The New York Film Festival has gone back to a basic rule: you gotta have a splashy opening night. For programmers, more thought is often put into the selection of this event than any other selection—it sets the tone and defines what the program represents. The status of last year’s opener, the edgy, big-budget The […]
Directed by Anne Sewitsky Produced by Synnove Horsdal Written by Ragnhild Tronvoll Released by Magnolia Pictures Norwegian with English subtitles Norway. 88 min. Rated R With Agnes Kittelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Henrik Rafaelsen, Oskar Hernaes Bradso & Ram Shihab Ebedy The title of Norwegian filmmaker Anne Sewitsky’s debut deliberately sounds like an […]
Edited, Written & Directed by Andrew Haigh Produced by Tristan Goligher Released by Sundance Selects UK. 86 min. Not rated With Tom Cullen & Chris New Two young good-looking guys in their twenties hook up, exchange numbers the morning after, meet that same afternoon and then again that night before one of them has […]
Directed by Gabor Kalman Produced by Kalman & Gabor Garami English & Hungarian with English subtitles USA/Hungary. 103 min. Not rated There Was Once … starts out like a teacher’s history lesson about a vanished past, but turns into a detective story as memories collide, old photographs and documents link to living witnesses, and, […]
Written & Directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko Produced by Igor Mishin & Mary Nazari Written by Denis Osokin, based on a novel by Aist Sergeyev Released by Shadow Distribution Russia. 75 min. Not rated With Igor Sergeyev, Yuri Tsurilo, Yuliya Aug & Ivan Tushin There are some beautiful moments in Silent Souls, a self-serious account […]
Written & Directed by Álex de la Iglesia Produced by Gerardo Herrero & Mariela Besuievsky Spanish with English subtitles Released by Magnet Releasing Spain/France. 105 min. Rated R With Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, Sancho Gracia & Juan Luis Galiardo When I was in Spain last December, I found it funny that […]
Directed by Michel Leclerc Produced by Caroline Adrien, Antoine Rein & Fabrice Goldstein Written by Leclerc & Baya Kasmi Released by Music Box Films French with English subtitles France. 102 min. Rated R With Jacques Gamblin, Sara Forestier, Carole Franck, Zinedine Soualem, Michèle Moretti & Jacques Boudet French director Michael Leclerc’s romantic comedy follows an […]
Written, Produced & Directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga Released by Music Box Films Lingala & French with English subtitles Democratic Republic of the Congo. 96 min. Rated R With Patsha Bay Mukuna, Manie Malone, Hoji Fortuna, Alex Herbo, Marlene Longange, Diplome Amekindra & Angelique Mbumba Viva Riva! is the first film to be […]
Written, Directed & Narrated by Patricio Guzmán Produced by Renate Sachse Released by Icarus Films Spanish with English subtitles France/Germany/Chile. 90 min. Not Rated Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. It essentially derives its force from a false remembrance of history. Nostalgia, the longing to return home, is never about a real home, but an […]