Film-Forward

Foreign

New York Asian Film Festival 2015

We’re right in the thick of summer, and usually what that means, as far as movies go, is Hollywood throwing billions of dollars at us in bombastic Dolby surround sound, 3-D, and outsized spectacle at the multiplexes. But here in New York, if you’re willing to look beyond the realm of dinosaurs, revived Terminators, and […]

A Borrowed Identity

Directed by Eran Riklis Produced by Bettina Brokemper, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Michael Eckelt, Chilik Michaeli Written by Sayed Kashua, based on his novels Dancing Arabs, Let It Be Morning and Second Person Singular Released by Strand Releasing Israel. 104 min. Not rated In Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles With Tawfeek Barhom, Ali Suliman, Yaël […]

Eden

Directed by Mia Hansen-Love Produced by Charles Gillibert Written by Hansen-Love and Sven Hansen-Love Music by Daft Punk, Joe Smooth, Frankie Knuckles, Terry Hunter, and MK Released by Broad Green Pictures English and French with English subtitles France. 131 min. Not rated With Félix de Givry, Pauline Etienne, Vincent Macaigne, Hugo Conzelmann, Arsinée Khanjian, and […]

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Written and Directed by Roy Andersson Produced by Pernilla Sandstrom Released by Magnolia Pictures Swedish with English subtitles. Sweden, Norway, France, Germany. 100 min. Not rated With Holger Andersson, Nils Westblom, Charlotta Larsson, Viktor Gyllenberg, Lotti Tornros, and Jonas Gerholm “Hahahaha!” That’s the sound of a loathsome toy called “bag in laughs,” a periodic sinister […]

In the Name of My Daughter

Directed by André Téchiné Written by Téchiné, Jean-Charles Le Roux, and Cédric Anger Produced by Olivier Delbosc and Marc Missonnier Released by Cohen Media Group French with English subtitles France. 116 min. Rated R With Catherine Deneuve, Guillaume Canet, and Adèle Haenel A mild-mannered lawyer attaches himself to a wealthy casino matriarch. He wins the […]

Slow West

Written and Directed by John Maclean Produced by Rachel Gardner, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Conor McCaughan Released by A24 UK/New Zealand. 91 min. Rated R With Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius, and Rory McCann The feature debut of former Beta Band member John MacLean is an arty little Western that has […]

The Connection

Written and Directed by Cédric Jimenez Produced by Alain Goldman Released by Drafthouse Films French with English subtitles France. 135 min. Rated R With Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Céline Sallette, and Benoît Magimel The Connection, a ’70s-era crime-thriller, opens with a bike chase sequence along the coastal highway of Marseille. From the start, director Cédric […]

Hyena

Written and Directed by Gerard Johnson Produced by Stephen Woolley, Joanna Laurie and Elizabeth Karlsen Released by Tribeca Film UK. 112 min. Not rated With Peter Ferdinando, Stephen Graham, Neil Maskell, Tony Pitts, Gordon Brown, Richard Dormer, Elisa Lasowski, MyAnna Buring, Orli Shuka, and Gjevat Kelmendi Days making backroom deals and coke-fueled, brawl-filled nights are […]

Far From Men

Written and Directed by David Oelhoffen, based on “The Guest,” a short story by Albert Camus Produced by Marc du Pontavice and Matthew Gledhill Released by Tribeca Film French, Arabic, and Spanish with English subtitles France. 110 min. Not rated With Viggo Mortensen, Reda Kateb, Vincent Martin, and Djemel Barek Loosely based on a short […]