Image courtesy of © Medianest Fasten Films
Before she won L'Œil d'or, the top Cannes prize for documentary, I talked with the actress turned filmmaker, as we sat perched high up on a terrace overlooking the Croisette on a balmy, sunny day — which made the chat almost feel surreal.
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Nisrin Erradi in a still from Laila Marrakchi’s ‘Strawberries’ courtesy of Lumen, Atelier and Mont Flueri
A film worth its weight in gold, lingering on in one’s thoughts, from a filmmaker whose vision never ceases to amaze.
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And ends up occupying a large part of my heart too, with its story of overcoming grief by bringing about the impossible.
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Isabelle Huppert and Adam Bessa in ‘Parallel Tales’ photo © Carole Bethuel
The film by the Iranian helmer has gained space inside my thoughts since I first watched it on the Croisette, always a sign of something special in a work of the seventh art.
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Lyna Khoudri and Fares Fares in a still from ‘Eagles of the Republic’ by Tarik Saleh, photo © Yigit Eken
The film, which was in Competition in Cannes last year, is being distributed by Curzon and will be in cinemas in the UK and Ireland starting May 22.
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The short documentary, which follows a team of refugees in Paris working towards sustaining French haute couture, has also received a nomination by Raindance in the category of Best Documentary Short.
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Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler in a still from Paweł Pawlikowski’s 'Fatherland', photo © Agata Grzybowska
Near the beginning of Pawel Pawlikowski’s stunning film on novelist’s Thomas Mann’s return to Germany in 1949, the author and his daughter Erika drive through war-torn Frankfurt, the city reduced to rubble. It’s a scene which showcases in the first clip from the film, but it also features in current events, as I awoke on the morning to the news that multiple Russian-deployed drones had hit Kiev, bringing the haunting film home. In more ways than one.
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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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Jude Law as Putin and Paul Dano as Baranov in ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’, photo courtesy of Signature
And the one that singlehandedly decodes it all, including our present chaos, by presenting an image of the “enemy” in welcomed shades of grey — opening April 17th in UK & Irish cinemas.
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Inspired by the eminent film historian Vlada Petrić, who was also the filmmaker’s cinema professor, the film celebrates the centenary of the “dream film” in cinema and its years of flowering during the silent film period — and will be part of a weekend program, from the 17th to the 19th of April selected by Fox, of essential films on the theme of dreams in silent cinema.
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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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Arif Jakup and Agush Agushev in a still from ‘DJ Ahmet’ in UK cinemas from 27th March
The 2025 Sundance World Cinema audience pick and Special Jury Prize winning film will be in UK cinemas starting 27th March and is the feature debut by NY born Macedonian award winning filmmaker Georgi M. Unkovski.
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In his latest documentary, the BAFTA and César winning documentary filmmaker provides the audience with a road map, in the form of George Orwell’s groundbreaking writing, attempting to break us free from the chains of misinformation and totalitarianism. Whether we use it or not, is ultimately our choice. Or is it?
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Adriano Giannini and Pilar Fogliati in a still from ‘A Brief Affair’ by Ludovica Rampoldi
It’s easy to believe that a beloved Italian screenwriter’s first directorial venture will be a watchable, intriguing film featuring great performances and possessing nuances of noir as well as unpredictable turns. And in Rampoldi’s hands, that is exactly what ‘A Brief Affair’ turns out to be.
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Juliette Binoche and Anna Calder-Marshall in a still from ‘Queen at Sea’
There are films which devour you at first watch and this Juliette Binoche starrer is one of those works of the 7th art, one which grabs hold of you right away and never really lets go.
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A still from ‘Narciso’, photo by © La Babosa Cine, used with permission
The brilliance of a film is sometimes in the casting and Martinessi’s latest film, screening in this year’s Panorama section, proves that point, with a central cameo by an actor who makes you sit up in your chair as soon as he enters the picture.
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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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Adam Bakri in a still from ‘All That’s Left of You’, courtesy of T A P E Collective
The latest film by Palestinian-American helmer and actress Cherien Dabis is an ode to a land she’s never really known, having grown up in the diaspora, to which more and more Palestinians belong each day.
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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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