76. SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY
 
Thailand
dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
world premiere 2006
U.S. release 2007
 

 
Because "Joe" was to the 00s what Kiarostami was to the 90s: pushing deceptively simple techniques into a disarming, fresh poetics, culminating in sad, playful stories, specific to a culture but breathtakingly accessible. Who else can pick up a dehumidifying tube and turn it into magic? Just by tracking up to it and holding still a while?