"Hamnet" wins the People's Choice at TIFF. Can it win Best Picture?

by Nathaniel R

HAMNET © Focus Features

With TIFF wrapping up today, it's time to update the Oscar charts (which we will be doing soon). Chloe Zhao's adaptation of the acclaimed novel Hamnet, historical fiction about the Shakespeares and the loss of their son, has the won the coveted People's Choice Award. While this prize has historically been very prophetic in regards to future Best Picture runs, Hamnet didn't need it per se; it's Oscar appeal was already ample given the subject matter, pedigree, rising stars, and ecstatic critical response. (We're super excited that Chloe Zhao will be able to follow Jane Campion in becoming only the second woman to score multiple nominations in Best Director. That might even happen twice this year with Kathryn Bigelow in the mix for A House of Dynamite) The runners up for the coveted People's Choice prize are slightly wilder cards in terms of Oscar gold...

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Venice: Oscar Contender "The Voice of Hind Rajab"

by Elisa Giudici

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB © Venice Film Festival

Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania has always worked at the intersection of personal tragedy and political urgency. From The Man Who Sold His Skin to Four Daughters, she has shown a capacity to merge documentary impulses with bold formal invention. Yet with The Voice of Hind Rajab (the film that left Venice audiences openly sobbing halfway through its screening) she has taken that approach further, venturing into a space where cinema becomes almost unbearable.

The story is simple and shattering. On January 29, 2024, five-year-old Hind Rajab was trapped inside her family’s car in Gaza, surrounded by the corpses of her relatives and encircled by Israeli tanks...

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"The History of Sound" Hits Highs and Lows

by Eurocheese

Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal in THE HISTORY OF SOUND

Memories, like music, can take on new meaning as we sit with them over time. The History of Sound opens on beautiful, panoramic shots with hints of possibility or even romance as we follow Paul Mescal’s Lionel, a lonely young man from the sticks who is eager to experience life. He heads off to college and meets Josh O’Connor as David, brimming with charm and curiosity, who spends his nights commanding rooms with his enthusiastic piano playing. Soon the love of music between the two (brought together by Lionel singing niche folk songs) spills into a relationship. It’s easy to be drawn in by the appeal of these actors, but something about this unspoken relationship feels a bit too easy. When Lionel heads home and eventually receives an invitation to join David on a trip researching music, it feels like he is walking out of his mundane life and into a dream...

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TIFF 50: Xin Zhilei earns the Volpi Cup in "The Sun Rises on Us All"

by Cláudio Alves

Every year, folks think they can predict the wiles and ways of festival juries, forgetting that the smallness of such groups often privileges idiosyncratic tastes and produces shocking results. A jury festival is not deferent to critical consensus, so looking at reviews to divine their decisions is a fool's errand. Moreover, there's a tendency to think only the presupposed big players will vie for plaudits. It isn't so, and, honestly, that's a good thing. For sure, there are those who'll cry about Amanda Seyfried or Emma Stone not taking the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, but I'm glad Xin Zhilei got the prize instead.

Having watched Cai Shangjun's The Sun Rises on Us All at TIFF, I can confirm she makes for a worthy champion...

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Halfway done with the Best International Film list?

by Nathaniel R

Behind the scenes I've been updating the Best International Film submission charts daily. At this writing we have 43 titles, which means we're about halfway done. We still haven't heard which title will represent heavy-hitters like Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, or last year's winner Brazil (though we do have finalists lists for a few of those mainstays of the category). We also impatiently await the decisions from three countries (China, Hong Kong, India) with major cinema industry that voters strangely resist on the regular (sigh). So check out the three charts (A-G / H-N / P-Y) and the current finalist list predictions.  Yes, the other Oscar charts will get an update very soon. We'll start when TIFF announces their People's Choice prize.

Today i wanted to highlight four of the newer submissions that I'm excited to see if I ever get the opportunity...

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