Venice 2023: Mongolia's "City of Wind" and Michael Mann's "Ferrari"

by Elisa Giudici

"City of Wind"

The first surprise in Venice, City of Wind, was a delightful one. It's incredibly rare to come across a Mongolian film, so I made sure to set aside 104 minutes for a teen romance and shamanic party time adventure;xTime well spent! Keep an eye on this title for both the Orizzonti Palmares and the Best International Movie Oscar race. And speaking of Oscar hopefuls, Ferrari also pulled up on the Lido...

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Elisa hits Venice once again!

Our favourite Italian journalist Elisa Giudici has arrived at the Lido for the 80th annual Venice Film Festival. I had the pleasure of attending with Elisa two years ago and though I couldn't make it this year, Elisa will do her usual wonderful job of filling us in on the details. Elisa's first review will be up tonight. In the meantime do follow Elisa on Instagram. 

Once Elisa is done at Venice, the festivals continue across the ocean. This year Claudio will be our man on the ground at TIFF for the first time, so stay tuned. 

Cannes: Two strong contenders for the Palme d'Or

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

THE ZONE OF INTEREST

If the Palme d'Or goes to a movie that pushes the boundaries of cinema as artistic expression, director Jonathan Glazer will have virtually zero competition. It is quite a rare moment in which, as a spectator, you realize that you are witnessing a true cinematic original. Making a movie about the Holocaust that feels groundbreaking is especially challenging given the plethora of films that have addressed and educated the world on the harrowing topic. 

In Glazer's adaptation of Martin Amid’s The Zone of Interest, not a single actor's face is shown in close-up for more than a couple of seconds...

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Cannes at Home: Day 4 – Once Upon a Time In...

by Cláudio Alves

The competition continues to heat up at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, with various contenders staking their claim on the Palme. It may be time for Nuri Bilge Ceylan to win his second. About Dry Grass is his seventh competition feature, including 2014's grand champion Winter Sleep. Then again, the critics have reached a consensus so far, with the favorite film being Jonathan Glazer's return to feature filmmaking after a decade-long pause, The Zone of Interest. Kaouther Ben Hania's follow-up to the Oscar-nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin is less acclaimed but might yet prove an awards contender. Four Daughters is one of two documentaries in competition.

For this 'Cannes at Home' adventure, let's look at some of these directors' past successes, their best films according to yours. There's Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Glazer's Under the Skin, and Ben Hania's Beauty and the Dogs…

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Ten Highlights from IndieLisboa

by Cláudio Alves

Dear reader, if you've noticed my relative absence in these early days of May, I can only apologize. I've been busy covering the 20th edition of the IndieLisboa film festival in the Portuguese capital. The event is a grand affair for the celebration of national and international independent cinema, with multiple competitive sections and prizes at the end of it all. This year's international competition winner was Juraj Lerotic's Safe Place, which I wrote about last year when reviewing various International Film Oscar submissions. Other titles should be less familiar to The Film Experience's readership, so this feels like an excellent opportunity to offer recommendations and spread the word on some nifty flicks. 

From an out-of-focus Hong Sang-soo experiment to an extensive Jan Švankmajer retrospective, from shorts to features, a little over 300 films made up the festival's program. Having watched roughly a third of those, here are ten highlights…

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