Festival Reviews

Norah

Norah

by | May 29, 2024 | ,

Tawfik Alzaidi’s classically narrated, slow-burn drama ‘Norah’ is a tribute to art and artists in socially conservative societies like 1990s Saudi Arabia.

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

by | May 29, 2024 | , ,

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.

The Most Precious of Cargoes

The Most Precious of Cargoes

by | May 25, 2024 | , ,

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.

All We Imagine As Light

All We Imagine As Light

by | May 23, 2024 | ,

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.

Universal Language

Universal Language

by | May 22, 2024 | ,

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

Viet and Nam

by | May 22, 2024 | ,

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.

Everybody Loves Touda

Everybody Loves Touda

by | May 20, 2024 | ,

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.

Armand

Armand

by | May 20, 2024 | ,

Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section showcases emerging Scandinavian talent with ‘Armand’, an enigmatic first film from Norway.

Limonov: The Ballad

Limonov: The Ballad

by | May 19, 2024 | ,

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

Caught by the Tides

by | May 18, 2024 | ,

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

The Brink of Dreams

by | May 18, 2024 | ,

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.

Desert of Namibia

Desert of Namibia

by | May 17, 2024 | ,

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.

The Invasion

The Invasion

by | May 17, 2024 | ,

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’.

Norah

Norah

by | May 29, 2024 | ,

Tawfik Alzaidi’s classically narrated, slow-burn drama ‘Norah’ is a tribute to art and artists in socially conservative societies like 1990s Saudi Arabia.

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

by | May 29, 2024 | , ,

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.

The Most Precious of Cargoes

The Most Precious of Cargoes

by | May 25, 2024 | , ,

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.

All We Imagine As Light

All We Imagine As Light

by | May 23, 2024 | ,

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.

Universal Language

Universal Language

by | May 22, 2024 | ,

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.

Awards Corner

Cannes 2024

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