TIFF '24: Produced by Ken Loach

by Cláudio Alves

Before Toronto, HARVEST premiered in Venice's official competition.

In 2023, Ken Loach premiered what the world assumes is his last film, The Old Oak, which earned a mixed reaction at Cannes and seems to have been quickly forgotten. Regardless of his swan song's reception, Loach's legacy is indisputable, and one year later, we can see that it extends beyond the films that bear his directing credit. Sixteen Films, a production company he co-founded with Rebecca O'Brien in 2002 that, until now, had been dedicated to Loach's directorial efforts, is now supporting the work of other filmmakers, a fair share of up-and-comers. As Loach recedes even further behind the scenes, Sixteen Films is reborn into a new life. Harvest and On Falling, two of their first productions, bowed at TIFF, though only the latter was a world premiere…

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Antiviral @ 10: The Beginning of Brandon Cronenberg

by Cláudio Alves

It's been a decade since Brandon Cronenberg came into the scene, with Antiviral as his feature debut. That film was preceded by a couple of shorts, succeeded by various music videos, Possessor, and this year's Infinity Pool. Common themes reverberate through his oeuvre, linking him to his father's cinema. Like David, Brandon Cronenberg works within dimensions of horror, often considering transcendence through the body and the body transcended, altered, made a dream cum nightmare. Yet, despite similar interests, shared names, linked blood, father and son feel like unique auteurs, their connections superficial. One would expect the nepo baby to forever live in his patriarch's shadow, but maybe not…

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Streaming Review: "Finch" on Apple TV+

By Ben Miller

Miguel Sapochnik's Finch revolves around the love between a man (Tom Hanks), his dog...and his robot.

The world has effectively ended.  Solar flares have killed much of mankind and the rest have resorted to living out of society and fighting for food and shelter.  The holes in the ozone layer have made living in the sun impossible, so the surviving humans must don radiation suits or stay in the shade to live...

In St. Louis, Missouri, our titular hero scours the remains of the city for supplies...

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Cannes Diary #10: Au Revoir, Cannes!

Another round of applause, please, for Elisa Giudici for giving us such great on-the-ground Cannes coverage this year. She reviewed the entire Competition slate! Can you believe it? What follows are her last two reports, condensed into one - Editor

by Elisa Giudici

I will miss the French summer -- hot and breezy. Yes, it is time to say goodbye to the Cannes Film Festival. Already? Finally! A little bit of both. My first time here was incredible but I think I am quite close to the limit of my cinematic intake without compromising the ability to enjoy the films. After years of enviously reading reportage by friends and colleague, this was everything I thought it would be. I fear I was even spoiled. There were no infinite queues where I thought I might be shut out and (a little brag is coming, but please allow it) I was able to see the whole competition lineup despite having a yellow pass! Insanity.

It was amazing being able to write this diary every day and read the comments from such a passionate audience. I hope I was able to give you a little glimpe into the movies that are coming as well as the feeling of seeing them at this majestic Festival. It was all quite demanding (I covered the Festival for a couple of italian magazines, too) but I am incredibly happy as a completist that I never skipped a day's entry. A lot of these diary entries were written in the middle of the night or near dawn so a huge thank you to Nathaniel for the editing to make them comprehensible to you; After 2 AM my English tends to be even more convoluted than usual.

So final round. SEVEN movies! Ready?

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Cannes Closing Ceremony *Live Blog*

by Nathaniel R

7:57 We begin with the awards already in progress. (It's always difficult to find a link that works here in the US. Hence the delay) The jury has arrived with their always amusing individual strut ins. The actors and actresses (Song Kang Ho, Tahar Rahim, Maggie Gyllenhaal, etc...) are always relaxed and practiced at this but the directors often look vaguely mortified that they have to display themselves -- have you ever tried walking while everyone is staring at you or you're aware a camera is on. It's disconcerting! Brazil's brilliant Kleber Mendonça Filho (Aquarius, Bacurau) is visibly uncomfortable but Spike Lee, a "star" director, in a suit of many colors, is an old pro at being in the spotlight. He addresses the crowd but since this is a French live feed you can't actually hear the English being spoken because the translators are always speaking over the English. We'll do our best to understand...

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