With a stripped-back aesthetic, Mara Tamkovich’s debut Under the Grey Sky carefully surveys the cost of practicing independent journalism in modern-day Belarus.
The Fate of Life Under the Grey Sky
Redmond Bacon
Redmond is the editor-in-chief of Journey Into Cinema.
What we ask of a statue is that it doesn’t move. Prodding the Parthenon.
With alacrity and charm, Daphné Hérétakis’ short What we ask of a statue is that it doesn’t move takes aim at one of Greece’s most enduring national symbols.
The Other Way Around Is Repetitive. Meaningful. Beautiful. Repetitive.
There is beauty and meaning littered throughout the repetitive actions of Jonás Trueba’s endlessly playful Directors’ Fortnight romcom The Other Way Around.
The Story of Souleymane. Cycling Through Limbo.
The Story of Souleymane is a tightly-focussed, Dardenne-esque tale of an immigrant delivery driver trying to make ends meet that brims with heartfelt emotions.
The Empty Pageantry of Savanna and the Mountain
A group of villagers stage a series of increasingly bizarre protests against the development of a lithium mine in the unengaging Savanna and the Mountain.
Parsing the Puzzling Persian of Universal Language
Matthew Rankin’s culture-bending comedy fable throws up all kinds of intellectual questions, but rarely engages on a deeper, emotional level.
Holy Cow. Curdled Maturity.
Love and cheese freely intermingle in Louise Courvoisier’s diverting yet underwhelming debut Holy Cow, (somehow) playing in Un Certain Regard.
(Don’t) Believe The Hyperboreans
Disturbing and entertaining in equal measure, Cristobal León and Joaquín Cociña’s wildly inventive metafiction The Hyperboreans is a standout work from Cannes.
Capitalism Is a Locust
The twin spectres of China and capitalism haunt every frame of KEFF’s gangland debut Locust, with shades of Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day.
When the Light Breaks Has (Almost) All The Right Takes
When the Light Breaks is Rúnarsson’s return to his earlier, sadder work, but is undone by an unnecessarily sentimental streak. Opens Un Certain Regard.