Nouvelle Vague
“The best way to critique a film is to make a film.” The provocative declaration belongs to Godard, but it’s Richard Linklater who reinvigorates it with NOUVELLE VAGUE’s reverence for the French New Wave.
Category Archives: Festival Coverage
Sirāt
SIRĀT is a film that purposefully defies expectation or strict genre classification. Beginning as a ‘found-family’ road-trip drama, it abruptly morphs into a painstakingly tension-fraught thrill ride, punctuated by moments crafted to shock and awe.
Pillion
Awkward and endearing, PILLION is a stunningly impressive debut from HARRY LIGHTON, giving the rom-com the subversive, sexy spin it was in dire need of.
One Woman One Bra
ONE WOMAN ONE BRA is a stealthily devastating film, where many strands come together to have a heartbreaking impact and show the effect of a community abandoning its most vulnerable members.
A Sad and Beautiful World
Director Cyril Aris’s A SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD tells a story that can and has collapsed into a maudlin heap many times on film. However, the gentle chemistry of the romantic leads, the dexterity with which the film handles the passage of time, and the sincerity of relatable themes refracted through a Lebanese prism make the film an affecting and engaging romantic drama.
Salve Maria
SALVE MARIA is a rebellion against the sociological monomyth of the ‘immaculate mother’ and a rebellion against a literary inheritance that makes monsters out of the mother disturbed, and a captivating story which also renders visible those who are so frequently mythically distorted: women in crisis.
Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day
BEAUTIFUL EVENING, BEAUTIFUL DAY by Croatian writer/director Ivona Juka presents the story of four filmmakers whose artistic, human, and sexual freedom hangs by a thread under Josip Broz Tito’s dictatorship. Shot in black and white, with incredible stylistic nuance and narrative depth, Juka’s LGBTQ drama is a monumental film of striking cultural importance.
We Live Here
WE LIVE HERE is a hard-hitting debut that questions the future of warfare and military action on a global scale, as well as presenting the catastrophic impact of nuclear weapons and radiation exposure.
Die My Love
DIE MY LOVE is unlikely to be considered the pinnacle of Ramsay’s career. Still, even when revisiting themes, the intense clarity of vision ensures Ramsay’s work continues to feel fresh and ominously vibrant.
News Without a Newsroom
For audiences interested in the effect of our shifting media landscape on democracy, the weaving of archival footage and personal stories with narrative momentum makes NEWS WITHOUT A NEWSROOM thoughtful, relevant, and well-timed.