By Ali Moosavi. The difficult, tumultuous relationship between Celine and Margueritte is at the core of Love Letters, while Félix Dufour-Laperrière delivers Death Does Not Exist.“ The films in the main competition section of Cannes Film Festival are the ones that get all the limelight and media coverage. Cannes however […]
Global Relations Right Now: Berlin International Film Festival 2025
By Ali Moosavi. Hysteria also has something to say about some people’s preconceived ideas of others of different race and religion, something that is fueling Germany and a few other Western countries now….” The Berlin International Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, like all other major film festivals, has […]
Getting Better with Age: Selections from the 60th Chicago International Film Festival
By Jonathan Monovich. The festival’s centerpiece was Nightbitch (2024), which included the presentation of a visionary award to director Marielle Heller. To close the festival, Chicago native Robert Zemeckis received the founder’s legacy award for his latest film Here (2024).” When October comes around, there is a special feeling in […]
Schrader, Almodóvar, I’m Still Here: 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival
By Ali Moosavi. At my age, receiving such an award may be a sign that you have reached the end of the line and this is an appreciation for going on this journey that I have travelled for 44 years. But I don’t see it that way. I can’t imagine […]
Odd Blends, in Earnest: More Selections from TIFF 2024
By M. Sellers Johnson. Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light imparts a warm, humanist embrace that is as humorous as it is earnest, while Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl offers an odd blend of irreverent comedy and sharp drama….” Late summer in Ontario signals the annual return […]
A Little from Ukraine, More from Spain: Selections from TIFF 2024
By Ali Moosavi. The Ukranian gem U Are the Universe is a prime example of a film where with little budget but bags of creativity and ingenuity a filmmaker can succeed where many mega-budget Hollywood movies have failed.” Though Toronto International Film Festival was only founded in 1976, it has […]
“Rocky Mountain Way”: Selections from the 51st Telluride Film Festival
By Jonathan Monovich. This year marked the 51st iteration of the TFF, featuring diverse minds from around the world, including Americans, Chileans, Germans, and Iranians.” Despite its laidback atmosphere, the Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is very serious for its well-known world premieres, track record for including eventual Oscar nominees in […]
Highlights and Tributes: The 26th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
By M. Sellers Johnson. One of the American South’s premiere film festivals showcases documentary stories from across the globe….” After a year-long hiatus, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival resumes energized this year in downtown Durham, North Carolina. Fully in-person screenings date back to pre-pandemic, so the festival is also […]
Black and White, with a Splash of Color: Three from Il Cinema Ritrovato 2024
By Theresa Rodewald. There is a lot of dark, a lot of noir to be found in Bologna after all….” Bologna in late June is terracotta porticos, scorching sun and sweat. A city in dusty pastel colours, full of medieval remnants, with the world’s oldest university. Quite possibly the opposite […]
We Saw the Screens Glow: Selections from the 11th Chicago Critics Film Festival
By Jonathan Monovich. As the most attended year yet, the year’s CCFF provides reassurance that a love for film and film criticism is very much alive and well. Just weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the closing night of the 25th Ebertfest at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, […]