Venice at Home – Day 3: From Galleries to Gangsters

by Cláudio Alves

Day 3 at the Venice Film festival finds a nonfiction master dipping his foot into the murky waters of fictionalized narrative. Frederick Wiseman's A Couple purports to dramatize the correspondence between Leo Tolstoy and his wife, starring Nathalie Boutefeu, working from a script made from documented letters. Elsewhere in the official competition, Luca Guadagnino helms Bones & All, a cannibal romance starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell. Finally, Romain Gavras brings Athena to the festivities, working alongside Ladj Ly, who co-wrote the film.

As we wait for these movies to become more readily available, let's consider their directors' previous works, including an ode to museums, a fashionable short, and a Scarface revision…

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Venice Diary #02 - BARDO and other self-reflecting movies

by Elisa Giudici

Two men focusing on their own identities. Two women speaking to their relationship with their husbands. For day two of the Venice film festival it was a quartet of movies featuring personal intimate stories...

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Emmy Category Analysis: Animation Short Form + Animated Program

By Nathaniel R

Love Death + Robots "Jibaro""Bob's Burgers" does "Blade Runner"

Finding myself in the mood for animation, I quickly binged two of the animated categories before the Creative Arts Emmys any moment now. Herewith some thoughts and predictions on the animation programs...

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Japan and Latvia and make their Oscar submissions

Two more official Oscar submissions to report bringing us to a dozen competitors. Only about 80 films to go!  It's starting to feel exciting, isn't it? At least it is for us here at TFE since we love the diversity and eye-opening capabilities of this category. The latest countries to choose their films are Japan and Latvia.

🇯🇵 PLAN 75
Japan (14 nominations, 2 wins, 3 honorary awards, and 1 additional finalist from 69 submissions)

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Venice at Home – Day 2: Dazzling Debuts

by Cláudio Alves

The 79th Venice Film Festival's second day was a busy one with two premieres by directors who've managed to seduce critics and the Academy alike. First, Alejandro González Iñárritu came to the Lido with his most ambitious project yet, the epic Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, whose production history is embroiled in many controversies. Then, there was also Todd Field's long-awaited return to the big screen after a decade plus sabsence. TÁR is the director's third feature and feels poised to delight actressexuals in similar ways to his debut and sophomore efforts. So far, Cate Blanchett has received nothing but glowing reviews and might become the third Field leading lady to nab an Oscar nomination.

Let's remember both directors' debuts to celebrate these buzzy premieres. Frankly, as much as I may admire some of their following efforts, Amores Perros and In the Bedroom remain my favorite titles from their filmographies…

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