International Oscars 2024

Festival Reviews

The Mother of All Lies

by Stephen Dalton | Jun 30, 2023 | Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Karlovy Vary 2023

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’.

Perfect Days

by Stephen Dalton | May 25, 2023 | Cannes, Cannes 2023, Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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.

The Pot au Feu

by Deborah Young | May 24, 2023 | Cannes 2023, Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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.

Pictures of Ghosts

by Jay Weissberg | May 24, 2023 | Cannes, Cannes 2023, Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Spotlight

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.

Fallen Leaves

by Boyd van Hoeij | May 22, 2023 | Cannes, Cannes 2023, International Oscars 2024

Aki Kaurismäki’s latest is a largely familiar but lovely new work.

The Zone of Interest

by Stephen Dalton | May 20, 2023 | Cannes, Cannes 2023, Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

‘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’.

Four Daughters

by Jay Weissberg | May 20, 2023 | Cannes, Cannes 2023, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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

by Jay Weissberg | May 19, 2023 | Cannes, Cannes 2023, Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Spotlight

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.

CineVerdict: Los delincuentes

by Jay Weissberg | May 19, 2023 | Cannes 2023, Cine Verdict, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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

by Jay Weissberg | May 18, 2023 | Cannes 2023, Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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.

Bad Living

by Kevin Jagernauth | Feb 22, 2023 | Berlin, Berlin 2023, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

The feel bad movie of Berlinale is a bleak and punishing look at familial decay that’s both manipulative and dishonest.

Opponent

by Jordan Mintzer | Feb 22, 2023 | Berlin, Berlin 2023, Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

Payman Maadi gives another outstanding performance in a deeply layered refugee drama that isn’t always the sum of its parts.

The Burdened

by Jay Weissberg | Feb 20, 2023 | Berlin, Berlin 2023, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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.

The Teachers’ Lounge

by Boyd van Hoeij | Feb 18, 2023 | Berlin 2023, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

The Teacher`s Lounge Ilker Çatak’s latest, features a great performance from German actress Leonie Benesch (The Crown) in a solid drama about trying to stand upright in a world of changing mores.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

by Carmen Gray | Jan 23, 2023 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Sundance 2023

An intimate, visceral immersion into the rituals of the Estonian smoke sauna, a healing space where women confide in one another.

Hilma

by Lucy Virgen | Jan 17, 2023 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024

Hilma, Lasse Hallström’s beautifully crafted biopic brings to life an almost unknown Swedish painter who was an avant gardiste, spiritualist and theosophist.

Kings of the World

by Stephen Dalton | Dec 30, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, San Sebastian, SAN SEBASTIAN 2022, Zurich

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.

The International Contenders: Our Verdict

by Deborah Young | Dec 14, 2022 | Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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

by TheFilmVerdict | Dec 9, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Spotlight

“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

by TheFilmVerdict | Dec 9, 2022 | Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

The Estonian filmmaker talks about the unwittingly timely release of ‘Kalev’.

Profile: Lukas Dhont

by Deborah Young | Dec 9, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024

The celebrated Belgian director is once again representing his country in the Oscar race.

A Ballad

by Stephen Dalton | Dec 9, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Sarajevo

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.

Alma Viva

by Boyd van Hoeij | Dec 9, 2022 | CANNES 2022, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

Cristèle Alves Meira’s feature debut is an uneven work that combines anthropological and documentary details with more supernatural elements.

Eami

by Patricia Boero | Dec 9, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Rotterdam

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

by Patricia Boero | Dec 9, 2022 | Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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

by Patricia Boero | Dec 9, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, San Sebastian

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

by Patricia Boero | Dec 9, 2022 | Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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.

CINE VERDICT: Argentina, 1985

by Boyd van Hoeij | Dec 8, 2022 | Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

El drama de Santiago Mitre sobre el Juicio a las Juntas hace justicia a este importante hito de la historia argentina.

TFV Interviews Jerzy Skolimowski

by TheFilmVerdict | Dec 8, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Spotlight

The Polish filmmaker discusses his bond with the animal star(s) of ‘EO’.

Argentina, 1985

by Boyd van Hoeij | Dec 8, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024

Santiago Mitre’s drama about the Trial of the Juntas does this important milestone in Argentina’s history justice.

CINE VERDICT: Alcarràs

by Boyd van Hoeij | Dec 8, 2022 | Cine Verdict, Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

El segundo largometraje de Carla Simón es una mirada novelesca pero poco sentimental sobre una familia rural catalana.

Alcarràs

by Boyd van Hoeij | Dec 8, 2022 | Berlin, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

Carla Simón’s second feature is a novelistic yet unsentimental look at a rural Catalan family.

Profile: Alice Diop

by Deborah Young | Dec 8, 2022 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Spotlight

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

by Jordan Mintzer | Dec 7, 2022 | Berlin, Festivals, International Oscars 2024

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

by Deborah Young | Dec 7, 2022 | CANNES 2022, Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Spotlight

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.

Radu Jude Discusses Red Carpets, Barbie and Dracula

by Max Borg | Dec 7, 2023 | Featured, Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Interviews & Profiles

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

by TheFilmVerdict | Dec 5, 2023 | FestMarket Clips, International Oscars 2024

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...

Five Questions for Loïc Tanson, director of ‘The Last Ashes’

by Deborah Young | Dec 4, 2023 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024, Interviews & Profiles

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

by Max Borg | Dec 4, 2023 | Festivals, International Oscars 2024

Ramata-Toulaye Sy, the talented new director shooting in Senegal, gracefully glides from a Cannes premiere to the Oscar race.

The Peasants

by Carmen Gray | Dec 3, 2023 | Festivals, Featured, International Oscars 2024, Toronto 2023

Luminous hand-painting animates a famed Polish tale of female defiance in a rural world of predatory opportunism and survival.

The Last Ashes

by Deborah Young | Dec 2, 2023 | Featured, International Oscars 2024

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.

Winners of the Excellence Awards 2023

by TheFilmVerdict | Nov 30, 2023 | International Oscars 2024, FestMarket Clips

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

by TheFilmVerdict | Nov 28, 2023 | International Oscars 2024, FestMarket Clips

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...

18 German short films in contention for the 96th Oscars®

by Kelly Jones | Nov 9, 2023 | International Oscars 2024, FestMarket Clips

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,...

European Film Awards 2023 Nominees

by TheFilmVerdict | Nov 7, 2023 | FestMarket Clips, 2023 Oscars, International Oscars 2024

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...

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