Author: Deborah Young

Ivan Fund’s small, quiet film featuring a young Argentine girl with a special gift is all about atmosphere and nuance.

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.

Engrossing actors and an Amazon river setting lighten the heavy-handed social commentary about how the elderly are scandalously mistreated, in Gabriel Mascaro’s likable but narratively slight future dystopia, ‘The Blue Trail’.

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.