“We couldn’t figure out how to divide the cat . . .” Queer documentaries have had a special place in homo history at least since 1978’s Word Is Out, the pioneering showcase[…]
“The documentaries that most stood out have a near fictional flair, blurring the border between reality and fable.” For the ninth year, the formerly predominantly Jewish city of Thessaloniki in[…]
They saw what you did! Could anyone foresee, when six nations signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957, that this economic agreement would evolve into the unprecedented political experiment called[…]
Asian cinema triumphs in this year’s D&T, Tony Rayns’s last For over a decade the Vancouver International Film Festival’s Dragons and Tigers program has provided a crucial forum for emerging[…]
Past trumps present in this unremarkable fest If, as proclaimed by its director Richard Peña, the New York Film Festival is a “kind of report on the state of cinema,”[…]
Provocative and visionary! The MadCat Women’s International Film Festival is based in San Francisco, but one hesitates to call it a “San Francisco festival.” Programmed for the past ten years (this September[…]
“There are things you shouldn’t sell” For the festival’s 42nd annual opening night, the 3,000-seat Chicago Theatre threw open its doors and watched the convergence on the red carpet as[…]
A quartet of recent Korean films shows a reassuringly robust national cinema Over the last six years, the New York Asian Film Festival has done a great service to Asian[…]
A Baltic-to-Balkan road trip No passports or visas were needed to check in at the 9th Annual European Union Film Festival, nor did one have to be an actual European[…]
Festivals & Awards · LGBT & Queer
Out of the closets and onto the screen Queer film festivals have always been a crucial flashpoint for community. Starting in the 1970s, with the now sprawling San Francisco version,[…]
What the devil did they show? As soon as the black-and-white festival banners went up along Michigan Avenue, Chicago’s moviegoing public braced for the coming onslaught of 101 features (and[…]
Much to admire, little to love Swank and stately, New York’s gala is like the grande dame of film festivals. Absent the frantic pace of Berlin, Cannes, or Toronto, New[…]
Where did all the wild ones go? The excitement of Cannes is that it matters: 40,000 professionals, journalists, and business people descend on the upscale Mediterranean city to showcase products,[…]
Strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content/nudity and drug use I admit it. I am a sucker for films with pervasive language. In fact, the more pervasive it is, the more[…]
It was the best of times . . . Running parallel to the 48th San Francisco International Film Festival were a surprisingly large number of other celebrations of film, including[…]
Activist & Political · Festivals & Awards · Reviews
These docs and features show a world of upheaval – and, occasionally, hope The films portray images and tell stories that most of us would rather not see or hear.[…]
Doing the Continental
When good ideas go wrong
Documentaries · Festivals & Awards
“The governments will be forgotten but the masterpieces will remain.”
Angelopoulos to Zhu: “This is an artistic film. You wouldn’t like it.”
