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, […]
No Longer in the Wings: The 2024 Slamdance Film Festival
By Thomas M. Puhr. ‘Disrupting the status quo’ through diverse selections…. their documentary choices – including a feel-good athlete biography and a harrowing portrait of religious faith in a maximum security prison – exhibit a similar variety.” Ranging from a comedy-drama about the pitfalls of parenthood to a genre-hopping eco-parable/musical, […]
Reflections on the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival
By Ali Moosavi. This year, the controversy was on a bigger scale….” It seems that the San Sebastian International Film Festival cannot go ahead without having some controversy. Last year it was the inclusion of Austrian director Ulrich Seidl’s Sparta, about a pedophile who travels from Austria to Romania and […]
Making Of, The Pulse, and Others on the Side: Selections from the 80th Venice Film Festival
By Ali Moosavi. Gabrielle: I still get eaten up. Vincent: Yes, but you get the shot! –from On the Pulse The side sections of the major film festivals often offer works that are as interesting, or sometimes more interesting, than the films in the main section. Here are a few […]
Things They Don’t Do on Broadway: Selections from the 59th Chicago International Film Festival
By Jonathan Monovich. Reporting from the U.S.’s ‘Second City,’ the home of the North America’s longest running film festival….” The Chicago International Film Festival is the longest running film festival in North America. This year marks the festival’s 59th anniversary. Founded by Michael Kutza, the history of the festival is […]