TIFF '24: "By the Stream" could be a good introduction to the cinema of Hong Sang-soo

by Cláudio Alves

There's an odd comfort in seeking the new Hong Sang-soo film at any given festival. Thanks to the speed at which the Korean auteur runs through production, you'll usually find one. He regularly premieres multiple features every year. Earlier in 2024, he won the Silver Bear at Berlin with A Traveler's Needs. A few months later, he was at Locarno, ready to present his overall 32nd feature-length project, By the Stream, which took the Best Performance award for Kim Min-hee's work. This second project also made it to TIFF, delighting loyal fans with a new Hong that's much like all the other Hongs that came before. That's not a dig, merely a recognition of the director's remarkable consistency…

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TIFF '24: A second opinion on "Caught by the Tides"

by Cláudio Alves

Zhao Tao in Jia Zhangke's CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (2024).

Every year, as the fall festival season hits, films heretofore seen by an exclusive set at their original premieres are given the opportunity for re-appreciation and new sets of critical eyes. It's always fascinating to see how a Cannes reaction may be upended at TIFF, for better or worse. Here at The Film Experience, that phenomenon is bolstered by a heterogeneous team whose opinions often differ. Consider the case of Jia Zhangke's Caught by the Tides, which played in the main competition at Cannes. To our own Elisa Giudici, it was a disappointment and an indisputably minor entry in the Chinese director's canon. For me, however, it's closer to masterpiece status, a cumulative wonder that's as major as you can get…

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TIFF '24: Kiyoshi Kurosawa delivers a new nightmare in "Cloud"

by Cláudio Alves

CLOUD

What if, one day, you realized everyone in the world hates you? What's more, everyone wants you dead. That's the sort of situation you might expect to encounter in the world of dreams and night terrors, one's innermost anxieties synthesized for a restless slumber. It's also the nightmarish scenario Kiyoshi Kurosawa suggests in his latest shocker, a work of stress cinema supreme with many surprises in store, playing like a descent into hell. It's also Japan's official submission for the Best International Film Oscar race, as bizarre as that might seem. It's a bold choice, alright. Maybe not the best from a strategic standpoint, but a true celebration of Japanese film excellence. 

And one thing's for sure – there's no other director like Kiyoshi Kurosawa out there, and no film like Cloud either…

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Three more Best International Film Contenders & Finalist Lists

by Nathaniel R

THREE KILOMETRES TO THE END OF THE WORLD © Vlad Dumitrescu

It's that time of year when countries are regularly announcing their Oscar submission. We started the week with 15 contenders but now we're at 18 and we have three new finalist lists, as well... 

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International Feature Race - 15 Contenders Thus Far

by Nathaniel R

Though I know I've been absent from writing, I have been updating the International Feature Film Oscar charts to track the submissions. So far 15 countries have announced their submissions, some of which are available to US viewers. After the jump, the list so far, impending decisions from Israel and South Korea, and general observations...

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