Taking stock of all the excellent films that have played at festivals in 2023 that you most probably haven’t heard of yet. From Cannes, Berlinale, and more.
Underseen Festival Favourites 2023
Tag: Cannes
All To Play For. Not Enough to Stay For.
All To Play asks if love is enough to keep a family together in this safe, carefully modulated social realist French drama starring Virginie Efira.
“We are not used to seeing these kinds of bodies” — Elene Naveriani on Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
Elene Naveriani shares casting Eka Chavleishvili, portraying older bodies, and casting a critical eye over rural Georgia in Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry.
Marguerite’s Theorem Cracks Under Its Own Formula
Marguerite’s Theorem is proof that making movies about maths only works when you’re willing to forego generic filmmaking formulas.
Omen Can Create But it Cannot Destroy
Omen is a visually inventive, often fascinating exploration of Congelese mores, but lacks incisiveness. Now playing in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2023.
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry. Pure Cinema Poetry.
With their third film, Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, Georgian director Elene Naveriani re-asserts themselves as a major voice in world cinema.
The (Ex)perience of Love Has Music in It
The (Ex)perience of Love, playing in Critics’ Week, is a silly movie. But its fantasy premise is treated with smarts and sensitivity, making for a fun watch.
The Rapture Isn’t Arriving Today, Sorry.
An enigmatic first half is undone by a mid backend in mysterious French noir The Rapture, playing in Critics’ Week at Cannes.
ACID Cannes 2023 — Searching For Happiness
The Cannes ACID section focusses on normal lives in independent films, celebrating perspectives often overlooked in bigger programmes.
Gonna Burst into Flames, It’s Raining in the House
The coming-of-age genre, told over a scorching summer, is imbued with cinematic flair in Paloma Sermon-Daï’s fiction debut.