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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Berlinale #5: Four bizarre films

by Elisa Giudici

L'EMPIRE © Tessalit Productions

If I think about the typical film competing at Berlin, I imagine something quite dramatic, decidedly political, and sometimes rather heavy. This edition of the Berlinale has added the adjective "bizarre" to this profile of mine. Here are four films seen in these hours that deserve this adjective.

L’EMPIRE by Bruno Dumont
Let me preface this one: Dumont and I just don't see eye to eye. He might be the only French director whose work I can't seem to appreciate, despite my overall fondness for French cinema. Given this history and a rather late screening on a very heavy day, the recipe for disaster was served. However, one positive thing about L’Empire I can say: in hindsight, it made me reassess his previous film, France, which I saw at Cannes and detested...

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A peek at what's playing at the 72nd annual Berlinale

please welcome new contributor John Lynn-Fernandez

M Night Shyamalan, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and Connie Nielsen are on the jury

The Berlin Film Festival kicked off last night. It's the second of the "Big Five" film festivals each year (after Sundance, before Cannes). In this preview, some films that stand out as potential highlights of the festival. But, of course, you never know which discoveries or films will emerge as the triumphs until audiences are watching them...

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NYFF Lineup: Art films, gay romances, female directors, and more...

by Nathaniel R

The gay romantic drama "I Carry You With Me" will play at NYFF

Most film festivals seem to be trying to soldier on with smaller lineups and virtual screenings. NYFF is no exception. Today they've revealed the full lineup after previously announcing their opening, centerpiece, and closing films. So let's dig in to the lineup shall we? It includes several female directors, two major Oscar hopefuls, a new anthology series from Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), and two gay romances...

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Asian Film Award Nominees: "Legend of the Demon Cat" and More...

by Nathaniel R

Legend of the Demon Cat

It's difficult to keep track of the cream of the crop of Asian cinema because there are so many different bodies handing out prizes and so many of the major international awards bodies ignore that region altogether. One of the youngest of the Asian awards bodies is the bluntly titled "Asian Film Awards" which have only been operating since 2007. Their nomination leader this year is a film called Legend of the Demon Cat from Chen Kaige (who is most famous stateside for his 1993 arthouse smash and Oscar nominee Farewell My Concubine from 1993) but his latest isn't actually up for the top category, instead heavily dominating the tech fields. The film has not yet been released in the States.  Since these awards are based out of Hong Kong their nominees skew heavily towards Chinese productions...

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