“I Try to Make Each Film Feel Like a Debut”: Can Evrenol on Saýara

By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. The idea of making a truly dark revenge film at heart, in this day and age of global political-correctness-vs.-fascism, felt like the right thing to do (especially) if you are a true genre fan/filmmaker.” – Can Evrenol Going back at least to Metin Erksan’s classic The Well […]

It Lives! Andrew Repasky McElhinney on A Chronicle of Corpses at 25 Years

By William Blick. Aren’t all genre films structuralist in nature? Isn’t everyone either obeying or disobeying genre conventions?” –Andrew Repasky McElhinney At the turn of the millennium, the filmmaking industry was in flux. A wave of visionary film directors emerged to embrace new forms of cinematic expression. The horror film […]

Pacing and Place: Désirée Nosbusch on Poison (2024)

By Yun-hua Chen. The key was having the courage not to rush the pacing. People tried to convince me otherwise—they said it was too slow, that it took too long for the characters to meet. But I stood my ground.” –Désirée Nosbusch With over 30 years of experience as an […]

What the 80s Mean in Czechoslovakia: Alexandra Makarova on Perla

By Ali Moosavi. It was clear for us that we wanted to have an observer’s perspective so that it feels like I am invisible and standing with the camera and looking at these people.” –Alexandra Makarova One of the films showing at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival is Perla by […]

Considering the Last Breath: An Interview with Costa-Gavras

By Ali Moosavi. It’s an important personal lesson to myself to learn to prepare myself to die with dignity. The others cannot help you and I think you have to know the truth.” —Costa-Gavras I first became aware of Costa-Gavras, and quickly became a fan, in the Seventies after watching […]

A Rich Space for Personal Expression – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on The Cinema Coven: Witches, Witchcraft and Women’s Filmmaking

By Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo. Hopefully the book will be part of a broader shift towards more focused, deeper critical dives into the nitty gritty of women’s horror filmmaking now that the field has been broadly solidified with incredible foundational texts….” Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ career offers a rich tapestry of interests […]

Autumn of Life: Francois Ozon on When Fall is Coming

By Ali Moosavi. I alternate between small films and bigger films with stars…. I have no strategy, I follow my instincts.” The French writer-director Francois Ozon is not just one of France’s best known and most lauded film makers, but also one of the busiest. His latest film, When Fall […]