farahani’s scrappy but sporadically charming documentary ‘See You Friday, Robinson’.
Zoo Lock Down
Andreas Horvath’s observational documentary offers a different, meditative view of animals in captivity, whose uneventful lives without a human audience inevitably recall our own experience with the pandemic.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
Director Nina Menkes attacks cinema’s long history of sexism, including some canonical male directors, in her timely and enjoyably polemical filmed lecture ‘Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power’.
The Trees
The nature of loss both personal and planetary become intertwined in Ramzi Bashour’s mordantly comic drama about a man returning home after his father’s death.
Summer with Hope
Canadian-based filmmaker Sadaf Foroughi (‘Ava’, 2017) revisits the theme of teenage rebellion in middle-class Iran in a drama full of danger and nervous energy.
Rubikon
Austrian director Magdalena Lauritsch’s sci-fi eco-disaster movie ‘Rubikon’ is an admirably ambitious but dramatically flawed debut.
A Provincial Hospital
The Covid ward of a hospital in a town in western Bulgaria is the subject of this clear-eyed observational documentary about the perseverance of both its staff and patients.
Like a Fish on the Moon
Iranian director Dornaz Hajiha pushes maternal and paternal sentiment to anguishing extremes in an intriguing and intensely acted debut feature, but the ending is missing.
Banger
Drugs, rap music and reckless hunger for fame prove to be a potent cocktail in Czech writer-director Adam Sedlák’s enjoyably cartoonish comedy thriller ‘Banger’.
Catcave Hysteria
The women’s toilet in a nightclub becomes the site of miniature disasters and minor catastrophes in Angelika Abramovitch’s multi-stranded and surprisingly affecting short.
Fools
Tomasz Wasilewski’s oblique new drama is a slowly unwinding puzzle in which a couple’s life is thrown into disarray when one of them brings her ill son to live with them.
Silence 6-9
Actor-director Christos Passalis draws on his Greek Weird Wave roots for ‘Silence 6-9’. a cryptic but mostly impressive debut feature.
Ramona
A layered, mellow rom-com follows an aspiring, insecure actress torn between two love interests and careers in modern-day Madrid.
America
Ofir Raul Graizer’s sophomore feature is a novelistic exploration of duty and companionship that is as vibrant and colourful as it is humane.
Art Talent Show
A wild documentary ride through the selection process at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where the teaching staff brainstorms to test the hidden talent of young applicants, and future artists do their best to make the undefined grade.
Lynch/Oz
Director Alexandre Philippe’s undisciplined but insightful documentary ‘Lynch/Oz’ explores the influence of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ on David Lynch’s surreal cinematic universe.
Strasbourg 1518
Jonathan Glazer’s lockdown short embraces the urge to dance, re-framing a 16th century madness into an infectious ode to perseverance in the pandemic era.
Borders of Love
A couple decide to broaden their sexual horizons with increasingly complicated results in Tomasz Winski’s knotty and intimate examination of honesty within relationship dynamics.
A Room of My Own
A young Georgian woman struggles to overcome stifling sexism and emotional trauma in director Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze’s worthy but muted chamber drama ‘A Room of My Own’.
The Uncle
A family celebration in 1980s Yugoslavia turns out to be anything but in this unnerving chamber piece that peppers farcical notes into an otherwise stomach-churning thriller.
The Word
A small-town notary and his unbending wife put honor and honesty first in an uplifting if under-dramatized story from the Czech Republic’s Communist past, directed by Beata Parkanova.
Pietà
Baroque stylings and meticulous composition create a hermetically sealed world in Eduardo Casanova’s ornate tale of overbearing matriarchal control.
You Won’t Be Alone
Noomi Rapace is among the moving female cast of Goran Stolevski’s Macedonian folk tale about blood-sucking, shape-shifting witches who offer body horror at its scariest, yet it’s also full of poetry, with a lot to say about women and life on Earth.
Horseplay
Argentinean director Marco Berger turns his queer eye on the straight guys in ‘Horseplay’, a darkly funny critique of homophobic machismo.
The Night
Tsai Ming-liang is a master of the meditative short and he’s on exemplary form again with this nocturnal moment of rest in a restless Hong Kong.
And Then There Was Love…
A woman seeks a fortune teller’s guidance about her ailing love life in this discursive but affecting portrait of generational trauma and self-love.
Vesper
Engrossing and full of credible Euro SFX, the Lithuanian-French sci fi fantasy featuring Raffiella Chapman as a 13-year-old, self-taught scientist looking for a way out of a socially and environmentally sick world, seems targeted at imaginative YA audiences.
Fucking Bornholm
Polish director Anna Kazejak chronicles scenes from a collapsing marriage in her darkly comic holiday-from-hell psychodrama ‘Fucking Bornholm’.
Sideral
Brazil’s first manned rocket launch provides a catalyst for transformation and a leftfield opportunity for escape in Carlos Segundo’s bittersweet and dryly absurdist short.
God is a Beetle
Felix Herrmann’s hybrid film is an occasionally dry but frank examination of faith, feminism, and ambition in the modern world.
Mother
German writer-director Carolin Schmitz takes a journey from here to maternity in her fresh but slight docu-drama hybrid ‘Mother’.
Butterfly Vision
Maksym Nakonechnyi’s carefully calibrated drama about a young Ukrainian woman soldier who returns home in a prisoner exchange, tortured and pregnant, projects a more human, less heroic view of the Ukraine-Russia war while it affirms a woman’s right to choice vis-à-vis maternity.
Everybody Wants to be Loved
Katharina Woll handles her delightful debut feature film with the grace and sensitivity of a much more experienced filmmaker, with a hand from lead actress Anne Ratte-Polle.
It’s In Us All
A random tragedy exposes the dark heart of a rural Irish community in ‘It’s In Us All’, the absorbing debut feature from actor-director Antonia Campbell-Hughes.
Elfriede Jelinek – Language Unleashed
Claudia Müller’s dense, cerebral exploration of the Austrian Nobel winner’s life and politics confirms her unique and complex place in European letters.
Performer
An otherwise solid examination of a young man’s masculinity dircted by newcomer Oliver Grüttner isn’t quite sure if it seeks to praise or condemn.
All Russians Love Birch Trees
A grieving young woman tries to make sense of her shattered life in director Pola Beck’s sensually rich literary adaptation ‘All Russians Love Birch Trees’.
Carajita
Class and race intersect in a suspenseful drama set in the Dominican Republic, where loyalties get tested when a Black nanny raises the spoilt brat of a wealthy white family.
The Ordinaries
A richly satirical sci-fi allegory with an edge of biting social commentary, writer-director Sophie Linnenbaum’s impressive feature debut ‘The Ordinaries’ is anything but ordinary.
So Long Daddy, See You In Hell
Teenage rebels confront the sexually abusive leader of a cult-like commune in German director Christopher Roth’s timely, engrossing, based-on-reality drama ‘So Long Daddy, See You in Hell’.
Paloma
Actress Kika Sena takes director Marcelo Gomes’s story of a young trans woman to another level as Paloma, a romantic mother and farm worker who dreams of a formal church wedding,
Woman on the Roof
In writer-director Anna Jadowska’s sensitive whydunit, veteran Polish actress and Tribeca winner Dorota Pomykala plunges the viewer into psychological depths in her deftly nuanced portrait of a 60-year-old who tries to rob a bank with a kitchen knife.
One Day in Ukraine
Ordinary Ukrainians — soldiers, civilians and volunteers — make gripping subjects in Volodymyr Tykhyy’s utterly realistic doc, depicting life in post-apocalyptic Kyiv as the populace braces for a very long war.
Sirens
Director Rita Baghdadi’s engaging, ear-bashing documentary ‘Sirens’ chronicles the emotional and political struggles of Lebanon’s first all-female thrash metal band.
The Taking
Director Alexandre Philippe’s latest essay-film ‘The Taking’ is a thoughtful, visually ravishing, politically charged rumination on American cinema’s oldest rock stars.
Son of Man
A transgender man whose teenage daughter is about to learn his well-kept secret is at the heart of a serviceably shot but deeply felt Iranian drama directed by Sepideh Mir Hosseini.
Cannes 2022: The Verdict
Along with the shiny gold button given to badge-holders celebrating Cannes’ 75th glorious anniversary, this year’s festival can justly be hailed as a return to normality after the Covid-19 pandemic canceled it in 2020 and severely truncated it in 2021. Whether it’s...
Sick Of Myself
With a deft hand for black comedy, Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli takes his examination of modern narcissism to its body-horror extreme.
Cannes 2022: The Awards
Palme d'Or TRIANGLE OF SADNESS directed by Ruben ÖSTLUNDGrand Prix (jointly awarded) CLOSE directed by Lukas DHONTSTARS AT NOON directed by Claire DENISBest Director PARK Chan-wook for DECISION TO LEAVE Best Screenplay Tarik SALEH for BOY FROM HEAVEN Jury Prize...
The Worst Ones
Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s film is a solid debut indebted to the impressive performances of its child actors.
War Pony
WINNER OF THE CAMERA D’OR IN CANNES FOR BEST FIRST FILM. ‘War Pony’, from first-time directing duo Riley Keough and Gina Gammell, deeply immerses the viewer in the roughshod coming-of-age drama of two teenage boys who live on the fringes of the law on a Native American reservation in South Dakota.
Mariupolis 2
Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravi?ius was killed by Russian soldiers after shooting footage for this gritty and unnerving documentary about life in the besieged, bombed-out Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
99 Moons
Sex and love don’t always make for ideal bedmates, and the strain one places on the other is at the heart of Swiss writer-director Jan Gassmann’s latest feature, 99 Moons. Provocative but also thought-provoking, this story of a couple that meets through a Tinder-like...
Don Juan
Director Serge Bozon offers up a dour, quirky Don Juan (played by Tahar Rahim) for the age of #MeToo.
Harka
Documentary director Lotfy Nathan’s prize-winning dramatic debut ‘Harka’ is a powerful if slightly heavy-handed take on injustice and protest in the Arab world.
The Natural History of Destruction
Sergei Loznitsa’s latest archival cinema essay, inspired by W.G. Sebald’s book and organized within a quasi-symphonic structure, lays out the brutality of fire bombings in World War II and the ways the war machine refused to acknowledge the human costs.
The Mountain
Thomas Salvador’s beguiling second feature innovatively combines a realistic first half with fantasy elements in the second without losing its earlier spirit, achieved through unpretentious storytelling, a superb visual eye and excellent special effects.
Son of Ramses
Clément Cogitore is less known in France as a feature filmmaker than as young and highly coveted visual artist, with shorts like the Siberia-set documentary, Braguino, and the crunk dance battle/opera piece Les Indes galantes — both released in 2017 — sealing his...
Godland
Magisterial in the manner of 19th century epic novels and visually influenced by that era’s photography, Hlynur Pálmason’s third feature is a stunning, psychologically rich tale set against Iceland’s awe-inspiring landscapes.
Stars at Noon
CANNES GRAND PRIX – JOINTLY AWARDED, REVIEWED MAY 26 Set in Central America, Claire Denis’ second English-language film is more straightforward than most of her works but is unmistakably hers in the way she suspends her complex characters in the sweaty grasp of a tropical setting.
Close
CANNES GRAND PRIX, JOINTLY AWARDED – REVIEWED MAY 27 Lukas Dhont’s gut-wrenching second feature is a stunning ode to adolescent same-sex friendship and a powerful critique of the ways society normalizes aggression while demonizing physical tenderness.
Triangle of Sadness
PALME D’OR IN CANNES, REVIEWED MAY 22 Swedish social satirist Ruben Östlund returns to Cannes with ‘Triangle of Sadness’, another sprawling but roaringly funny attack on wealth, beauty and privilege.
Ice Merchants
A father and son make daily parachute jumps from their cliffside home to sell ice in João Gonzalez’s gripping and poignant animation.
Mother and Son
Prize-winning French writer-director Léonor Serraille plots a multi-decade family saga in her ambitious but uneven second feature ‘Mother and Son’.
Joyland
Winner of the Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard, Sadiq’s delicate first feature explores the destructive force of patriarchy in a Pakistani family and the fallout from a long-unemployed man’s work at an erotic dance theatre.
Night Light
A teenager cares for her younger siblings in this delicate portrait of familial love and the desire to hold on to a semblance of childhood.
The Blue Caftan
After her award-winning ‘Adam’, writer-director Maryam Touzani affirms her strong storytelling skills in a hugely touching love story set in an old Moroccan medina, where Lubna Azabal battles illness to be with her homosexual husband Saleh Bakri.
Showing Up
Michelle Williams reunites with feted indie writer-director Kelly Reichardt for ‘Showing Up’, a modest but moving portrait of frustrated artists and dysfunctional families.
Persona
A young woman wrestles with the duality of her private self and her public persona in this brief but highly effective South Korean animation.
Tsutsue
Two boys struggle with the loss of their older brother in this liminal and haunting Ghanian drama from director Amartei Armar.
The Green Perfume
It’s the end of Europe as we know it, but stars Vincent Lacoste and Sandrine Kiberlain feel just fine in this breezy, rather trite French caper flick.
The Spiral
María Silvia Esteve’s new short is a bombastic and overwhelming voyage of colour and sound that conveys the psychological sensation of spiraling hypochondria.
The Silent Twins
Laetitia Wright and Tamara Lawrence play twisted sisters in director Agnieszka Smoczy?ska’s uneven but beguiling true story ‘The Silent Twins’.
Liquid Bread
An offbeat comedy about family dysfunction ultimately becomes a touching examination of how we deal with scars left on us by our histories.
Broker
Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu’s first film lensed in South Korea, about a well-intentioned gang who sell motherless babies, is a minor work with only distant echoes of his 2018 Palm d’Or winner Shoplifters, but still imbued with the filmmaker’s militant humanism.
Pacifiction
Spanish director Albert Serra’s slow-burning, suspenseful Tahiti-set tale pitches Benoît Magimel’s quasi-colonial official against nuclear conspiracies.
Elvis
Baz Luhrmann restores The King to his throne in his subjective but generous, imaginative and visually opulent rock’n’roll biopic ‘Elvis’.
Burning Days
Emin Alper’s best film to date is a searing drama of corruption in a small Turkish town that deftly tackles populism, environmental destruction and, surprisingly, homophobia.
The Pass
Pepi Ginsberg’s riveting drama tackles the combustible nature of repressed sexuality when a spot of wild swimming takes an unexpectedly dangerous turn.
On Xerxes’ Throne
The outlawing of physical contact creates a cauldron of unexpressed sensuality for the burnished and browbeaten shipyard workers of Evi Kalogiropoulou’s eerie dystopian short.
Leila’s Brothers
Director Saeed Roustaee (‘Just 6.5’) takes a hard turn into social drama with his epic saga about an Iranian family trying to claw its way out of poverty, beautifully shot, directed and acted.
Funny Pages
Actor turned director Owen Kline’s assured debut feature is a slimy, grimy comedy of failure and awkwardness.
The Dam
Lebanese artist-filmmaker Ali Cherri delivers a visually mesmerising and quietly political first feature, set among Sudanese bricklayers working on the biggest hydroelectrical dam in Africa.
Will You Look At Me
Shuli Huang’s intensely personal and moving diary film is like a heart-wrenching exploration of – and possibly coda to – his relationship with his mother.
Under the Fig Trees
A gently appealing choral work from Tunisia with a strong understanding of rhythm and balance that marks a strong first feature for documentary-trained Erige Sehiri.
Moonage Daydream
Director Brett Morgen’s overstuffed hot mess of a documentary ‘Moonage Daydream’ celebrates David Bowie’s legacy as a live performer, spiritual thinker and living work of art.
A Male
Gender construction is denounced in a raw, slow-burning exposé of toxic masculinity among Colombia’s street thugs.
The Pack
In this first-time feature from Colombia, a group of convicted juvenile criminals are stranded in a remote country estate, where they undergo a bizarre rehabilitation process while providing free labor for a gang of shady correctional officials. It’s an intriguing...
Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind
Ethan Coen’s first solo directing project without brother Joel. ‘Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind’ is a retro-rock documentary with a whole lotta shaking going on, but not much else.
Crimes of the Future
Legendary cult director David Cronenberg’s first film in eight years, ‘Crimes of the Future’ is an ambitious but unconvincing return to familiar body-horror themes.
Decision to Leave
Korean cult director Park Chan-wook takes us on the rollicking ride of a deconstructed murder investigation, complicated by obsessive love and betrayal.
More Than Ever
Death hovers over director Emily Atef’s fifth feature, More Than Ever (Plus Que Jamais), in unsettling ways. First, it fuels this solemn and emotionally gripping story about a woman in a relationship who's diagnosed with a rare lung disease and faced with her imminent...
Amo
Emmanuel Gras’ aesthetically minded short is an abstract vision that blends planetary movement and physical intimacy, playfully meditating on where exactly we come from.
Men
Jessie Buckley and multiple versions of Rory Kinnear co-star in writer-director Alex Garland’s impressively weird feminist folk-horror thriller ‘Men’.
How to Save A Dead Friend
Rebellious Russian filmmaker Marusya Syroechkovskaya’s directorial debut offers dynamic imagery and damning commentary about her stifled generation.
Smoking Causes Coughing
Prolific French absurdist Quentin Dupieux delivers low-tar laughs and comic-book gore in his fun but disjointed tenth feature, ‘Smoking Causes Coughing’.
R.M.N.
Cristian Mungiu’s excoriation of xenophobia in multiethnic Transylvania is a classic example of the director’s dedication to naturalism and boasts several superb sequences, but it tries a bit too hard to encompass more topics than it can comfortably handle.
My Imaginary Country
Though nothing like Patrizio Guzmán’s fabled ‘The Battle of Chile’ or ‘Nostalgia for the Light’, this energizing doc is still a master class on Chile’s recent nation-wide uprising for democracy and social justice.
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton star in ‘Mad Max’ creator George Miller’s ambitious but misfiring fairy-tale romance ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’.
Aftersun
Writer-director Charlotte Wells combines great performances, poetic visuals and bittersweet personal memories in her dazzling debut feature ‘Aftersun’.
The Woodcutter Story
Mikko Myllylahti’s impressive debut feature is a poetic and perplexing look at a man facing the diminishing of his life’s work with otherworldly stoicism.
The Stranger
Hinging on two compelling performances, this is an absorbing drama that blends the cat-and-mouse tension of a thriller with police procedural to gripping and haunting effect.
Boy From Heaven
A solid though cautious, slow-burn loss-of innocence tale wrapped around the struggle between State versus Religion set (but not shot) in Cairo and designed for Western consumption.
Enys Men
Experimental lo-fi director Mark Jenkin finds a rich seam of pagan folk-horror buried in the rocky terrain of England’s weird wild west in ‘Enys Men’.
Love According to Dalva
Director Emmanuel Nicot’s assured debut feature ‘Love According to Dalva’ navigates dark subject matter with compassion, warmth and great performances.
Corsage
Director Marie Kreutzer and star Vicky Krieps give a famous 19th century Austrian empress a subversive feminist remix in their joyously imaginative Cannes premiere ‘Corsage’.
Armageddon Time
An immersive portrait of writer-director James Gray’s family in 1980s Queens, N.Y. is woven around the young protag’s dawning social consciousness.
One Fine Morning
Léa Seydoux stars in feted French auteur Mia Hansen-Løve’s slender autobiographical rumination on love and loss ‘One Fine Morning’.
EO
Polish auteur Jerzy Skolimowski’s mix of beauty and bombast makes a donkey of a promising premise of making audiences observe a chaotic, cruel world through a braying animal’s eyes.
Father & Soldier
Mathieu Vadepied’s affecting portrait of paternal love hinges on intensely involving performances by Omar Sy and Alassane Diong, as an African father who goes to war to protect his conscript son.
Harkis
A fiery and timely reflection about a dark episode in French history at the risk of being written out of the books with the normalisation of far-right politics in the country.
Rodeo
Writer-director Lola Quivoron’s debut, Rodeo, belongs to a recent class of French films made by and about young women, with stories that combine the coming-of-age genre — what the French call un film d’initiation — with elements of a Hollywood thriller or horror...
God’s Creatures
Emily Watson plays a troubled Irish matriarch in ‘God’s Children’ a handsome but heavy-handed family psychodrama from directing duo Seala Davis and Anna Rose Holmer.
Scarlet
Pietro Marcello’s disappointing follow-up to “Martin Eden” combines uncharacteristically saccharine visuals with a weak narrative and treacly score.
Tchaikovsky’s Wife
A disappointingly anemic take on the great composer’s unfortunate marriage, gloriously shot by Vladislav Opelyants yet hampered by Kirill Serebrennikov’s less than penetrating narrative.
Still Working 9 to 5
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton look back on their ground-breaking feminist comedy hit ‘9 to 5’ in this timely documentary from directors Camille Hardman and Gary Lane.
Top Gun: Maverick
Tom Cruise returns to his career-making role as a hotshot U.S. Navy pilot in director Joseph Kosinski’s shallow but action-packed sequel ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Zero Position
Toronto photographer Louie Palu’s unstructured yet immersive trip into the Donbas war zones in 2016 makes a skin-crawling intro to the current invasion of Ukraine.
Wake Up Punk
Fashion icon Vivienne Westwood and her son Joe Corré attempt to reclaim punk’s radical roots in director Nigel Askew’s scrappy but engaging documentary ‘Wake Up Punk’.
World, Northern Hemisphere
Hossein Tehrani’s gently melancholy first feature about poor farm laborers, which won Tokyo’s Asian Future competition, reveals a strong new Iranian voice.
A Taste of Whale
The age-old Faroe Islands tradition of slaughtering pilot whales for their tasty meat gets pushback from animal rights activists in a documentary that raises more complex questions.
My Old School
Scottish director Jono McLeod’s debut documentary ‘My Old School’ is a highly entertaining account of an outlandish fraud and its lingering aftershocks.
The Devil’s Drivers
In a West Bank documentary that begins like a thriller and ends like a drama, Daniel Carsenty and Mohammed Abugeth introduce a new path into a conflict that never leaves the news.
When There Is No More Music To Write, and other Roman Stories
Éric Baudelaire riffs on the music and musical sensibility of Alvin Curran in this absorbing archival documentary about the revolutionary fervour of mid-century Rome.
Congress of Idling Persons
In this collaborative rumination on the nature and limits of political protest, Bassem Saad weaves together performance, found footage, and on-screen text with playful results.
Fire of Love
A phenomenal archive of cataclysmic imagery is the main attraction in Sara Dosa’s doc about star-crossed volcanologists, but it’s also imbued with their zeal.
Mangrove School
Filipa César and Sónia Vaz Borges explore the decolonising power of education in this tale of rebellious scholarship in the tangle of Guinea-Bissau’s mangrove swamps.
Boiling Point
ORIGINALLY REVIEWED OCT. 9, 2021 Stephen Graham gives a raw, red-meat performance as a troubled chef in this sizzling single-shot ensemble drama now on Netflix.
PRESS RELEASE
CINANDO AND THE FILM VERDICT REVITALIZE THE FILM REVIEW WITH AN EXCLUSIVE DIRECT ACCESS BUTTON TO FILMS ON CINANDO CINANDO and THE FILM VERDICT (TFV) announce an innovative new feature that will make the TFV film review a more valuable tool for film distribution...
Study of a Fight
A simple premise yields increasingly complex results in Marie Suul Brobakke’s dissection of a romantic relationship between two actors rehearsing a scene.
Abyss
In partnering with Google’s Image Recognition AI, Jeppe Lange has constructed a 100mph frenzy of match-cutting that is strange, rhythmic and at times somewhat profound.
AWARDS CORNER
Golden Alexander Award - International competition A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS (Denmark-Finland-Sweden-Ukraine) by Simon Lereng Wilmont Special Jury Award - International competition YOUNG PLATO (UK-Ireland-France-Belgium) by Declan McGrath and Neasa Ní Chianáin Golden...
Belfast
ORIGINALLY REVIEWED OCT. 13, 2021 Kenneth Branagh won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for this warm, funny, visually sumptuous autobiographical drama.
The Locust
Iranian filmmaker Faeze Azizkhani portrays the hazards of making a movie about yourself in a self-referential drama packed with anxiety and irony.
The Bride
An often poetic and fragmentary course on what it means to be a woman, Tiziano Doria and Samira Guadagnuolo’s The Bride is a demanding project that resists conventional storytelling and yet manages to be engaging.
The Invitation
Fabrizio Maltese’s new documentary is both an artfully captured portrait of Mauritania and a road trip guided by an elusive filmmaker and a watching spirit.
Golden Land
Following a man from Somaliland who journeys from Finland back to the country of his birth, Inka Achte’s documentary is engaging and often entertaining—with an unexplored darkness lodged within its heart.
Hostile
Sonita Gale’s documentary is an important examination of Britain’s devastating immigration practices over several decades.
You Are Not My Mother
Irish writer-director Kate Dolan’s prize-winning debut feature ‘You Are Not My Mother’ is a rich witches’ brew of psychological horror, social realism and creepy Celtic folklore.
F@ck This Job
Vera Krichevskaya’s lively documentary ‘F@ck This Job’ chronicles how a rebellious gang of champagne-loving Moscow socialites ended up running the last independent TV news channel in Putin’s increasingly repressive Russia.
A-ha: The Movie
A career-spanning documentary on Norway’s most successful pop band, ‘A-ha: The Movie’ is an earnest but mostly absorbing study of fame, friendship and midlife angst.
Rhino
ORIGINALLY REVIEWED SEPT. 13, 2021 Ukrainian activist Oleh Sentsov directs a hard-boiled gangster tale set in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, whose over-the-top violence is starkly undermotivated.
The Quiet Girl
A emotionally fragile schoolgirl spends a revelatory summer with foster parents in director Colm Bairéad’s haunting, prize-winning, Irish-language debut feature.
Heroines
Communal mythologies and the importance of historical forebears are explored in Marina Herrera’s quietly humorous hybrid documentary about a rebellious Indigenous woman.
Berlinale 2022: The Verdict
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Fogaréu
Debuting director Flávia Neves throws far too many elements into her overstuffed Gothic-tinged plot, intriguing enough to hold attention but too convoluted to withstand criticism.
Taurus
Musician Colson Baker, aka Machine Gun Kelly, plays a drug-damaged pop star in director Tim Sutton’s ‘Taurus’, a stylishly sleazy but self-indulgent depiction of toxic fame.
Haulout
Evgenia and Maxim Arbugaeva’s astonishing documentary captures the annual arrival of thousands of walruses on a remote beach in the Russian Arctic in awesome intimacy.
Una Femmina – The Code of Silence
A young woman learns her family is linked to the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate and other horrors in an authentically harrowing drama shot in Calabria.
Millie Lies Low
Millie foolishly lies low but the film should stand tall given how well it captures the excruciatingly relatable tribulations of a young New Zealand woman who digs herself into a very deep hole while attempting to preserve other peoples’ expectations.
It’s Raining Frogs Outside
Apocalypse anxiety, discomfort in the childhood home, and the effects of enforced isolation make for a heady brew in Maria Estela Paiso’s multimedia fever dream.
No Simple Way Home
Akuol de Mabior’s first feature-length documentary isn’t quite cohesive, but it offers a partial portrait of a troubled country and one of its female leaders.
Unrest
Cyril Schäublin’s Berlin prize-winner ‘Unrest’ is a playful, gently subversive, precision-tooled drama about anarchist watch-makers in 19th century Switzerland.
Working Class Heroes
The band of rowdy construction workers at the heart of Serbian director Milos Pusic’s dark new dramedy are not your typical Working Class Heroes, and the film’s title is meant to be taken somewhat ironically, or at least with a sizeable grain of salt. They are,...
Axiom
Jöns Jönsson’s intriguing slow-burner about a charismatic fabulist occasionally challenges our suspension of disbelief, but its exacting evocation of atmosphere nicely plays on the tension between normality and disruption.
Until Tomorrow
The rapidly changing social mores in Iran are highlighted in the dilemma of a single mother and her baby, directed by Ali Asgari with thriller-like tension.
North Terminal
A new documentary from Lucrecia Martel explores communal creativity and expressive performance by bringing together marginalised artists in the north of Argentina.
Trap
Anastasia Veber’s prize-winning drama is an evocative exploration of the lives of young people in contemporary Russia caught between aggression and eroticism, isolation and intimacy.
Happer’s Comet
Taylor Taormina’s experimental second feature captivates without telling a traditional story — or any story at all.
The Novelist’s Film
Hong Sang-soo’s 27th feature, and his third in competition in Berlin in as many years, offers his trademark acerbic humor, anchored by veteran Korean actress Lee Hye-young’s caustic turn as an embittered writer.
Memoir of a Veering Storm
This grainy, tender, and contemplative film by Sofia Georgovassili approaches a potentially traumatic coming-of-age drama through a fable-like, quotidian lens.
Leonora Addio
On his first completely solo flight directing without his late brother, Paolo Taviani pays a stirring salute to Sicily’s great novelist and playwright Luigi Pirandello.
Father’s Day
Through a triptych of stories, Kivu Ruhorahoza offers a critique of masculinity and patriarchy in his most accessible film to date.
No U-Turn
Another documentary subtly but clearly discouraging African migration, with the good sense to find camera-friendly subjects who imbue the film’s trite theme with humour and energy.
The Forger
Maggie Peren’s evocation of young, reckless Jewish forger Cioma Schönhaus during the dark days of Hitler’s Berlin is strong on physical atmosphere but can’t balance his devil-may-care spunk with a sense of what awaits should he be caught
One Year, One Night
Spanish director Isaki Lacuesta’s powerful eyewitness drama ‘One Year, One Night’ chronicles the shattering aftershocks of the 2015 Bataclan theatre attack on one young Parisian couple.
A Little Love Package
An experimental, hybrid film that in its disjointed way expresses nostalgia for nicotine, Kaffeehaus culture and family bonds, set in present-day Vienna.
Dry Ground Burning
A gang of tough queer women controls an illicit oil refinery in this grim neorealist documentary drama, set in Brazil’s largest shanty town.
Memories of the Eastern Front
The truth lies in the spaces between recorded history in Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflânc?’s austere and through-provoking silent documentary.
1341 Frames of Love and War
Magnum photographer Micha Bar-Am’s life and work is powerfully, sometimes painfully recounted through still images and offscreen voiceover in Ran Tal’s multilayered documentary that questions the psychological effects of shooting atrocities.
Return to Dust
Li Ruijun’s deeply felt portrait of mature love between two socially unvalued Chinese peasants is beautiful to look at, but labors to catch the emotional wave it promises.
The Passengers of the Night
French director Mikhaël Hers falls short of his Rohmer-esque ambitions in ‘Passengers of the Night’, a sprawling family drama set in 1980s Paris.
My Small Land
Japanese filmmaker Emma Kawawada takes the humanist cue from her mentor, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and adapt it to her warm and engaging directorial debut, in which a Kurdish-born Japanese teenager struggles to keep her life and dreams afloat when the authorities threaten to deport her family from the country.
Dragon Tooth
Through colourful, chemically contaminated found footage, Rafael Castanheira Parrode evocatively excavates the trauma of the 1987 radioactivity disaster in Goiânia, Brazil.
A E I O U — A Quick Alphabet of Love
A joyful, transgressively liberating ode to cinema and the way an unexpected passion can make societal barriers disappear, Nicolette Krebitz’s intelligently written and expertly crafted love story about an older woman and a much younger man is a delight.
KUDOS TO: MOHAMED HEFZY
When it was announced that Egyptian producer and screenwriter Mohamed Hefzy would be on the World Cinema Dramatic Competition jury at Sundance this year, following his recent jury stints at Venice and BFI London, we saw it as not just a recognition for the producer,...
Myanmar Diaries
An anonymous collective of Burmese filmmakers delivers a powerful statement of defiance against the murderous military dictatorship that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government on February 1, 2021.
Dreaming Walls
There’s not much new in this lovingly made impressionistic documentary about New York’s very well-chronicled Chelsea Hotel, but the place and its tenacious residents still have a pull.
Call Jane
Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver play abortion rights activists in director Phyllis Nagy’s worthy but timid debut feature ‘Call Jane’.
Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush
An indomitable Turkish woman living in Germany battles to free her son from imprisonment in Guantanamo in Andreas Dresen’s no-surprise recreation of a true story.
Both Sides of the Blade
French screen heavyweights Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon trade bruising blows in ‘Both Sides of the Blade’, a conventional but gripping love-triangle drama from veteran Gallic auteur Claire Denis.
Sonne
Gen Z’s creative use of video and chat powers Kurdwin Ayub’s knowing take on a teenage girl in Vienna forced to negotiate the tensions and expectations arising from her Kurdish identity.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack form a winning pair of performers in Sophie Hyde’s watchable story of sex positivity across age categories.
Nana: Before, Now & Then
Indonesian director Kamila Andini’s gently feminist historical drama ‘Nana: Before, Now & Then’ is visually exquisite but tastefully timid.
Coma
French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello’s work has often toed the line between narrative and the avant-garde, with plots that are chopped and screwed into a melee of images, sounds and music — the latter often beautifully composed by Bonello himself. His movies are less...
Convenience Store
A punishing film of unrelenting cruelty which seeks to draw attention to the plight of enslaved Central Asian workers in Russia, but its overstuffed plot and taunting hopelessness is more alienating than galvanizing.
This Much I Know To Be True
Australian rock duo Nick Cave and Warren Ellis bring their recent lockdown albums to life in Andrew Dominik’s handsome music documentary.
Dirndlschuld
Super 8 footage of an idyllic holiday destination provides the serene surface for Wilbirg Brainin-Donnenberg’s probe into the darker elements of history both political and personal.
Into My Name
Elliot Page’s attachment as executive producer will spur interest, but “Into My Name” stands on its own as a sensitive, humanist portrait of four young F to M trans Italians coming into their own.
Flux Gourmet
Cult director Peter Strickland’s culinary art-world satire ‘Flux Gourmet’ is enjoyably weird but ultimately undercooked.
Lullaby
Motherhood is de-glamourized in this gentle, honest account of parenting during stressful times, shot in Spain’s Basque country by director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa.
Rimini
Austrian actor Michael Thomas memorably embodies an off-season hotel singer who drinks to stave off loneliness in Ulrich Seidl’s arch, wintry and ultimately bleak reflection on human failings.
Dark Glasses
Less gore and more psychology should broaden the audience for Dario Argento’s kinky but strangely staid horror film about a slasher out to kill a blind prostitute.
Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?
Egyptian queer experimental cinema comes into its own with this playful, visually inventive sex-positive short feature that repurposes “One Thousand and One Nights” using gay Arab cultural signifiers.
Incredible but True
French prankster Quentin Dupieux takes a detour into midlife melancholy with his latest gloriously absurd comic fable ‘Incredible but True’.
We, Students!
Rafiki Fariala’s history-making film shifts to a more intimate story towards its end, which one wishes he had pursued from the start.
Agrilogistics
Gerard Ortín Castellví’s film about the mechanised standardisation of plant products in an industrial greenhouse is both hypnotic and unsettling; meticulous documentary and dreamlike fantasy.
Peter Von Kant
French director François Ozon pays artfully twisted homage to Fassbinder’s torrid queer classic ‘The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant’ in this stylish glam-rock remake.
Rookies
Once again dealing in dance, Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai follow a group of hip hop-loving kids striving for academic success in a Parisian school.
Oink
A young girl adopts a rambunctious piglet and must navigate puppy classes and survive the annual sausage-making competition in this delightful stop-motion animation.
Kudos to Ulrich and Erika Gregor
The 72-year history of the Berlin Film Festival has been shaped by many people, but arguably none have left a greater mark than Erika and Ulrich Gregor, the founders of the Arsenal Cinema and creators the festival’s influential Forum section. And it’s not just a...
A Human Position
A young woman struggles to process personal trauma and wider social injustice in Norwegian director Anders Emblem’s slender but quietly haunting drama A Human Position,
Blue Has No Dimensions
Ágata de Pinho impresses both in front of and behind the camera in this visceral drama about a woman who believes she will disappear on her 28th birthday.
Kumbuka
Petna Ndaliko Katondolo’s documentary is a multifaceted exploration of complex questions around the combating of European perspectives in cinema about Africa.
The Dream and the Radio
Canadian filmmakers Renaud Després-Larose and Ana Tapia Rousiouk pay tribute to Stan Brakhage, Guy Debord, Jean-Luc Godard and Pedro Costa in an intriguing experimental exercise looking at the history of cinema and old-school political activism.
Murmurs of the Jungle
Our prehistoric relationship to the forest is atmospherically invoked in this documentary about a small Indian village and the tales its inhabitants tell of the whispering trees.
Kung Fu Zohra
French director Mabrouk El Mechri’s screwball action comedy about domestic violence, Kung Fu Zohra is admirably audacious but misses the target.
Tugging Diary
Yan Wai Yin’s diaristic documentary uses the interplay of posters and graffiti on a local footbridge to explore and evoke intense social unrest in Hong Kong.
The Last Ride of the Wolves
Alberto De Michele artfully deglamorises the gangster film, constructing instead two interlaced stories around a man’s complex relationship with his father and the latter’s plans for one last heist.
To Love Again
The vestiges of politically-instigated past trauma come back to trouble an older couple in their second marriage as they begin ruminating on their demise in Gao Linyang’s subtly crafted, detail and performance driven feature debut.
Nosferasta: First Bite
A captivating, shapeshifting excavation of the vampirism of Christopher Columbus and the colonial project filtered through the weed-fuelled mythology of artist and singer, Oba.
Drifting Petals
The history of Hong Kong and its seething democratic movements is interwoven with a cryptic ghost story in Clara Law’s challenging film about memory and political struggle.
Excess Will Save Us
French debutante director Morgane Dziurla-Petit returns to her home village for the playful and poignant docu-fiction hybrid Excess Will Save Us.
Songs for Dying
Korakrit Arunanondchai’s deeply moving film combines elements of mysticism, ecology, and politics to form some kind of understanding in the face of painful personal loss.
Third Grade
French auteur Jacques Doillon returns to form in this endearing, small-scale chronicle of abuse and friendship between two kids from different social classes.
Freda
Gessica Geneus’s debut feature is a superb meditation on sisterhood, motherhood, and what it means to love a failing nation.
Constant
Sasha Litvintseva and Beny Wagner’s new essay film is a heady examination of the history, impacts, and social equality of standardised measurement.
Singing in the Wilderness
A bittersweet chronicle of Miao farmers who form a Christian choir in the remote mountains in China, and who are recruited to perform nationally while gradually losing their lands, autonomy, and identity.
Yamabuki
Focusing on the plight of both working-class locals and migrant labourers in a small town, Juichiro Yamasaki’s third feature powerful chronicles the greying fortunes of Japan’s depopulated provinces.
The Making of Crime Scenes
Hsu Che-yu’s examination of a political assassination combines digital and physical reconstruction techniques to understand the life of a mobster, assassin, and film producer.
I Get Knocked Down
Retired pop star and former anarchist Dunstan Bruce tries to rekindle his youthful punk rage in the charmingly offbeat music documentary I Get Knocked Down.
Becoming Male in the Middle Ages
Pedro Neves Marques follows 2019’s The Bite with another sci-fi-infused relationship story in this thought-provoking meditation on traditional gender roles and the nuclear family.
Malintzin 17
Eugenio and Mara Polgovsky gently comment on the cycle of life in an observational documentary shot through a window in Mexico City.
Achrome
An innocent farm boy experiences first-hand the horrors of the Nazi occupation of the Baltic states when he becomes a collaborator in Maria Ignatenko’s sensitive but over-aestheticized reflection on war.
Assault
Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov finds tragicomic humour in Assault, a bleakly stylish thriller about a snowbound high school under terrorist attack.
Nazarbazi
An utterly captivating found footage collage that pieces together a sensuous history of intimacy in Iranian post-revolution cinema where depictions of physical contact are prohibited.
Give Me Pity!
Amanda Kramer recreates a 1970s-style variety TV special to comment on a certain kind of diva celebrity, but the results are tediously self-indulgent, clueless about camp affect, and open to claims of disingenuousness.
Broadway
The Greek weird wave meets film noir in this quirky crime drama from first-time feature director Christos Massalas.
Met Mes
A little lie to the police threatens to change a teenager’s life in Sam De Jong’s insightful and sometimes distractingly overdriven film.
My Emptiness and I
This fictionalized portrait of a trans woman’s emotional journey towards selfhood tries to cover too many bases in the psychological process, but Raphaëlle Perez’s sympathetic performance and the film’s overall sensitivity make up for some of its flaws.
Daryn’s Gym
Brett Michael Innes’ third film, set mostly at a gym in Johannesburg, goes down easy and would be fun for the family—as long as you keep the kids away.
Phantom Project
A pleasant though minor queer-skewed indie slice-of-life look at Millenials in Chile, using a ghost device as a way of concretizing the niggling concerns within a struggling actor’s subconscious.
Please Baby Please
Andrea Riseborough, Harry Melling and Demi Moore celebrate the hidden queerness of vintage Hollywood in Amanda Kramer’s WTF retro-musical Please Baby Please.
Neptune Frost
This frequently perplexing sci-fi musical has a lot to say about the politics of race, but its true triumph is its music and gorgeous visuals.
The Territory
This involving documentary captures the plight of the Uru-eu-wau-wau community fighting for its land in the Amazon.
The Island
Robinson Crusoe goes musical in a deliciously disorienting brain-teaser from feted Romanian animation director Anca Damian.
Warsha
A potentially familiar story of a Syrian construction worker living in Lebanon is turned on its head in Dania Bdeir’s sensual and soulful evocation of freedom.
Egúngún (Masquerade)
Olive Nwosu’s delicate drama explores the difficulty of confronting complex notions of identity while also traversing a tender story of first love lost.
Listen to the Beat of Our Images
Siblings Audrey and Maxime Jean-Baptiste mine the archive to visualise the transformation of 1960s French Guiana by a new space centre in this poetic documentary.
Babysitter
‘Babysitter’ steers clear of preachiness in its half-scolding and often amusing examination of sexual and sexist attitudes in the wake of #MeToo.
Midwives
Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing’s first feature-length documentary offers a mellow and intimate portrait of two midwives – one a Buddhist, the other Muslim – who defy the deadly inter-communal conflict around them to become friends and health care providers for their poverty-stricken communities.
Tundra
A paper-pushing official searches for a woman in red in José Luis Aparicio’s noirish short set in an oppressive, dystopian Cuba afflicted by strange, sluglike creatures.
Sandstorm
An excellent, nuanced performance by Parizae Fatima anchors Seemab Gul’s tense depiction of a teenage girl navigating the dangers and dilemmas of an online relationship.
Piggy
Fans of slasher films will revel in this darkly comic subversion of the genre premiering at Sundance, where an obese, bullied teenager gets her revenge on the village mean girls.
Girl Picture
Three high school girls in Finland pursue love and orgasm in Alli Haapasalo’s frank and often warmly emotional tale aimed at teen audiences.
The Mission
Young American missionaries from the Church of the Latter-Day Saints set off to convert the dubious inhabitants of Finland in Tania Anderson’s paradoxical but respectful documentary.
A House Made of Splinters
A powerful documentary chronicle of children left abandoned by the conflict in Ukraine won the Golden Alexander at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
$75,000
First person testimonies and 3D modelling are effectively combined in Moïse Togo’s harrowing short documentary about the horrific violence faced by albino people across Africa.
Bestia
The inner life and fragmenting psyche of a secret police agent form the basis of Hugo Covarrubias’s exemplary and sinister stop-motion animation set during the Chilean military dictatorship
Calendar Girls
This colorful portrait of a golden-aged Florida dance troupe doubles as a statement on friendship and female liberation.
Meet Me in the Bathroom
Adapted from Lizzy Gordon’s feted book Meet Me in the Bathroom, this archive-heavy rock documentary is a bohemian rhapsody for a lost New York.
The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future
Animal rights activists will applaud this Sundance premiere set in Chile’s rainforest, a lyrical fable that mixes ecological apocalypse, gender transition and phantasmagorical rebirth.
Utama (Our Home)
Sundance premieres a spellbinding portrait of life in the Bolivian Andes, where a drought threatens the livelihood of an elderly Quechua couple and their herd of llamas.
The Headhunter’s Daughter
A young woman navigates the Cordilleran highlands to seek fame in the big city in Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan’s mysterious, Western-tinged drama.
Kudos to Patricio Guzman
The bloody military coup that shook up Chile in 1973 would not be as well known around the world without the remarkable documentary trilogy made by Patricio Guzman, The Battle of Chile (La batalla de Chile). After the coup, Patricio was imprisoned in the infamous...
Speak No Evil
When a Danish couple visits a Dutch couple they barely know, polite discomfort dissolves into horror as Christian Tafdrup’s social comedy of manners goes Gothic dark.
Love Stories on the Move
Ilinca H?rnu? gives a captivating performance in Carina Gabriela Da?oveanu’s restrained but perceptive drama about a taxi driver longing for romance amidst a faltering marriage.
Nothing Compares
Director Kathryn Ferguson’s engaging music documentary Nothing Compares explores Sinéad O’Connor’s legacy as both icon and iconoclast, with input from the scandalous singer herself.
Gentle
A female bodybuilder tries her hand as an escort in order to pay for her steroids and supplements in this beautifully calibrated, exceptionally well-played feature that digs deep inside its characters, forcing audiences to upend initial conceptions while weaving a memorable, lingering spell.
Klondike
Notwithstanding truly impressive visuals by D.P. Sviatoslav Bulakovskyi, “Klondike” underwhelms with its unilluminating look at the Donbas region conflict in Ukraine, seen through a reductionist gendered lens where women nurture and men achieve nothing but destruction.
Living
A masterful Bill Nighy, director Oliver Hermanus and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro relocate Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 classic Ikiru to post-war London in the quietly powerful remake Living.
Leonor Will Never Die
Martika Ramirez Escobar’s audacious first feature is a maniacally meta love letter to Philippine cinema, but its films-within-a-film structure and nods to wildly different genres suffer from the lack of a substantial story.
Zoon
Jonatan Schwenk follows the award-winning ‘Sog’ with another beguiling animated short that wordlessly meditates on our relationship to the natural world via a group of axolotls and the people that eat them.
Tantura
Israeli filmmaker Alon Schwarz questions his own country’s foundational myth with a harrowing investigation of the state-sanctioned cover-up of the killings of hundreds of civilians in a Palestinian village in May 1948.
Short Film Reviews Debut on The Film Verdict
Affirming our commitment to review the finest of world cinema regardless of length, The Film Verdict is proud to announce a new Short Films column which will make its debut during the Sundance Film Festival and will be a notable feature of our coverage in Rotterdam...
The Worst Person in the World
An insightful exploration of youth, ambition, romance, and meaning through the lens of a young woman you both identify with and love to hate.
Lost Flowers
In his diaristic portrait of grief during the isolation of lockdown, Fabrizio Maltese has crafted a personal documentary full of universal poignancy.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Originally reviewed Oct. 12, 2021 – NOW ON APPLE TV Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand and a solo Joel Coen turn Shakespeare’s bloodthirsty classic Macbeth into a ravishingly beautiful game of thrones.
Shabu
Through its boisterous main character, Shamira Raphaëla’s ‘Shabu’ represents a break from the clichéd images of Black experience in the West.
Drive My Car
Winner of the Academy Award for best international feature, Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Drive My Car’ is the story of how love survives death in a long, measured, ultimately mesmerizing examination of the human soul.
Playground
Belgium’s shortlisted entry for the 2022 Oscars is a remarkable examination of childhood, social belonging, and family ties—with implications outside of the school playground.
No Land’s Man
Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays a pathological liar whose romance with an Australian girl unveils a horrifying backstory of racism in Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s genre-bending pleaser.
Europa
An immersive, sensorial plunge into a young Iraqi refugee’s desperation as he evades capture by anti-immigration vigilantes in a Bulgarian forest, filmed with taut suspense and anchored by a stand-out performance from Adam Ali.
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Boasting stunning imagery and a great back story, Bhutan’s first film to make the Oscar shortlist works a well-trodden premise into a beautiful, humanist and accessible picture.
Ascension
Jessica Kingdon’s prize-winning, Oscar-shortlisted documentary Ascension is a disjointed but fascinating portrait of contemporary China as consumer capitalist superpower.
The Tender Bar
George Clooney directs Ben Affleck in The Tender Bar, a warm-hearted but flat coming-of-age drama.
The Last Shelter
A sobering look at African migrants waylaid between their homelands and the dangerous trek to Europe.
A Thousand Fires
Family life in rural Myanmar is intimately explored in this earnest if somewhat obtuse chronicle.
Zinder
Aicha Macky’s superb documentary about the impoverished citizens of Zinder, in the Republic of Niger, bends towards compassion for a neglected people.
The Hostilities
The winner of Morelia’s best documentary award is a raw, honest chronicle of the violence afflicting Mexico, seen through the lives of the filmmaker’s own family.
Words of Negroes
Workers in an outdated sugar cane factory in Guadeloupe read from the transcripts of an 1842 trial against a slave owner in Sylvaine Dampierre’s powerful act of reclaiming history, Words of Negroes. Stunningly shot by Renaud Personnaz in crisp, vivid images, the film...
May God Be With You
The act of exile is never a single-generation event; its ever-mutating ramifications shift down the family tree, undergoing a change as each generation grapples with questions of identity and belonging. Given that the person who flees their country often rejects...
Marx Can Wait
The most fascinating aspect of Marco Bellocchio’s guilt-streaked revisitation of the suicide of his twin brother in 1968 is the insight it offers into the Italian master’s creative font–his own family.
Rupture
The unsettled protagonists of Hamzah Jamjoom’s “Rupture” seem to be literally pulled through past, present and future in this Italian-inspired thriller in which a woman’s sanity is disturbed by her pregnancy and a malevolent concierge (played by Billy Zane) with his own unsavory baggage.
The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel ‘The Lost Daughter’ strays too far from Italy to be convincing, but a stunningly good Olivia Colman saves the day.
Petite Solange
A keenly observed if somewhat underwhelming chronicle of divorce, and how it upends the life of a teenage girl.
Communion
In his exploration of a man’s descent into madness during the present pandemic, director-actor Nejib Belkadhi makes a rare of-the-moment drama, inflected with humor and surrealism, that captures our unease in ways likely to outlast COVID’s grip on our psyches.
Plaza Catedral
Panama’s Oscar-shortlisted drama eloquently portrays class divides, as a bereaved upper-class architect seeks redemption in her friendship with a homeless, street-smart boy.
The Exam
Cheating on a high school exam for a good cause gives top Iraqi Kurdish writer and director Shawkat Amin Korki (‘Memories on Stone’) a fertile moral field to examine the traps surrounding female empowerment.
Flee
Denmark’s shortlisted Oscar contender Flee is a warmly personal animated coming-of-age documentary about an Afghan refugee coming to terms with his sexuality and painful family history.
Red Sea 2021: The Verdict
Saudi Arabia takes a big step forward with an international culture event in Jeddah that, for all the glitches, showcased the modern and rapidly changing face of its society.
Lamb
Noomi Rapace stars in Iceland’s boldly original Oscar submission Lamb, a twisted folk-horror thriller about fantastic beasts and family trauma.
A Night of Knowing Nothing
A haunting low-fi meditation on memory, social class and political protest that won the Golden Eye documentary award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Huda’s Salon
Hany Abu-Assad’s best work toys with questions of moral absolutes, yet his dissatisfying “Huda’s Salon” is hamstrung by a weak script and ill-advised editing choices that fail to build characters or tension, despite an interesting premise.
Route Ten
What on the surface appears to be a formulaic road movie thriller about a couple of siblings tormented by a white Jeep on a desert road turns into a surprising critique of the Saudi old guard in which the younger generation declares its liberation from toxic patriarchy.
Becoming
An omnibus of women-directed Saudi shorts that acts as a calling card for the diversity of rising talent in the Kingdom, offering five largely strong entries highlighting the ways women negotiate traditional female and non-female spaces.
Where Is Anne Frank
‘Waltz with Bashir’ director Ari Folman’s animated adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary makes some valid points but takes a few too many creative liberties.
Radiograph of a Family
Director Firouzeh Khosrovani’s own parents embody the lacerating split of Iran into modern liberals and Islamic fundamentalists after the 1978 revolution, in a personal doc of startling clarity and impact.
Hit the Road
Voted best film at the London BFI festival and Mar del Plata, an offbeat Iranian roadie launches the filmmaking career of Jafar Panahi’s son Panah in style.
The List of Those Who Love Me
Turkish director Emre Erdo?du’s compelling social drama The List of Those Who Love Me highlights hidden tensions among Istanbul’s arty celebrity set.
Death of a Virgin and the Sin of Not Living
The fears and longings of four Lebanese boys on their way to lose their virginity is conveyed in interior monologues in George Peter Barbari’s poignant and deeply original first film.
Cairo International Film Festival 2021: The Verdict
The grand old lady of Middle Eastern film festivals has matured into a modern, major cultural event for Egypt, whose emphasis is more on filmmakers than the red carpet.
The Stranger
Palestine’s 2022 Oscar submission is a brooding story of lives in limbo in the Golan Heights, stunningly shot and wrenching in its moving evocation of a man mired in self-loathing and paralyzed by the physical and existential no-man’s land resulting in the Israeli occupation and the disaster in Syria.
Listening to Kenny G
One of the best-selling instrumentalists of all time is both unaware and charming in Penny Lane’s engaging documentary.
Alice, Through the Looking: À la recherche d’un lapin perdu
Director Adam Donen’s messy but ambitious debut feature Alice, Through the Looking brings together Lewis Carroll, Jean-Luc Godard and Monty Python in a hellish post-Brexit London.
Immersion
A Chilean family sail into stormy waters in director Nicolás Postiglione’s tense, gripping, politically charged suspense thriller Immersion.
Diary of Gabrielle Street
Rashid Masharawi’s upbeat lockdown documentary set in Montmartre is a one man show full of charm and humanity.
A Second Life
A well-calibrated debut with a fine central performance, weaving together notions of class and familial betrayal when an impoverished mother sells her son’s kidney to a well-off family in exchange for a better life.
Tomorrow
In the bitter drama of a human rights lawyer struggling with mental illness, well-known actor Dhafer L’Abidine directs, produces and stars in a passionate plea to Tunisians to reclaim their revolution.
The Power of the Dog
Jane Campion’s bold cinematic interpretation of Thomas Savage’s novel about cattle ranchers in 1920’s Montana is a sensuous, aestheticized Netflix release, whose meticulous detail and gay subplot are admirable but a little tiring.
Authentik
France’s most famous rap duo gets an energized if standardized biopic in this first of two projects to tackle the legacy of hip-hop group Suprême NTM.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2021: The Verdict
Before its last day was cancelled, IDFA often proved it had found a sweet spot between a filmmaker’s vision and a challenge for its audience.
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2021: The Verdict
Celebrating its 25th edition with a strong post-Covid comeback, the boutique Baltic festival served up a feast of monochrome Cold War nostalgia and colourful experimental fare.
Daughters of Abdulrahman
Predictably stereotyped characterizations still deliver some enjoyable moments in this female empowerment story that unfortunately also plays to the region’s homophobia but will be a crowd-pleaser in the Arab world.
Dear Thomas
Director Andreas Kleinert’s prize-winning Cold War bio-drama Dear Thomas pays compelling but indulgent tribute to East German literary outlaw Thomas Brasch.
Tonight’s Homework
Abbas Kiarostami’s trailblazing ‘Homework’ (1989) gets a brilliant update in a documentary that is equal parts hilarious and saddening in its portrayal of Iranian schoolkids.
Darkness There and Nothing More
Tea Tupajic’s documentary will find its audience among those for whom Srebrenica and other European brutalities have never really ended.
When Pomegranates Howl
With sensitivity and devastating last-scene irony, filmmaker and poet Granaz Moussavi cinematically embeds the viewer in children’s lives in the heart of war-torn Kabul, in Australia’s Oscar hopeful.
Ironland
An outcry against man-made environmental disasters, tracking the long-term effects on the survivors of the biggest dam collapse in Brazil.
Taamaden
Mali-born filmmaker Seydou Cissé comes at the theme of African immigration through the lens of spirituality.
Nr. 10
Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam takes darkly comic gloom to a new level with his audaciously weird tenth film, Nr. 10.
Day After…
The second film in Kamar Ahmad Simon’s ‘Water Trilogy’ is redeemed by its selection of characters.
Isaac
In his skillfully helmed first feature, Isaac (Izaokas), Lithuanian writer-director Jurgis Matulevicius delves into his country’s turbulent past under both Communism and Nazism, following a trio of friends in the 1960s whose lives are overshadowed by a massacre that...
No Looking Back
Russian director Kyrill Sokolov’s high-octane action comedy No Looking Back involves three generations of women from the same dysfunctional family.
Holy Emy
A young Filipino immigrant in Greece with special healing powers is the focus of Araceli Lemos’ assured drama delving into questions of spirituality, belonging and sisterly bonds with a distinctively creepy edge.
Other Cannibals
Debut feature director Francesco Sossai’s deadpan cannibalism comedy is charming, original and surprisingly humane.
In the Billowing Night
A melancholic, intimate exploration of the personal cost of migration, told by the filmmaker’s father, who left the island of Réunion in his youth.
Who is Sleeping in Silver Grey
Chinese director Liao Zihao’s debut feature Who is Sleeping in Silver Grey is a dramatically muddled but exquisitely shot monochrome fairy tale.
Moneyboys
A high-end gay sex worker in China longs for the family affection he felt as a child in C.B. Yi’s beautifully crafted if not always satisfying debut that showcases the talents of actor Kai Ko.
Sisterhood
The hypocrisy of high school slut-shaming is the core theme of this strong feature debut boasting two exceptional performances and a layered script that’s distinctly Macedonian but with international resonance.
Vera Dreams of the Sea
Kosovo’s Kaltrina Krasniqi makes an impressive feature debut with this beautifully measured drama about a once-compliant 60-something widow who attempts to deflect the malevolent traditional patriarchy in a nation on the edge of change.
Post Mortem
Filled with enough gyrating dead corpses to cast the next Zack Snyder movie several times over, director Péter Bergendy’s Hungarian horror flick Post Mortem is high on gore and jump scares, low on convincing storytelling and originality. It displays a solid level of...
Thessaloniki 2021: The Verdict
The sense of relief that suffused the 62nd Thessaloniki International Film Festival could be felt throughout the city’s repurposed old port, not just in the festival locations but in the favorite bars, restaurants and hangouts of the cinema crowd who palpably relished...
Titane
A gloriously extreme Oscar submission, French writer-director Julia Ducournau’s prize-winning erotic thriller about a gender-blurring serial killer with a fetish for sex with cars is funny, fast and furious.
The Four Walls
Bahman Ghobadi’s latest Kurdish story, shot in Istanbul, hovers between tragedy and humor without hitting the emotional high note it aims for.
Night Nursery
Moumouni Sanou’s award-winning documentary about the reality of working girls in Burkina Faso is marred by its lack of discretion.
The Broken Glass Theory
A sly, humorous take on the detective genre, set in a placid Uruguayan town where hidden passions rage.
When A Farm Goes Aflame
Jide Tom Akinleminu brings a light touch to a personal but political project that could easily feel overwrought in other hands.
Io sto bene
In Io sto bene, Luxembourg’s submission to the Oscars, Donato Rotunno movingly chronicles how present-day Europe has become more diverse and tolerant, but still presents obstacles for new arrivals and leaves the elderly isolated and lonely. In one eloquent scene, an...
A Hero
Feted Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s latest Oscar contender is a classy but underpowered drama about moral complexity and social media shaming.
Fati’s Choice
A Ghanaian woman makes an anti-migration decision her friends and family disagree with.
White Building
Cambodia’s Oscar submission is a semi-autobiographical critique of how the country’s rampant capitalism frays the traditional social fabric, told with sympathy yet short on dynamism.
The Great Basin
Few people outside eastern Nevada will have even heard of White Pine County, a rural area on the border with Utah that’s home to just over 10,000 inhabitants. If it has any especially distinguishing characteristics outside ones stereotypically associated with rural...
Letters from a Distance
Juan Carlos Rulfo has composed his own “Love in the Time of Covid”, a deeply moving chronicle of Mexico’s pandemic response.
Invisible Demons
Rahul Jain follows up his festival mega-hit ‘Machines’ with an apocalyptic vision of Delhi’s life-threatening pollution that floods the screen with present-day disasters.
FESPACO 2021: The Verdict
Mati Diop's Atlantique (Atlantics) kicked off the 27th FESPACO, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival that takes place bi-annually in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou, in a screening that foreshadowed a couple of features of the 2021 festival. One of...
A Bay
The city of Rio de Janeiro lies on the western shore of Guanabara Bay, the location of Murilo Salles's hymn to working class toil, A Bay (Uma baía). Salles excelled as cinematographer in such Brazilian film classics as Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands and has directed...
Clara Sola
Costa Rica dancer Wendy Chinchilla Araya gives an eerie, riveting perf but it only goes so far in this unstructured tale of magic realism and female power from debuting director Nathalie Alvarez Mesen.
Amira
A great deal of attention is about to accrue to Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, who’s just finished shooting on the Marvel franchise series Moon Knight, slated for release sometime in 2022. That’s a good thing, because it likely means his Venice premiered...
Compartment No. 6
You can’t say no to a relationship this mismatched in Juho Kuosmanen’s warm-hearted but melancholy voyage to nowhere, starring Russian actor of the moment Yuriy Borisov and Seidi Haarla as the Finnish tourist who stumbles across him.
Captains of Za’atari
Everything about Ali El Arabi’s Captains of Za’atari seems custom-made to appeal to a broad public. After all, who doesn’t love an underdog story, this one involving a couple of Syrian teens in a Jordanian refugee camp whose skills at football (European; soccer for...
El Gouna 2021: The Verdict
The town of El Gouna is a purpose-built gated community on Egypt's Red Sea coast just north of the popular resort city of Hurghada. It’s a place of privilege, where rolling green lawns and intensely colored bougainvillea grace pleasingly designed villas varied enough...
Dashcam
Controversial LA musician Annie Hardy plays an obnoxious American tourist battling demonic forces in the English countryside in director Rob Savage’s profane, provocative, hilarious found-footage horror comedy Dashcam.
Life of Ivanna
Documaker Renato Borrayo Serrano offers eye-opening glimpses into the harrowing and chaotic life of a modern Nenets woman that overturn stereotypes about Arctic life.
Nameless
This small film from Rwanda looks too cheap to succeed on a large scale—but its filmmaker is worthy of attention going forward.
Oliver Black
Tawfik Baba almost ruins a good story about two Africans in a desert with a confusing ending and on-the-nose politics.
This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection
Jeremiah Lemohang Mosese has made a masterpiece that showcases the great talent of the late Mary Twala and announces his own genius.
Murina
‘Murina’, which won this year’s Camera d’Or in Cannes for first-time director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic, extols female rebellion but walks a dangerous tightrope connecting the male gaze with the body of a rebellious 17-year-old girl.
Eyimofe
Chuko and Ari Esiri’s Eyimofe, which is competing at Fespaco, combines two semi-overlapping stories of Nigerians on the edge. The first story is titled Spain, the second Italy. The idea in both titles is destination. In both stories, the Nigerian characters have come...
BFI London Film Festival 2021: The Verdict
The 65th London Film Festival was a welcome return to pre-Covid notions of cinema as communal celebration and politically conscious art form, but a bumpy ride for press and industry professionals.
Eiffel
You don’t need to hold a doctorate in Freudian psychology, or to have labored through all 750 pages of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, to know that big towers built by ambitious men usually are, in one way or another, substitutes for their penises. And yet, in the highly...
Cruz
Teresa Camou Guerrero’s poetic, heartbreaking documentary follows an indigenous Mexican family displaced by violent drug traffickers who struggle to return to their homelands.
ear for eye
James Bond star Lashana Lynch joins a large ensemble cast in debbie tucker green’s powerful stage-to-screen drama for the Black Lives Matter era.
As in Heaven
In the 19th century, a 14-year-old Danish girl struggles between her will and God’s in Tea Lindeburg’s impressionistic period drama, winner of the best director nod in San Sebastian.
Swallow
Nollywood’s most famous director has made a period piece for Netflix that, while good to look and with all the right politics for today, doesn’t quite come alive and yet stays on too long.
Kerr
Turkish writer-director Tayfun Pirselimoglu’s prize-winning thriller Kerr is a surreal small-town murder mystery with echoes of Kafka and Lynch.
Juju Stories
While still clearly finding their voice, three young Nigerian directors serve up entertaining vignettes of African life derived from popular made-in-Africa superstitions.
Once Upon a Time in Calcutta
Indian cineaste Aditya Vikram Sengupta delivers a slow-burning and delicate ensemble drama about the corrupted state of his hometown.
The Mighty Victoria
Raul Ramon’s first feature as a director is a sweet utopian fable that imagines a peaceful, united Mexico where solidarity and honesty prevail.
The Attachment Diaries
Quirky surprises abound in a stylish, suspenseful thriller set in 1970’s Argentina, when lesbians were persecuted and abortion was outlawed.
The Harder They Fall
Idris Elba, Regina King, Jonathan Majors and LaKeith Stanfield strap on their six-shooters for Jeymes Samuel’s boorishly enjoyable African-American western.
Anatolian Leopard
The conservative new social order sidelines an old-school zookeeper in Emre Kayis’s closely observed, metaphoric first feature about Turkish society, winner of the Fipresci award in Toronto.
Blue Heart
A complex, cryptic, compelling film in which Miguel Coyula’s surreal images portray a sci fi Cuba that attempts to mold young minds through genetic engineering.
No Time to Die
The 25th James Bond film is bloated and plodding in places, but it ultimately delivers the goods and sends Daniel Craig out in a blaze of glory.
Prayers for the Stolen
Three little girls grow up in a village terrorized by the drug cartels in Tatiana Huezo’s dreamy and terrifying first feature, which won San Sebastian’s Latin Horizons crown.
The Auschwitz Report
Slovakia’s former Oscars submission recreates the courageous real-life exploits of two Jewish prisoners who escaped from Auschwitz and alerted the world to the horrors of the Holocaust.
San Sebastian 2021: The Verdict
The crowds were back at the 69th San Sebastian International Film Festival (around 90% compared to 2019 levels), but not the carefree atmosphere of leisurely walks with friends, meetings in the crowded pintxos (snack) bars, and swims on La Concha beach, for which the...
Blue Moon
Trapped in a violent family, a young woman rebels in Alina Grigore’s assured and absorbing first feature, another gift from contemporary Romanian cinema.
Black Box
A good pitch, such as the one behind the French aviation thriller Black Box (Boîte noire), can only travel so far when the characters provide little fuel for the story. At some point, usually toward the middle of the second act, the movie stutters, stalls and then...
I Want to Talk About Duras
In her many novels, plays and movies, author and filmmaker Marguerite Duras would often make herself a character in the stories she was telling, mixing autobiography and fiction into a seamless blend that the French called autofiction. It was writing with a capital I,...
The Good Boss
Javier Bardem is the main attraction as a smooth-talking factory owner in Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s drawing room social satire about modern labor.
Django & Django
Quentin Tarantino explains his love for Sergio Corbucci’s Spaghetti Westerns and reveals a lot about his own work in the process in Luca Rea’s irresistible, eye-opening documentary.
The Middle Man
A small-town misfit takes a new job breaking bad news to bereaved families in Bent Hamer’s droll, elegantly filmed tragicomedy The Middle Man.
Maixabel
Award-winning Spanish filmmaker Icair Bollain chillingly dramatizes the real-life encounter between a strong-minded widow and the repentant Basque terrorists who murdered her husband.
Benediction
The life of English poet Siegfried Sassoon movingly expresses the traumas of war and love in one of writer-director Terence Davies’ finest creations.
One Second
Zhang Yimou ironically salutes the movies and their fervent audiences during China’s Cultural Revolution, in a stylistic pastiche that drags a little.
Silent Land
A wealthy young Polish couple are forced to confront their own moral bankruptcy during a luxury Italian vacation in Silent Land, Aga Woszczy?ska’s elegantly bleak exploration of First World Problems.
Miracle
There are two movies in Miracle, Bogdan George Apetri’s uneven, beautifully shot drama divided between a young religious novice’s ordeal when seeking an abortion and the police investigation that follows her brutal rape. The first part, characterized by an admirable...
On the Job: The Missing 8
A Venice competition slot seems like a strange place for On the Job: The Missing 8, a punishingly long corruption thriller from Filipino genre master Erik Matti that’s soon to be seen as an HBO Asia Original six-episode mini-series. Following on – but not actually a...
Encounter
Riz Ahmed stars in this stylish sci-fi chase thriller as a troubled military veteran battling his own demons as well as extra-terrestrial enemies.
America Latina
Elio Germano plays a mild-mannered dentist who discovers a girl is tied up in his basement in Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo’s (‘Favolacce’) absurdist psychological thriller.
Leave No Traces
The first shot of Leave No Traces may make you think you’re at a retrospective of one of the great Polish filmmakers from forty or more years ago, so perfect is the recreation. It takes place in a shadowy Warsaw bedroom in 1983, and the stillness, warm tonalities and...
Otar’s Death
Partly inspired by real events, Otar’s Death is a fractious Georgian family drama with breathless thriller elements and a deep streak of black comedy.
The Catholic School
Stefano Mordini’s unconvincing ensemble drama searches for the origins of evil that provoked the Circeo massacre of two girls in 1975 and rattled upper class Rome.
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic
Finnish filmmaker Teemu Nikki’s story about disability moves you for a long list of complicated reasons.
Captain Volkonogov Escaped
In a vividly dystopic 1938 Leningrad under Stalin’s Great Purge, a young NKVD torturer tries to save his soul, in co-directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov’s high-energy parable ‘Captain Volkonogov Escaped’.
Freaks Out
There’s a reaction shot in Mel Brooks’ The Producers when the open-mouthed audience watches the “Springtime for Hitler” number in shocked disbelief, amazed that something so crass and campy could have made it on Broadway. The scene is hilarious because Brooks knows...
Reflection
ORIGINALLY REVIEWED SEPT. 7, 2021 Ukrainian filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych follows up his Venice Horizons-winning ‘Atlantis’ with ‘Reflection’ (‘Vidblysk’), a perturbing true horror tale of his country’s war with Russia.
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
A psychotic girl with lethal powers walks anywhere she pleases at night in Ana Lily Amirpour’s occasionally amusing but mostly treadless fantasy, ‘Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon.’
Sundown
The controversy stirred up by Michel Franco’s previous film ‘New Order’ will be partly placated and partly reignited in ‘Sundown’, the story of English tourists (Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg) in Mexico.
Il Buco
The symbiotic relationship between people of the land and their environment is the basis of all Michelangelo Frammartino’s work, most strikingly seen in his 2010 second feature Le Quattro Volte, a surprise international arthouse success. His hallmarks – unfussy,...
True Things
Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke deliver an emotionally raw but refreshingly nuanced take on female desire.
Last Night in Soho
A girl’s exhilarating mind-trip through swinging London of the Sixties turns wild and woolly and full of zombies in ‘Last Night in Soho’, Edgar Wright’s multi-genre treat, co-starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie.
Three Minutes – A Lengthening
Produced by Steve McQueen, Bianca Stigter’s experimental essay film is a rigorous exercise in forensic historical excavation commemorating Polish Holocaust victims.
Dune
There must be a reason Frank Herbert’s sci fi masterwork Dune defies cinematic adaptation, the latest attempt being director Denis Villeneuve’s attentively lensed but humorless actioner aimed at teen fans of the book and Timothée Chalamet.
Karmalink
Jake Wachtel’s Critics Week opener in Venice is a brash hybrid of near-future sci fi and timeless Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation.
The Hand of God
Paolo Sorrentino reflects on his Neapolitan youth in an autobiographical film whose first half is replete with signature baroque touches but then loses its way.
The Card Counter
One of Paul Schrader’s most complex and profound reflections on personal traumatic memory bleeds into the American tragedy of Abu Ghraib in an anguishing drama starring Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan and Tiffany Haddish.
A Tale of Love and Desire
There are so many good ideas in Leyla Bouzid’s second feature A Tale of Love and Desire, so many rarely-addressed issues deserving attention, that it’s especially frustrating how faintly the sparks fly between her two main characters, university classmates at the...
Wild Roots
Young Hungarian writer-director Hajni Kis delivers a highly assured debut feature with non-professional actors in the lead roles.
Runner
This cat-and-mouse chase thriller offers an opaque commentary on love as a form of psychosis and the paranoid political mood in post-Soviet Lithuania,
Hinterland
This superior pulp-noir thriller has a reality-bending look that draws heavily on vintage German Expressionist art.
Bird Atlas
Olmo Omerzu’s Czech boardroom farce is an absurdist comic parable about lives ruined and families divided by too much focus on money.
Feathers
The distinctive vision that Omar El Zohairy brought to his two prize-wining shorts is much in evidence in his meticulously crafted absurdist feature debut Feathers. It’s amusing to imagine how he pitched the project at the start, given the narrative’s unlikely...
As Far as I Can Walk
The big prize-winner at Karlovy Vary film festival, As Far as I Can Walk is a modern migrant story with historic literary echoes.
Ali & Ava
Clio Barnard’s slightest and most conventional film to date, but also her most optimistic.
The Stronghold
Over the past decade or so, the French city of Marseille has worked hard to clean up its image, gentrifying a significant area around its touristy Vieux-Port, opening a brand new museum and conference center — both architectural marvels — and attracting a swatch of...
Our Men
Claire Denis sublimely explored the sweaty, dust-coated bodies of French legionnaires in one of her best movies, Beau Travail, which focused on a platoon of lonesome fighters marooned at a remote outpost in East Africa. In Our Men (Mon légionnaire), the second feature...
A New Old Play
Director Qiu Jiongjiong uses a traditional theater troupe to spin out three long hours of dreamy reflections on Chinese history in the 20th century.