When people say, or write, things like “what has become of America?” pointing to our current leadership and our contemporary USA, I always think, we’ve been there all along — because America was built on slavery, and the kind of human/civil rights abuses that never let up.
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Why Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just an Accident' is a serious awards contender this year
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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Bradley Cooper's 'Is This Thing On?' is that delicious adult romcom you didn't know you needed!
Turns out you do. And Cooper is both funny in it, and wondrous behind the camera. In a few words, it’s a film you won’t want to miss.
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Tessa Thompson in ‘Hedda’ by Nia DaCosta, photo courtesy of Amazon
Phenomenally wicked woman: Tessa Thompson blows it out of the water with her performance in 'Hedda'
The film, directed and written by Nia DaCosta based on the play by Henrik Ibsen, transports the story to 1950s England, with all its class issues and gender bias, and adds into the mix an LGBTQ twist that transforms what could be a dated narrative into one for the here and now.
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Banin Ahmad Nayef in a still from ‘The President’s Cake’ courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Review: Iraqi Oscar hopeful 'The President's Cake' by Hasan Hadi at BFI London Film Festival
The Iraqi helmer’s film premiered in Cannes this year and suddenly, I couldn’t imagine a world without its presence. But it was as if one day, Hasan Hadi’s presence and talent exploded onto our consciousness, ready to take his place in the world of cinema greats.
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Úrsula Corberó Delgado and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart in a still from ‘Kill the Jockey’, used with permission
Why we awarded 'Kill the Jockey' Best Film at the London Spanish Film Festival
While Luis Ortega’s stunning 2024 film may be primarily an Argentinian title, as a Spanish co-production jury members Vincent Jaskowski-Prowse, Leigh Singer and I were able to celebrate the title in style at this year’s festival. And, in the process, we discovered a film that has filled our dreams ever since.
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A still from ‘Cotton Queen’, courtesy of Strange Bird
The rebel queen who conquered my heart: Suzannah Mirghani's 'Cotton Queen' review
Behind what could be a simple tale of a young girl coming of age in Sudan, filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani’s debut feature weaves an extraordinary and cautionary tale of respect for one’s self and for the environment around us, which are always crucially, and importantly intertwined.
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Yile Vianello in a still from ‘AGON’ by Giulio Bertelli, photo courtesy of The Match Factory
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be champions: Giulio Bertelli's 'AGON' gives an unprecedented insight into women's sport
This stunning film, which packs a punch and relentlessly holds on to the viewer, until you realize you may have just run out of breath, world premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival in the 40th edition of Critics’ Week, one of the festival’s parallel section.
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Toni Servillo in Paolo Sorrentino’s ‘La Grazia’, image courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
The sign of a great man is elegance, and grace: a review of Paolo Sorrentino's 'La Grazia'
The Neapolitan Maestro’s perfect, awards-worthy Venice opener sees Toni Servillo playing an out-going Italian President of the Republic who, faced with several life-changing choices, allows us, the audience, to discover through him the true meaning of the word “grace”.
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A still from ‘Cotton Queen’ by Suzannah Mirghani, which will screen in Critics’ Week in Venice
Doha Film Institute Venice-bound films include the stunning 'Cotton Queen' by Suzannah Mirghani and Kaouther Ben Hania's Competition title 'The Voice of Hind Rajab'
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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Paolo Sorrentino by © Michael Avedon, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
Paolo Sorrentino's 'La Grazia' (Grace) will open this year's Venice Film Fest
And I’ll tell you why I’m excited, plus reveal a bit of the story and where it will take place.
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'Saint Damian' Raindance Review: It's a big, bad world out there
It is rare to encounter a film that is so utterly honest and true to its subject, no matter how difficult a tale that is to tell. Gregorio Sassoli and Alejandro Cifuentes, the duo behind the documentary ‘Saint Damian’ have managed such a feat, and in the process, have created a masterpiece that will crack open some much needed truths, all the while conquering every heart in the audience.
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A still of Karla Murthy with her father, courtesy of the filmmaker
A very personal review: 'The Gas Station Attendant' premieres at Sheffield Doc Fest
Back when I was growing up in the US, there was a saying: “Everybody loves a winner” a phrase derived possibly from the 1967 song. Nowadays, from social media to the movies, and through everything in between, we’ve come to love the “losers” much much more. In her personal documentary, award winning filmmaker Karla Murthy talks about one such person. Someone very very close to her — her dad.
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Soad Hosny and Hussein Fahmy in a still from ‘Watch Out for Zouzou’ by Hassan el-Imam
Holding up a mirror to a time of possibilities: 'Watch Out for Zouzou' opens this year's SAFAR film festival in London
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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Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton in a still from ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ in theaters on Friday
The Magnificent Wes Anderson: Why 'The Phoenician Scheme' is my fave since 'Grand Budapest'
At the core of his latest film, Anderson, along with co-writer Roman Coppola and leading man Benicio de Toro, has created a wonderfully entertaining antihero of contradictions: European yet eerily Trumpian, bigger than life yet soft spoken, bearing many passports yet without a fixed address, a self professed diplomat who carries a crate of hand-grenades — just in case they are needed. And more often than not, they are.
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Reinventing the narrative: 'Nino' by Pauline Loquès Cannes Review
If you thought a film following a man’s weekend after discovering he’s ill couldn’t be charming, funny, tender, warm and thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end, journalist turned filmmaker Pauline Loquès will change your mind. And your hearts, forever.
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Cannes Gem: A review of 'Urchin' by Harris Dickinson
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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To be Muslim, French and Queer: 'The Little Sister' Cannes review
What do you do when you don’t see people like you represented in French literature? Well, if you are Fatima Daas, you write a character that has never been shown before — a lesbian, Muslim young woman, first generation French daughter of Algerian immigrants. And then, a great filmmaker and actress like Hafsia Herzi might make it into a film that ends up in Cannes, in Competition. Well, this is what happened.
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Tom Cruise must need a nap after 'Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning'
He runs across London, dives to the depth of the Baltic Sea, flies through the South African sky, most of the time outside an airplane, and never misses a beat — and I was exhausted just watching him do it all…
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A still from ‘Yalla Parkour!’ by Areeb Zuaiter
There are eight DFI-supported titles in this year's Berlinale lineup
And at least one in each section too, including Competition and the new Perspectives for first time features.
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