By Jeremy Carr. Septuagenarian grandfather Angus (Richard Dreyfuss) has harbored dreams of space since he was a child. Although the waning years of his life have generally clouded those fancies, thanks to life’s bitter two-pronged tinge of disappointment and regret, he still looks to the stars in order to “see […]
Joining the Flow: An Interview with Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jeremy Carr
July 25, 2019
By Jeremy Carr. On the occasion of two recently published collections – Cinematic Encounters: Interviews and Dialogues (2018) and Cinematic Encounters 2: Portraits and Polemics (2019), both from The University of Illinois Press – Jonathan Rosenbaum discusses a career’s worth of experience. Sharing his views with Film International, he reflects […]
On the Border, with Soap Opera: Tel Aviv on Fire (2018)
Yun-hua Chen
July 25, 2019
By Yun-hua Chen. What would bring the two opposing sides across the Israel-Palestinian borders together? Tel Aviv on Fire’s answer is, through a popular tear-jerking soap opera and some good hummus. The film follows a naïve and melancholic young Palestinian man, Salam (Kais Nashif), who initially works as an assistant […]
The Kurious Kase of a Kinski Krimi: Riccardo Freda’s Double Face
July 24, 2019
By Rod Lott. Ah, young love! When John (enfant terrible extraordinaire Klaus Kinski) meets Helen (Margaret Lee, Venus in Furs) on holiday in 1969’s Double Face, their courtship is instant and intense, with bedding and wedding in quick succession. Within two years, predictably, the white-hot flame of love has burned […]
Restoring Paul Leni – The Man Who Laughs (1928) and The Last Warning (1929) from Flicker Alley
Tony Williams
July 24, 2019
By Tony Williams. While we lament today current low standards represented by mainstream Hollywood cinema, those of us resilient enough to resist the temptations of the “new” and ignore the uneducated comments of ungrateful, social media-addicted 100-level students complaining about the fact that they have to see “old films” (despite […]
The Arab Comrades in the Spanish Civil War: Amal Ramsis on You Come from Far Away
N. Buket Cengiz
July 23, 2019
By N. Buket Cengiz. The 12th edition of Documentarist, the sole independent documentary festival in Turkey, was held on 15-20 June 2019 in Istanbul with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy, consulates of Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Check Republic, Denmark and other institutions such as the Goethe Institute. Among the […]
In the Heart of the World: Soap Opera Meets Social Realism in Brazil
Martin Kudlá?
July 22, 2019
By Martin Kudláč. The Brazilian cinema has been in the viewfinder of the International Film Festival Rotterdam for some time now and certainly for a good reason. New talents have been emerging and captivating cinema has been pouring out of the country despite the ever-increasing political turbulences. Brazilian films have been […]
Bonding vs. Protection: Jan Zabeil’s Three Peaks
July 18, 2019
By Gary M. Kramer. Made in 2017, but just getting a release now, Jan Zabeil’s Three Peaks is a flinty chamber drama set mainly in the Dolomites. And despite the spectacular mountain range location – the title refers to Aaron’s (Alexander Fehling) favorite rock formation – most of this nervy film is extremely claustrophobic. The story […]
Deadites vs. Adaptation: Media and The Evil Dead
Valerie Guyant
July 18, 2019
By Valerie Guyant. The following is an excerpt from The Many Lives of The Evil Dead: Essays on the Cult Film Franchise, © 2019, Edited by Ron Riekki and Jeffrey A. Sartain by permission of McFarland & Company, Inc., Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640. www.mcfarlandbooks.com. Evil Dead has been adapted for different media, […]
The Immigrant Dream Life: An Interview with Amir Ganjavie on Pendulum
July 15, 2019
By Ali Moosavi. Pendulum is the first film made by Amir Ganjavie, an Iranian diaspora film critic (and a Film International contributor), based in Toronto. Ganjavie is engaged in a wide variety of cinematic activities. He has pioneered the Iranian Film Festival in Toronto, an annual festival showcasing the cream of […]