Festivals

International Documentary Festival Amsterdam: THE CEMETERY OF CINEMA Review

Mouramani, a film by Mamadou Touré made in the mid fifties, was by all accounts the first African film shot in the French language. But nobody in Guinea seems to have seen it, as director Thierno Souleymane Diallo is finding...

Friday One Sheet: THE ZONE OF INTEREST

The second significant piece of key art for Jonathan Glazer's The Zone Of Interest leans into a minimalism and iconography, almost as oblique as the film itself. It reminds me of the opening shot of his previous film, Under The...

Sundance Drops Full 2024 Lineup

Buckle up! The film festival season is re-racking and getting started all over again with the announcement of the 2024 Sundance Film Fest lineup. Today brings word of the 82 films and 8 episodic titles (and single New Frontier piece)...

Imagine 2023: What The Audiences Liked Best

Last month saw the largest Dutch genre film festival being held: Imagine in Amsterdam. A lot of fun was had by a lot of people, and prizes were being awarded. But as always, professional juries may not have the same...

Viennale 2023 Review: ABOUT THIRTY (ARTURO A LOS 30), Young and Restless in Buenos Aires

Martín Shanly directs and stars in a drama about the shift from the youthful optimism of Generation Y to a growing sense of disillusionment amid life's absurdities.

Friday One Sheet: THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE

Evoking the keenest student's homework that has had notes scribbled in the margin, the recent key art for Ilker Çatak's provocative social thriller, The Teachers’ Lounge, sure has a lot of text on display. It has been a darling on...

International Documentary Festival Amsterdam Review: CITIZEN SLEUTH

Often a film is as good as its protagonist. Sometimes it isn't. The latter is the case for Citizen Sleuth, a documentary that has a very compelling central character in Emily Nestor, but that fails to really capitalize on the...

IFSN Advocate Award 2023: Annual Award Goes to D. Smith's KOKOMO CITY

Indie Film Site Network (IFSN) has announed this year's winner of the 2023 Indie Film Site Network Advocate Award. D. Smith's directorial debut the documentary Kokomo City has been chosen as this year's recepiant.    Four Black transgender sex workers explore...

DOC NYC 2023 Review: NEIRUD, Family Secrets Revealed

Fernanda Faya's documentary examines the surprising life of her beloved aunt, known to wrestling fans as the kimono-wearing, invincible Gorilla Woman.

Trieste 2023 Review: CREEP BOX, Talking to the Dead

Geoffrey Cantor stars in Patrick Biesemans' smoldering feature, based on his own short film.

LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL Starring David Dastmalchian Acquired by IFC Films And Shudder

Late Night With The Devil, the new horror flick from Cameron and Colin Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres, Scare Campaign) and starring one of horror's dark princes, David Dastmalchian, has been picked up by IFC Films and Shudder.    A recent opening night...

Viennale 2023 Review: DAAAAAALI!, Quentin Dupieux Warps Realities in Daliesque Quantum Sketch

Quentin Dupieux delivers a playful avant-garde biopic with Gilles Lellouche, Édouard Baer, Jonathan Cohen, and Pio Marmaï.

Camera Japan Rotterdam 2023 Review: DECEMBER

Courtroom drama films, they are a dime a dozen. The why of it is no mystery: they allow for the telling of excellent stories, twists can be inserted aplenty, and the upcoming verdict carries an automatically incorporated suspense. And for...

Pingyao 2023 Review: CALM IN THE CANOPY Unveils Paranoid Abyss of Privileged Masculinity

Czech director Michal Hogeanaue's new film is a psychosocial thriller about self-inflicted male paranoia and delusion.

Grimmfest 2023: "Grimm Reaper" Awards Announced

Grimmfest has all but wrapped up and the Grimm Reaper Awards have been announced.   Deliberated by an esteemed collective of peers What You Wish For and The Coffee Table made big impressions on the jury and the audience this...

Sitges 2023 Review: HALFWAY HOME, Romance Before the Afterlife

Hungarian director Isti Madarasz orchestrates a whimsical journey between the living and the dead with Péter Bárnai, Vivien Rujder and Erzsébet Kútvölgyi.

Friday One Sheet: OCCUPIED CITY

There are many ways to make a piece of key art. Be it a minimalist totem or icon from the film, those adventure blockbuster collages, be it photoshop or hand-painted, the surreal Dada-ist Polish style, or simply a shot of...

Morbido 2023: Mexican Genre Fest Reveals Lineup, Featuring THANKSGIVING, FAILURE!, V/H/S/85 And WHEN EVIL LURKS

In less than a week our amigos y familia at Morbido will be hosting the sixteenth edition of their famed genre film festival. This year genre icons Eli Roth and Ted Raimi will be attending the festival to present their...

Brooklyn Horror 2023 Review: BREATHING IN, An Acting Showcase That Drips With Growing Dread

The year is 1901, the place is South Africa during the Second Boer War. A wounded general is being tended to in the small rural home of Anna and her young daughter, Annie. That night, the general’s adjutant, Brand, comes...

San Sebastian 2023 Review: MMXX, Cristi Puiu Dives into the Human Comedy Amidst a Pandemic

Cristi Puiu, Romanian auteur, directs a new epic.