Film Festivals
Some films from the 2019 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 2
Kabul, City in the Wind, Midnight Traveler and What We Left Unfinished: The catastrophe of US intervention in Afghanistan
By Joanne Laurier, 2 May 2019
The San Francisco film festival screened a number of movies from the nation ravaged in the longest conflict in US history.
Some films from the 2019 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 1
Paper Flags, Tehran: City of Love and Belmonte—Alienation, loneliness and other problems
By David Walsh, 26 April 2019
Paper Flags, Tehran: City of Love and Belmonte—three films from France, Iran and Uruguay, respectively—were screened at the recent San Francisco film festival.
Freep Film Festival 2019 in Detroit—Part 2
Midnight Family from Mexico, The Last Truck and American Factory—about a former GM plant, murderous Detroit police and I Am Richard Pryor: A mixed lot
By Joanne Laurier, 19 April 2019
In some cases, good intentions are mingled with a socially non-committal attitude—in others, an obvious feeling for important issues is marred by middle-class prejudices and conceptions.
Freep Film Festival 2019 in Detroit—Part 1
Glimpses of social life: The Feeling of Being Watched, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool and Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts, among others
By David Walsh and Helen Halyard, 17 April 2019
The Detroit film festival organizers made an obvious effort to program works oriented toward contemporary reality and recent social history, including many of their difficult and painful aspects.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 9
Three Turkish films (A Tale of Three Sisters, Daughters of Two Worlds, Oray)—Hoping for a better life
By Bernd Reinhardt, 25 March 2019
Three films at the Berlinale exude a humanistic spirit of enlightenment and dialogue. They suggest that everyone, regardless of their ethnic, religious or cultural background, has the right to a better life.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 8
Increasing pressures on Chinese filmmakers
By Stefan Steinberg, 21 March 2019
In February, the deputy director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department declared that the country’s filmmakers “must have a clear ideological bottom line and cannot challenge the political system.”
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 7
German films: Economic and social tensions on the rise
By Bernd Reinhardt, 16 March 2019
The pursuit of naked profit interests and government-imposed austerity dominate an ever broader swath of life. Some of the German films at this year’s Berlinale point to the consequences.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 6
God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya: A satire from Macedonia “between anger and melancholy”
By Verena Nees, 13 March 2019
This year’s Berlin International Film Festival once again presented a number of documentary and feature films from eastern and southeastern Europe. Some took a new and refreshing approach.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 5
Slave labour and new forms of capitalist exploitation in the 21st century
By Stefan Steinberg, 11 March 2019
The 69th Berlin film festival took place against a background of growing working class militancy in Germany and worldwide.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 4
Brecht: A new film about the famed left-wing German dramatist
By Stefan Steinberg, 5 March 2019
Interest in the playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is undergoing something of a revival.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3
Israeli films, Mr. Jones and Marighella
By Stefan Steinberg, 28 February 2019
This is the third in a series of articles on the recent Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, held February 7-17, 2019. The first part was posted on February 15 and the second on February 22.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 2
Midnight Traveler—“Sometimes life takes you through hell”
By Verena Nees, 22 February 2019
The film provides an authentic and moving portrayal of people just like us, who just happen to live in the wrong country at the wrong time.
69th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 1
Between identity politics and opposition against the far right
By Stefan Steinberg, 15 February 2019
The fact that festival director Dieter Kosslick decided on short notice to include the film Who Will Write Our History? is a reflection of the growing opposition in the artistic community to the growth of the far-right in Germany.
The Land of Steady Habits: Postcrash American disillusionment
By David Walsh, 5 February 2019
The film follows Anders Hill, who has recently quit his job on Wall Street and divorced his wife of several decades, Helene. The events unfold in southwest Connecticut, in New York City’s affluent suburbs.
Toronto International Film Festival 2018: Part 6
The Trial and Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz—An early Stalinist frame-up on film and the Nuremberg tribunal against the Nazis
By Joanne Laurier, 16 October 2018
Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary The Trial treats the so-called Industrial Party Trial in the USSR in 1930. The last surviving Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946) prosecutor is the subject of Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz .
Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born: It’s true, the artist must have “something to say”
By Joanne Laurier, 10 October 2018
Starring Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born is a film about a rising star and a declining one in the music business.
Toronto International Film Festival 2018: Part 4
Damien Chazelle’s First Man: Reduced in space—and opera singer Maria Callas, the Afghanistan war, small-town America
By Joanne Laurier, 8 October 2018
Damien Chazelle’s First Man—which opens in the US October 12—focuses on US astronaut Neil Armstrong and his role in Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the moon.
Toronto International Film Festival 2018: Part 3
Icebox and Twin Flower: The US government locks up children—and, in Italy, an African refugee finds a kindred spirit
By David Walsh, 4 October 2018
At the recent Toronto film festival, several films took up the global issue of the horrendous treatment of immigrants and the desperate conditions facing refugees.
Toronto International Film Festival 2018
An interview with director Daniel Sawka and actors from Icebox: “As inequality grows, there’s always scapegoating of immigrants”
By David Walsh, 4 October 2018
The WSWS spoke to the director of Icebox and several actors about the question of immigration and the Trump administration policies.
Toronto International Film Festival 2018: Part 2
Capernaum, Screwdriver, Rosie, The Public and Black 47: Socially critical films from the Middle East, Ireland and the US
By Joanne Laurier, 1 October 2018
Film writers and directors live in this world too. There must be those who reject upper-middle class triviality and self-involvement.
Toronto International Film Festival 2018: Part 1
An intriguing film festival—above all, Mike Leigh’s Peterloo
By David Walsh, 28 September 2018
The recent Toronto International Film Festival screened some 340 films (including 255 features) from 74 countries.
#MeToo at the Cannes Film Festival: All about money and power
By Stefan Steinberg, 21 May 2018
An examination of recent movies by prominent women filmmakers reveals that they share the problems of their male counterparts.
2018 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 5
The generally—and genuinely—inadequate character of global filmmaking
By David Walsh, 2 May 2018
The impact of years of stagnation and official reaction still sharply influences artistic work.
2018 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 4
Documentary about singer M.I.A. (“Use your art to say something!”) and Paul Schrader’s First Reformed (small-town preacher struggles with life and death)
By Toby Reese, 30 April 2018
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., a feature-length documentary about rapper-songwriter, “M.I.A.” is a breath of fresh air. First Reformed is a dismal, confused film about a middle-aged former military chaplain turned preacher.
2018 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 3
Poverty, war and right-wing politics—and the lives of two artists
I Am Not a Witch, The Workshop, The Distant Barking of Dogs, Garry Winogrand and Louise Lecavalier
By Joanne Laurier, 27 April 2018
I Am Not a Witch in particular is an elegantly crafted tale that comments on the exploitation of Zambia’s poor by an elite that shamelessly promotes superstition and backwardness.
2018 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 2
How are striking miners (Bisbee ’17), a great painter (Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti), Native Americans (The Rider) and others treated by the filmmakers?
By Joanne Laurier, 20 April 2018
A further look at the recent San Francisco film festival and its variety of films. Interesting, complex subjects may still receive inadequate or uneven treatment.
2018 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 1
Contemporary life, and those who make films about it (in Iran, the US, Russia, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan …)
By David Walsh, 18 April 2018
The San Francisco International Film Festival, founded in 1957 and one of the longest-running such events in the Americas, this year screened some 180 films from 45 countries.
68th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 8
Brothers (1929) and Comradeship (1931): Two films dealing with the workers movement
By Bernd Reinhardt, 6 April 2018
Two feature films, part of the Berlin International Film Festival retrospective section, reflect a militant mood among workers in the late 1920s, in particular their striving for a common struggle and international solidarity.
68th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 7
A fresh look at German cinema in the Weimar Republic era (1919-1933)
By Bernd Reinhardt, 3 April 2018
The major retrospective at this year’s Berlinale, “Weimar Cinema Revisited,” presented films—along with their directors in many cases—that have been forgotten for decades.
Babylon Berlin: A lavish television series about 1920s’ Germany
By Sybille Fuchs, 2 April 2018
Babylon Berlin’s action takes place in the German capital, then the third largest municipality in the world, at the end of the so-called Golden Years of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933).
68th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 5
Central Airport THF: In Berlin, the end of the road for many refugees
By Verena Nees, 26 March 2018
Karim Aïnouz’s impressive documentary about the mass housing of refugees at the former Berlin Tempelhof Airport was awarded the Amnesty International Film Prize.
68th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 4
Styx and Eldorado: Once again on the plight of refugees
By Stefan Steinberg, 22 March 2018
A handful of movies at the 2018 Berlinale dealt powerfully and insightfully with the European Union’s criminal policy toward refugees.
68th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3
The Waldheim Waltz: A timely film about the World War II role of former Austrian president
By Stefan Steinberg, 20 March 2018
The events surrounding Kurt Waldheim’s campaign and subsequent election in 1985-86 played a major role in uncovering the real role played by the Austrian ruling elite in the Second World War.
68th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 2
The shattering of what’s left of the American Dream: Generation Wealth, Game Girls, Lemonade
By Stefan Steinberg, 16 March 2018
Three films at this year’s festival shed a piercing light on social relations in the United States.
68th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 1
The 2018 Berlinale and the #MeToo campaign
By Stefan Steinberg and Verena Nees, 14 March 2018
The 68th Berlin Film Festival, whose 2018 edition ended February 25, is the world’s largest film festival open to the public.
Berlin film festival: SPD cabinet minister promotes #MeToo campaign
By Katerina Selin, 10 March 2018
The media circus at this year’s Berlinale was all centred on one topic: #MeToo. Virtually every interview, meeting and media report mentioned the sexual misconduct campaign in one way or another.
Film director Michael Haneke criticizes #MeToo movement on eve of Berlinale film festival
By Katerina Selin, 20 February 2018
The reactionary #MeToo campaign is playing a central role at the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival.
Toronto International Film Festival: Part 6
A Season in France, Catch the Wind, Arrhythmia, Sweet Country: The refugee crisis, social disintegration in Russia…
By Joanne Laurier, 11 October 2017
The never-ending wars in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa have driven millions to seek what they perceive to be more stable conditions in Western Europe.
Toronto International Film Festival: Part 5
African American playwright Lorraine Hansberry, a revolution betrayed in Portugal and other matters
By Joanne Laurier, 4 October 2017
The Hansberry documentary presents a straightforward and enlightening picture of a woman who was smart, sensitive and rebellious, tragically dying of pancreatic cancer at the age of 34.
Toronto International Film Festival: Part 4
The Death of Stalin, The Other Side of Everything, Insyriated—The filmmakers’ inability to deal with complex questions, or worse
By David Walsh, 30 September 2017
Several films on political and historical questions underscore ongoing intellectual and artistic difficulties.
Toronto International Film Festival 2017: Part 2
Directions, Disappearance, A Drowning Man: Realistic about harsh conditions
By David Walsh, 26 September 2017
Certain films at the recent Toronto film festival depict reality in important ways.
Toronto International Film Festival 2017
An interview with Stephan Komandarev, director of Directions: “The first step is to have a clear picture of what’s happening. I don’t see any other way.”
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 26 September 2017
We spoke with Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev, the writer-director of Directions, in Toronto.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 3
War (The Stopover), scientific progress (Marie Curie), the police (The Force) and other issues
By Joanne Laurier, 4 May 2017
Honest films about the character and impact of the brutal neo-colonial wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere are extremely hard to come by.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 2
Muhi—Generally Temporary, or, a real concern for human suffering
By Joanne Laurier, 29 April 2017
The film focuses on a young Palestinian boy from Gaza, whose arms and legs have been amputated and who remains in limbo in an Israeli hospital.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 1
By David Walsh, 26 April 2017
The 2017 San Francisco International Film Festival screened some 180 films from 50 countries or so. This is the first of several articles.
“Is there a bigger lightning rod for racism, bigotry, fear-mongering and hate than immigration?”
An interview with Rodrigo Reyes, director of Lupe Bajo el Sol (Lupe Under the Sun)
By Kevin Martinez, 10 April 2017
The WSWS conducted an email interview with Rodrigro Reyes, director of Lupe Bajo el Sol (Lupe Under the Sun).
San Diego Latino Film Festival—Part 3
On the assassination of Leon Trotsky, Latin American death squads and pictures of immigration
By Toby Reese, Kevin Martinez and Andrea Ramos, 10 April 2017
El Elegido (The Chosen) dramatizes the role of Ramon Mercader in the assassination of Leon Trotsky in 1940. El Amparo recounts the 1988 massacre of innocent fishermen in Venezuela. Lupe Bajo el Sol and X500 look at immigration and immigrants.
San Diego Latino Film Festival—Part 2
Conditions in Latin America, treated concretely…and more abstractly
By Kevin Martinez and Toby Reese, 6 April 2017
Films from Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic were shown at the festival, including a tense political drama, a dialogue-free drama and two documentaries.
San Diego Latino Film Festival—Part 1
Films on social life, past and present, in Mexico, the US and Peru
By Kevin Martinez and Toby Reese, 3 April 2017
The festival screened films from Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Venezuela, Colombia, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Peru, Honduras, Brazil, the US and other countries.
An interview with Jose Ramon Pedroza, director of Los Jinetes Del Tiempo (Time Riders)
By Kevin Martinez and Toby Reese, 3 April 2017
The WSWS conducted an interview with Mexican film director Jose Ramon Pedroza.
67th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3
The absence for the most part of the big wide world: German films at the Berlinale
By Bernd Reinhardt, 9 March 2017
The dramatic social and political developments of the past several years were evidently not high on the German filmmakers’ agenda.
67th Berlin International Film Festival--Part 2
A film about the legendary guitarist: Django
By Bernd Reinhardt, 4 March 2017
The debut film of Étienne Comar focuses on the year 1943, when the Nazis tried unsuccessfully to convince Django Reinhardt to undertake a tour of fascist Germany.
67th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 1
Filmmaking in “apocalyptic” times
By Stefan Steinberg, 2 March 2017
There was very little evidence in Berlin this year of filmmakers and the festival as a whole taking up burning social and political issues.
Toronto International Film Festival 2016: Part 4
Sami Blood from Sweden, Werewolf from Canada, Park from Greece: Society’s cruelty to its youngest members
By David Walsh, 5 October 2016
Amanda Kernell’s Sami Blood, from Sweden, is not an easy film to watch. It was also one of the most moving and authentic films shown in Toronto this year.
Toronto International Film Festival 2016
Ma’ Rosa from the Philippines: Small-time drug dealers set upon by the police
By Dylan Lubao, 5 October 2016
The 14th film from Filipino director Brillante Mendoza was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and earlier premiered at Cannes.
Toronto International Film Festival 2016: Part 2
The Chosen, on Trotsky, and other political subjects
By David Walsh, 29 September 2016
The appearance of an honest and accurate film about the plot to assassinate Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1940 is a welcome—and long overdue—event.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 4
Maggie’s Plan, Frank & Lola, along with Dreyer’s Vampyr (1932)
By Joanne Laurier, 20 May 2016
Some not very good new films—and better old ones.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 3
Radio Dreams, about Iranian Americans—and the problem of images without insight
By David Walsh, 17 May 2016
Radio Dreams is a pleasurable experience. Other films at the San Francisco festival––The Event, No Home Movie, Counting, Five Nights in Maine––fared less well.
An interview with Babak Jalali, director of Radio Dreams
By David Walsh, 17 May 2016
The WSWS spoke to Babak Jalali during the recent San Francisco International Film Festival.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 2
The Return, about released prisoners, and other social dramas (or comedies)
By Joanne Laurier, 13 May 2016
In a number of the films screened at the festival, their creators were evidently overwhelmed by the disintegrating social structures in some of the most impoverished parts of the world.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 1
Look at today’s filmmaking … then look at the world
By David Walsh, 11 May 2016
The recent San Francisco International Film Festival, in its 59th edition, screened some 175 films, including approximately 100 feature-length films, from 46 countries.
San Diego Latino Film Festival 2016—Part 3
From Cuba a grim drama (La obra del siglo) and from Argentina a political thriller (El Clan) and a road trip (Camino a La Paz)
By Kevin Martinez and Toby Reese, 1 April 2016
The festival showcased films and documentaries from throughout the Spanish-speaking world, including Cuba, Spain, Mexico, and South and Central America.
San Diego Latino Film Festival 2016—Part 1
Films from Argentina, Spain and Guatemala: El Movimiento, Hablar, Ixcanul and Tras Nazarin
By Kevin Martinez and Toby Reese, 28 March 2016
The festival showcased films and documentaries from throughout the Spanish-speaking world, including Cuba, Spain, Mexico, South and Central America.
66th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 4:
Flight and persecution—yesterday and today (The Diary of Anne Frank and Meteorstraße)
By Bernd Reinhardt, 14 March 2016
A new adaptation of the immortal Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, about Nazi persecution, and a film about Palestinian refugees in contemporary Germany.
66th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3:
Alone in Berlin—a working class couple opposes the Nazis
By Bernd Reinhardt, 7 March 2016
Vincent Pérez’s film is a new adaptation of Hans Fallada’s novel Every Man Dies Alone (published posthumously in 1947).
66th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 2:
A critique of Europe’s refugee policy: On the Berlinale’s Golden Bear for Fire at Sea
By Verena Nees and Bernd Reinhardt, 27 February 2016
This is the second in a series of articles on the recent Berlin international film festival, the Berlinale, held February 11-20, 2016.
66th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 1:
Refugee crisis takes centre stage at the Berlinale
By Stefan Steinberg, 22 February 2016
The main prize of the festival went to Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare) by Gianfranco Rosi, dealing with the fate of refugees attempting to enter Europe.
Canada’s role in Afghanistan
Hyena Road: Neither pro- nor anti-war? Not so fast, Mr. Gross…!
By Lee Parsons, 18 December 2015
Paul Gross’s film follows the construction of a tactically important road being built in the heart of Taliban territory by Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan.
Toronto International Film Festival 2015: Part Five
Eight films from Africa, the Middle East, China, Latin America and Eastern Europe: Contemporary social realism
By David Walsh, 14 October 2015
A number of films at the recent Toronto film festival sought, with varying degrees of persuasiveness, to present pictures of modern life with an emphasis on social relationships.
FICUNAM 2015: Part 4
Tackling life head on: The films of Uzbek-Soviet director Ali Khamraev
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 28 March 2015
One of the genuine contributions of the recent FICUNAM film festival in Mexico City was its presentation of the works of veteran film director Ali Khamraev.
FICUNAM 2015
I Remember You: A comment on the history of his film by director Ali Khamraev
28 March 2015
Filmmaker Ali Khamraev explains the difficulties surrounding the making of his remarkable film I Remember You in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
FICUNAM 2015: Part 3
Pedro Costa’s Horse Money, Jean-Marie Straub’s “leftism” and other problems
By David Walsh, 25 March 2015
The recent FICUNAM festival in Mexico City screened a number of films which, while not belonging to a single school by any means, provide the opportunity for something of a generalized overview.
FICUNAM 2015: Part 2
The rule and the exceptions—three good films: Court, National Gallery and The Gold Bug
By David Walsh, 20 March 2015
There are filmmakers who devote themselves seriously and conscientiously to representing life, not life in the abstract, not “life as a river,” but concrete life, the life of social classes and relationships.
FICUNAM 2015
An interview with Alejo Moguillansky, co-director of The Gold Bug
By David Walsh, 20 March 2015
David Walsh spoke to Alejo Moguillansky, the co-director of The Gold Bug, in Mexico City during the FICUNAM film festival.
FICUNAM 2015: Part 1
A remarkable film festival in Mexico City
By David Walsh, 18 March 2015
David Walsh and Joanne Laurier recently attended the film festival associated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
65th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 5
Two stories of German resistance: The Resistors “their spirit prevails ...” and 13 Minutes
By Bernd Reinhardt, 3 March 2015
One film makes only a partial examination of Hitler’s middle class opponents, while the other makes a more significant look at the opposition from below.
65th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 4
Every Thing Will Be Fine from Wim Wenders, Taxi from Jafar Panahi, and other films
By Hiram Lee, 27 February 2015
New films from veteran German director Wim Wenders and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi were screened at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
65th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3
Haiti and Romania: Drama and social life in Murder in Pacot and Why me?
By Stefan Steinberg, 25 February 2015
Raoul Peck’s film focuses on a middle class couple whose home in Port-au-Prince has been ruined by the 2011 earthquake. Tudor Giurgiu’s feature looks at all-pervasive corruption in Romania.
65th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 2
Marcel Ophüls’ Memory of Justice and other documentaries
By Hiram Lee, 21 February 2015
A newly restored version of Marcel Ophüls’ 1976 documentary Memory of Justice was given a special screening at this year’s Berlinale.
15th Tokyo Filmex—Part 2
Life in modern Tokyo, and life during the two world wars: Kabukicho Love Hotel, Tsili and Theeb
By John Watanabe, 5 January 2015
Kabukicho Love Hotel is the latest film by Japanese director Ryuichi Hiroki. Amos Gitai’s Tsili takes place during World War II, and Naji Abu Nowar’s Theeb during the First World War.
15th Tokyo Filmex—Part 1
The Prince and A Few Cubic Meters of Love: Two films about Iran and Afghanistan
By John Watanabe, 17 December 2014
The Prince, the better of the pair of films, is a “docu-fiction” about the life journey of Jalil Nazari, an Afghan refugee in Iran, who subsequently applied for asylum in Germany.
Distortion and dishonesty: Ukrainian films at the Cottbus Film Festival
By Stefan Steinberg, 20 November 2014
The Festival of East European Cinema in Cottbus, Germany has been an annual event since 1991.
Toronto International Film Festival 2014—Part 6
Tigers and global corporate criminality: “We’ve got a really bad system”
By David Walsh, 15 October 2014
Danis Tanović’s new film focuses on a scandal that stretches back at least four decades—the marketing of infant formula to women in poor countries, which has caused untold suffering and death.
Toronto International Film Festival 2014—Part 5
99 Homes, Shelter and harsh American realities: Filmmakers inch their way toward important truths
Director Ramin Bahrani: “The villain is the system”
By Joanne Laurier, 10 October 2014
99 Homes deals with the foreclosure and eviction crisis, Shelter with the homeless. Also screened was a documentary about a Mexican citizen 30 years on death row, The Years of Fierro.
Toronto International Film Festival 2014—Part 3
Drone warfare in Good Kill
and a roundtable interview with writer-director Andrew Niccol and actor Ethan Hawke
By David Walsh, 26 September 2014
New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Niccol has taken on the subject of drone warfare in Good Kill, featuring Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood, Zoë Kravitz and January Jones.
Toronto International Film Festival 2014—Part 2
Phoenix and Labyrinth of Lies: German history and other complex questions
By Joanne Laurier, 24 September 2014
Christian Petzold’s Phoenix and Italian-born Giulio Ricciarelli’s Labyrinth of Lies are both skillfully made, intelligent films that delve, in quite different ways, into the legacy of German fascism.
Toronto International Film Festival 2014—Part 1
Something different in filmmaking
By David Walsh, 18 September 2014
A number of remarkable films were screened at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, out of a total of 284 feature films and 108 shorts, from some 80 countries.
San Francisco International Film Festival 2014
Part four: Manos Sucias, Freedom Summer and others: Bitter social conflict present and past
By Joanne Laurier, 26 May 2014
A film about Colombia, a short conversation with its director, and a documentary about the civil rights movement in the 1960s, among other things.
San Francisco International Film Festival 2014
Part three: Bad Hair, School of Babel, South is Nothing: Struggling in a harsh reality
By David Walsh, 21 May 2014
It is difficult to conceive of a serious artistic treatment of life today that avoids the economic realities and pressures relentlessly bearing down on the overwhelming majority of humanity.
San Francisco International Film Festival 2014
Part two: Tamako in Moratorium, Standing Aside, Watching, Three Letters from China: Greater urgency from Japan, Greece and China
By Joanne Laurier, 16 May 2014
Several films screened at the San Francisco film festival this year shed light on the dire physical and emotional impact of the global economic crisis on the lives of the general population.
San Francisco International Film Festival 2014
Part one: There is realism, and then there is realism
By David Walsh, 12 May 2014
The recent San Francisco International Film Festival, its 57th edition, screened some 168 films, including 100 or so fiction or documentary features.
64th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 6
Art and commerce: Austrian documentary The Great Museum
By Bernd Reinhardt, 7 March 2014
Austrian director Johannes Holzhausen’s film is a fond, and at the same time scathing documentary about the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) in Vienna.
64th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 5
Age of Cannibals and Amma and Appa: Two sides of globalisation
By Berndt Reinhardt, 5 March 2014
German films were well represented at this year’s Berlin film festival, with no less than four productions screened in the festival competition programme alone.
64th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 4
Between faith and the striving for truth: German films in competition at the Berlinale
By Bernd Reinhardt, 28 February 2014
German films were well represented at this year’s Berlin film festival, with no less than four productions screened in the festival competition programme alone.
64th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 3
We Come as Friends and Run Boy Run: Two more films that take a serious approach
By Stefan Steinberg, 26 February 2014
Hubert Sauper’s documentary examines the record of Western intervention in Africa, while Pepe Danquart’s fiction film recounts the experience of a fatherless Jewish boy in wartime Poland.
64th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 2
A serious approach to history: Non-Fiction Diary by South Korea’s Jung Yoon-suk
By Stefan Steinberg, 24 February 2014
A refreshingly serious approach to history is taken by South Korean filmmaker Jung Yoon-suk in his new documentary, Non-Fiction Diary, which deservedly won a prize at the 64th Berlinale.
64th Berlin International Film Festival—Part 1
Political agendas at this year’s Berlinale
By Stefan Steinberg, 20 February 2014
A notable feature of the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival was the manner in which certain leading figures in the film word openly promoted their retrograde political agendas.
Tokyo Filmex 2013
Transit, Ilo Ilo and Youth: Three films that rise above the average
By John Watanabe, 4 December 2013
Tokyo Filmex, founded in 2000, is a film festival that features mostly new Asian releases. The 14th Filmex, held from November 23 to December 1, presented a number of interesting films.
Tokyo International Film Festival 2013—Part 2
Blind Dates from Georgia and Nobody’s Home from Turkey
By John Watanabe, 2 November 2013
The recent Tokyo International Film Festival, held October 17-25, screened a number of films worth commenting on.
Tokyo International Film Festival 2013—Part 1
Two films from China: One is honest and sympathetic, the other is not
By John Watanabe, 28 October 2013
The recent Tokyo International Film Festival, held October 17-25, screened a number of films worth commenting on.
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