Tecla Insolia and Michele Riondino in a still from ‘Primavera’ courtesy of Curzon
The award winning Italian director with more than twenty years of operatic productions under his belt has now ventured into film making and his first feature is a cinematic masterpiece of sight, feelings and sound.
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The French filmmaker’s screen adaptation of Albert Camus’ written words translates and updates the story of Meursault and lifts it up to appeal to contemporary audiences by tackling our obsession with fitting in, at any cost.
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The film recently screened in Rotterdam, after enjoying its international premiere at the Marrakech Film Festival in the fall and I caught up with the filmmaker, his DoP and one of the actors while they were at IFFR.
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I’ll admit that I haven’t been this impressed by a character’s entrance since Henry Fonda appeared in Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ and managed to go against everything we had come to expect from the blue eyed superstar. And that’s just talking about the first scene of the upcoming FX drama series ‘The Beauty’.
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A still from Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’ courtesy of Universal Pictures UK
Reinventing Shakespeare, to make his plays and own story more actual and better understood by contemporary audiences, is the key to keeping him alive. And the Chinese-American indie filmmaker turned big budget director finds that balance, perfectly, in her latest film.
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From left, Kritika Kamra, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Juhi Babbar, in a still from Anusha Rizvi’s ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’
In short, the film not only passes the Bechdel test with flying colors, and showcases a cast of extraordinary actresses playing members of one fabulous family, but it should also be credited with creating a new kind of “Rizvi test”, one which can be used for showing Muslim women characters which finally break down all stereotypes created so far in movies.
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Karim Daoud Anaya in a still from Annemarie Jacir’s ‘Palestine 36’
With a recently announced initiative titled “Talking Palestine 36” and a screening in Gaza — the film’s official Palestinian premiere — to show the film to the people to whom it belongs, Annemarie Jacir is making sure her Palestinian Oscar submission doesn’t go unnoticed.
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While the Iranian helmer’s latest film may not be his best, it has turned out to be his most crucial to date — all because Panahi is finally able to promote it.
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Dhafer L’Abidine and Yasmine Al Massri in a still from ‘Palestine 36’ courtesy of Philistine Films
Why, you ask? Because if we are ever to understand the Palestinian/Israeli issues of the present, we need to go back nearly a century and wrap our heads around the crimes, struggles and mistakes of the past.
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Two wondrous filmmakers, two outstanding actors and one musical legend come together to recount an icon and set the record straight. In more ways than one.
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A still from ‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’ courtesy of Focus Features
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes a perfect “franchise” film and the Simon Curtis-directed 2025 gem, in theaters on Friday, September 12th, may just end up winning the prize.
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A still from ‘Cotton Queen’ by Suzannah Mirghani, which will screen in Critics’ Week in Venice
Other titles supported by the respected Qatari cinematic organization include Jihan K’s personal doc on the disappearance of her father during the Qaddafi regime, Cyril Aris’ ‘A Sad and Beautiful World’ starring Mounia Akl, which will be screening in the Official Selection and Giornate degli Autori lineups, respectively, along with Sofia Alaoui’s sci-fi fable ‘Tarfaya’ which participates in the Venice Production Bridge.
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If I have anything to do with it, Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’ animated masterpiece will soon come to US cinemas so that you too can experience this gem in all its actuality, poignancy and beauty.
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Harvey Schein, photo courtesy of the Schein family archives
And this documentary proves one to be watched, if you find yourself in NYC starting July 18th and LA from July 25th.
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I was lucky to witness a special London screening of the film, thanks to Fashion and Cinema’s Joana Granero, featuring her Q&A with costume designer Penny Rose. And found myself falling in love with an artist whose breaking of conventions has become the stuff of legends… But I’ll leave you guessing just who that is.
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Soad Hosny and Hussein Fahmy in a still from ‘Watch Out for Zouzou’ by Hassan el-Imam
The 1972 Egyptian classic enjoys a gorgeous, brand new restoration, allowing younger audiences to discover its magic and its message, while bestowing on those revisiting the film an eerie sense of “what could have been?”
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A film that, aside from its spellbinding leading man and touching crucial themes about the habits that bring us down, again and again, also begs the question: “Who do the streets of London belong to? Those who thread upon them or those who call them home?”
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Starting out limited, in NYC and LA, the film is a wonder to behold and Schnabel, a filmmaker to watch.
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Anthony Mackie is Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’
With a dissent in popular opinion and critics seemingly agreeing this is one of the weakest installment of the franchise, I’m here to throw the tables upside down and explain why I love Anthony Mackie in the tight-fitting costume of the world-saving superhero, but also how I got into the film way more than I should have.
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Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry in a still from the film, photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Winning doesn’t always bring about happiness and success. So the tale of gold winning boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields teaches us, in a new film written by Barry Jenkins and directed by Rachel Morrison, coming to UK cinemas on February 7th.
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