Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 3:00PM by Nathaniel R
BOY FROM HEAVEN
In something of a surprise Sweden's shortlist for their Oscar submissions does not include the adolescent grief drama Comedy Queen or the Tehran-set serial killer film Holy Spider, which won awards at Berlinale and Cannes, respectively. Instead they'll be choosing between the following three movies...
Sunday, May 22, 2022 at 9:00PM French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin seems to be on a downward trajectory. His new film, Brother and Sister, has been slaughtered by critics at Cannes, the worst-reviewed Main Competition title so far. For those legions who hoped this would be the year when Marion Cotillard finally won the festival's Best Actress prize, better luck next time! Tarik Saleh's Boy from Heaven was more warmly received despite some cries of conventionality. Through procedural tropes and thriller stylings, the Swedish director explores themes of corruption in Islam, a recurring motif throughout his filmography. These Cannes contenders are both directors' second 2022 pictures – Desplechin's Deception is a new MUBI release, while Saleh's The Contractor has been available for a while. Unfortunately, neither title got much in the way of critical praise.
To keep the Cannes at Home series a celebratory exercise, today's selection looks back at lauded works from these auteurs – A Christmas Tale and The Nile Hilton Incident…
Sunday, December 5, 2021 at 3:00PM by Nathaniel R
Any discussion of Oscar's Best International Feature Film competition throughout history begins with Italy and France. They dominated the early years and though they rarely win now they can still generate buzz with comparative ease (including this year with Hand of God and Titane). Oscar voters have (virtually) travelled to every continent and every major film market at least once or twice since the birth of the category in the 1950s. Their choices don't always reflect where the hot spots in world cinema are, though -- They notoriously missed the entirety of the Romanian New Wave in the Aughts, the provocative if brief Dogme 95 period in Denmark, apart from Japan they're super stingy with Asian cinema in general to the point where it took an international blockbuster ($259 million globably for Parasite) for them to finally notice what was happening in South Korea. Still, it's a fascinating category both for its triumphs and its failures.
All that said it's also worth repeating that no one is ever truly fair to Oscar in their critiques. It's an impossible sisphyean task to sum up the best of what's happening in non English language cinema throughout history via only five titles each season, especially since you can't control which titles will be in the mix and you cant have more than one per country.
Here are the 10 admirably persistent countries that keep trying despite Oscar's refusal to acknowledge them. They've submitted the most often without receiving a single nomination. Will their fates change this year?
Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 10:00AM by Nathaniel R
Time to check in again with the International Oscar submissions as eight more countries join the fray which include teen girl dramas from North Macedonia and Egypt and a Thai horror film that's currently streaming on Shudder...
Friday, July 16, 2021 at 6:30PM by Nathaniel R
Tilda in dog collar
With Cannes wrapping up this weekend, the awards are now rolling out. Trust Tilda Swinton to bring inhuman glamour to the kick-off by accepting the Palm Dog award and wearing the coveted red collar herself! Her three spaniels Rosie, Dora and Snowbear won for their roles in The Souvenir Part Two...
Cannes, Feathers, Middle Eastern Films, Olga, Palm Dog, The Souvenir, Tilda Swinton, dogs, egypt, film festivals, short films 