Winner of the Berlinale’s Silver Bear, Emin Alper’s (Frenzy, Festival 2016) electrifying drama of power struggles in a Turkish mountain village exposes the chaos that erupts when territorialism takes root. In the unnamed community, two tribes clash over land and the right to harvest it. Mesut, haunted by troubling dreams he believes are prophetic, stakes […]
At first glance, Gara is a simple farmer, tending her crops and animals, making cheese, and caring for adolescent Nada. But there is far more to this woman who lives amid the beauty and isolation of Montenegro’s mountainous Sinjajevina plateau. Gara’s quiet but intense love for Nada is an extension of the deep love she […]
Maria’s older sister Alina vanishes without a trace, last seen by Maria cutting through the schoolyard to take out the trash. That image haunts her as Alina remains missing and everyone from their parents to the local authorities question *Maria* about her sibling’s last known movements. Set on the cusp of a new era in […]
A trio of documentaries survey the American political landscape, both past and present. Featuring Martin Luther King Jr. speechwriter Clarence B. Jones (in Stephen Curry’s directorial debut); rising voice Nezza, who sings an anthem of hope at an LA Dodger game; and the supporters and opponents of Zohran Mamdani within NYC’s Jewish community. Films are […]
While he awaits the approval of a visa to join his girlfriend, Tara, abroad in Italy, Amir inhabits an existence in limbo. He spends his days biking through Tehran, delivering packages and visiting with friends across the city where hot afternoons playing table tennis intermingle with his memories of first meeting Tara. As Amir hovers […]
One of director Anna Fitch’s closest friends, Yo was adventurous, self-assured, and headstrong. Before Yo passed away in 2013, Fitch spent countless hours capturing memories and anecdotes of Yo’s colorful life. That documentation became a broader project through which Fitch processed her grief as she crafted a meticulous miniature recreation of the home where Yo […]
The placid surface of a rural Costa Rican town hides a mystery in Kim Torres’s striking debut feature. A newcomer to the village, teenaged Laura (Lara Yuja Mora) takes wary steps toward her new home and adulthood with a curiosity and confusion typical of her age. But even as she makes new friends in this […]
Canadian DJ and multihyphenated artist Kid Koala brings his unique gift for storytelling to a new medium as he makes his directorial debut with this delightful, animated adaptation of his award-winning graphic novel. When young astronaut Celeste embarks on her first interstellar mission, she leaves behind her dedicated caretaker Robot to navigate a new unfamiliar […]
Seven-year-old Arabella (Lucrezia Guglielmino) only wants to go Taco King, not listen to her boring father give a speech (Chris Pine, speaking flawless Italian). Given no choice in the matter, the precocious child opts for revenge. She finds her instrument in Holly (Benedetta Porcaroli), convincing the troubled young woman to let her join her road […]
British writer/director Stroma Cairns makes a resonant feature debut with this coming-of-age drama focused on a young man trying to find his place in the world. The film is a family affair as Cairns collaborated on the screenplay with her mother Imogen West and cast as the tempestuous protagonist her brother Jonah West. In his […]
I never saw myself as a pop singer,” says Marianne Faithfull in this wonderfully imaginative portrait of the iconic chanteuse that includes her last recorded performance. She’s speaking about her life to the Record Keeper at the Ministry of Not Forgetting (played by George MacKay), a fictional institution dedicated to examining historical myths and truths, […]
Agricultural engineer Amilcar Cabral (1924–1973) dreamed of freedom for Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde in West Africa and set about making that liberation happen. In this impressionistic documentary, the life of this remarkable revolutionary unfolds through letters Cabral wrote to his wives, set to a soundtrack of slogans and dreams. Shot in 16mm, the film tells […]
