Lukas Dhont’s follow up to Close (2022) is a touching tale of art-making during war, touching on themes of sexuality, fantasy and the harshness of reality.
Theatre at War
Tag: Competition
The Kieślowski Universe
Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales has been critically panned, but our reviewer found its tribute to the work of Kieślowski remarkably touching.
Bruising and Vanishing
Tales of trauma, pain, memory and vanishing animate an instructive and illuminating Tallinn Black Nights, a ray of light amid bleak November.
Mosquitoes Is Big, Bold and More Than a Little Messy
Not everything in Mosquitoes lands, but its big, and bold swings show off the ambition of Nicole and Valentina Bertani’s off-kilter coming-of-age vision.
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.
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.
“Men have a lot to learn from women” — João Rosas on The Luminous Life
The Luminous LIfe director João Rosas discusses using cinema as cartography and charting the life of the same child through different films.
Broken Voices Makes The Right Choices
Ondřej Provazník’s sophomore film is a slow-burn look at abuse featuring a brilliant performance from Juraj Loj as a manipulative choirmaster.
Divia Bears Witness to Ecocide
With careful drone footage and plenty of nature shots, Dmytro Hreshko creates a powerful portrait of how Russia has commited ecocide in Ukraine.
Action Item. Individual Anxiety Meets Collective Rage.
At once an abstract exploration of mental health and a potent political piece, Action Item is a fine mid-length essay doc from Paula Ďurinová.