Two distinct, writely stories emerge from Sho Miyake’s pen in his wistful adaptation of Yoshiharu Tsuge’s manga Mr. Ben and His Igloo, A View of the Seaside.
Two Seasons, Two Strangers. Wistful and Intimate Compassion.
Locarno
A fantastic feast of films situated on the banks of the shining Lago Maggiore.
Dry Leaf. A Bold Grasscutter.
Dry Leaf, Alexandre Koberidze’s much anticipated follow up to What Do We See When We Look At The Sky, is another meandering exploration of family and football.
Sorella di Clausura. Refreshingly Unserious.
Ivana Mladenović’s mordantly funny Romanian film Sorella di Clausura offers a welcome comic contrast to Locarno’s usual so-so-serious fare.
Balearic Can’t Find The Beat
Ion De Sosa’s dreamy follow-up to horror hit Mamántula is a disappointment, despite all those lovely 16mm images.
With Hasan in Gaza. Palestinian (Non-)Existence
Kamal Aljafari’s urgent With Hasan in Gaza might be shot in the autumn of 2001, but its images speak firmly to the present onslaught by the Isreali regime.
Join the Follicule!
Éric K. Boulianne’s debut comedy drama Follies explores the joys — and pitfalls — of opening up a marriage, to often hilarious results.
Year One. The OG Malmkrog?
A fresh restoration of Robert Rossellini’s hagiography of a centrist Italian prime minister proves an unlikely forebearer for Cristi Puiu’s iconic Malmkrog.
Mare’s Nest Belongs in a Museum
Ben Rivers’ latest feature is a long and meandering slog through the apocalypse that might work in a museum, but is deadening on the big screen.
White Snail. Love Covered in Slime.
Space Dogs directors Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter’s first fully fiction feature is a dark and disturbing love story set in Belarus.
In The Birthday Party, The Rich Eat Themselves
Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s Piazza Grande film The Birthday Party lets Willem Dafoe chew the scenery, but its not one of his essential performances.