Film-Forward

Foreign

Ten Years | New York Asian Film Festival

A film anthology that ran afoul of the Chinese government during its theatrical run and, despite strong box office, disappeared abruptly until it found a second life.

Highlights of the New York Asian Film Festival 2016

The city’s premier showcase of the latest and greatest from international film festivals celebrates its 15th anniversary by continuing what it does best: highlighting the richness to be found in Asian cinema.

Diary of a Chambermaid

Followed by a smitten camera, Léa Seydoux’s face combines a Mary Cassatt apple-cheeked purity with the sullen roughness of a young Kate Moss in the latest take on the French classic novel by Octave Mirbeau.

Tikkun

The prime reason to see this artsy film is the beautiful black-and-white, weird, and mystical imagery of cinematographer Shai Goldman.

Palme d’Or Winner “I, Daniel Blake” | Cannes 2016

Urgency. That was the main ingredient propelling many of the best films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, including the winner of the Palme d’Or, I, Daniel Blake.

Dheepan

Jacques Audiard’s moody heartbreaker, the winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or last year, daringly places a rough-and-ready, documentary-ish shooting style alongside confident, startling artistry.

Fireworks Wednesday

Asghar Farhadi reminds us of how, ultimately, there are countless external factors that determine and alter our lives that we have no control over.

L’Attesa (The Wait)

Cinematographer Francesco di Giacomo never lets an amazing shot go to waste, whether in sumptuous interiors or starkly beautiful landscapes. He is a master of chiaroscuro, rich texture, and, above all, framing.

Sworn Virgin

Italian director Laura Bispuri’s debut film follows Mark (Alba Rohrwacher), an Albanian man who had renounced his female gender and taken a vow of chastity as a teen to escape a life of servitude.