By Paul Risker. The outset of Wei Hu’s filmmaking journey has taken the form of small steps, although the burgeoning young filmmaker admits that his two short films Le Propriétaire (2012) and Butter Lamp (2013) have infused him with a passion and belief in cinema. He explains, “I am confident […]
The 34th Istanbul Film Festival: Marked with Solidarity Against Censorship and the Void Left by Cancelled Competitions
May 17, 2015
By N. Buket Cengiz. It was the festival fever once again heralding the coming of spring in Istanbul when the 34th Istanbul Film Festival started on the 3rd of April with great energy as always. Even richer this year with the addition of the National Documentary Competition to its longtime […]
Ex Machina: Woman Abused (to Small Concern)
May 11, 2015
By Christopher Sharrett. Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (some radio announcers have said “ex masheena”—one wonders if anyone knows Athenian drama, and the particular reasons behind theater’s use of the god from the machine) seems to be the must-see sci-fi film of the season, based on comments by newspaper and Internet reviewers. […]
The 65th Annual Berlinale Film Festival
May 11, 2015
By Zhuo-Ning Su. The Berlin International Film Festival—or the “Berlinale”—celebrated its 65th edition earlier this year (Feb. 5- 15). Locked in bitter, continental weather with little sunshine and no palm trees, Berlin is no match for Cannes both in terms of glamour and prestige. In the past decade, the growing […]
Burden of Peace: An Interview with Filmmaker Joey Boink
May 9, 2015
By Amir Ganjavie. Claudia Paz y Paz, a highly respected criminal law expert and judge with over eighteen years of experience, was the former Attorney General of Guatemala. As the first woman to hold such a high position in Guatemala, she was at the forefront of different fights to bring […]
Diva Directors Around the Globe: Spotlight on Kirsten Sheridan
May 7, 2015
By Anna Weinstein. Irish writer-director Kirsten Sheridan has directed three features and five shorts since 2001. Her screenplay for In America (2002), which she co-wrote with her sister Naomi Sheridan and her father Jim Sheridan, was nominated for a WGA award and an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Her film August Rush (2007), starring Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Freddie Highmore, and the late […]
Rhythms of Nature: Kornél Mundruczó’s White God (2015)
May 6, 2015
By Paul Risker. White God (Fehér istenr, 2014) emerges into being amidst a dreamy haze. While there is a lightness to the image of motion, its confinement within the rectangular frame meets with a weightier force. And as the film’s title intrudes quickly upon this dreamlike sequence, a powerful note […]
Sean Mewshaw and Desi Van Til’s Tumbledown: A Tribeca Interview
May 5, 2015
By Gary M. Kramer. Tumbledown, directed and written, respectively, by the husband and wife team of Sean Mewshaw and Desi Van Til, premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The film has Hannah (Rebecca Hall) meeting cute with Andrew (Jason Sudeikis) who wants to write a book about the former’s […]
Tribeca 2015 Festival Report
May 5, 2015
By Gary M. Kramer. This year’s Tribeca Film Festival provided a showcase for a pair of fascinating documentaries and a quartet of intriguing genre films. Here are reviews for a half-dozen films from the fest. Uncertain, which earned directors Anna Sandilands and Ewan McNicol the Albert Maysles New Documentary Director […]
Super Women and the Plight of Tel Aviv Immigrants
May 3, 2015
By Hannah Grayson. Yael Kipper and Ronen Zaretsky’s documentary film follows a group of cashiers as they work in a Tel Aviv supermarket. What we view is a tender portrayal of Russian and Israeli women moving through their everyday tasks and concerns. The plot contains few moments of drama, and […]