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 […]
A Producer’s Journey, from Tehran to Hollywood – Barry Navidi on Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness
By Ali Moosavi. I always wanted to be a director but John Huston said to me, look you’ve got the passion and the desire to make movies; why don’t you become a creative producer? This way you don’t have to always seek for jobs as director. The producer creates the […]
Exploring Collective Fear, with a Solar-Powered Cellphone: Bruce Wemple’s The North Witch
By Andrew Montiveo. Imperfect and occasionally clunky, its slow-boil tension, isolation-driven horror, and cerebral elements make it a compelling watch….” Recently, witches have become conduits for exploring folklore and collective fear, as in The Blair Witch Project (1999), where ambiguity reigns, blurring the lines between reality and myth. These varied […]
The Slow Burn – The Rebirth of Suspense: Slowness and Atmosphere in Cinema
A Book Review by William Blick. A richly researched and detailed study that contributes original perspectives on an aspect of cinema that is often underrepresented….” Being a Gen-X kid, I was raised on Hollywood blockbusters of the 1980s. With a steady diet of films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, […]
Camp with a Heart: Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker (2022)
By Thomas M. Puhr. This is the kind of movie that begs to be experienced in a packed theater, preferably with the smell of marijuana wafting down the aisles. It may very well be this century’s answer to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Although only two years have passed since […]
There is Indeed a Fire: The State of Film Industry Work Conditions Since #MeToo
By Yun-hua Chen and Anne Küper. I like movies too much to just sit idly by, knowing that there are people in this industry who struggle with protecting both their work and themselves. My goal is to empower them to do just that, so they can focus on their art […]
Against Mechanization: Adam Elliot on Memoir of a Snail (CIFF 2024)
By Jonathan Monovich. It’s always tempting to speed up the process and save money by using CGI, but I think we’re at a period where we’re drowning in CGI. Now, with the advent of AI, I think stop motion has never been appreciated as much as it is now.” —Adam […]
Transport for Survival: Arash Rakhsha’s All the Mountains Give (DOC NYC)
By William Blick. A survivalist story and an unobtrusive, objective gaze into the bleak lives of dedicated, seemingly forgotten people….” In a time when the arts and culture are under assault from all angles, artists find a way to survive and thrive. Such is the case with Kurdish film director, […]
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 […]
Made in Chicago: Andrew Davis on his Career and Disturbing the Bones (CIFF 2024)
By Jonathan Monovich. Born in Chicago’s South Side, Davis understands exactly where his characters should be, when they should be there, and why they should be there.” Throughout his career, Andrew Davis found a way to make Chicago the city of spectacle on the big screen. There have been plenty […]