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 Features I Saw at CIFF:Ranked in order of preference My Vote for the Gold Hugo Sirāt (International Competition; France/Spain, dir. Oliver Laxe) - The year’s most mesmerically cinematic pulse-pounder is also its most sick-making, candid forecast of where we're all headed. Extremely Strong Sound of Falling (International Competition; Germany, dir. Mascha Schilinski) - Deep, dark, risky lives of families and especially women seep across time in shared space. Audiovisually majestic. Silent Friend (International Competition; Germany/Hungary/France, dir. Ildikó Enyedi) - What if plants see and feel us? Do images watch us back? Sweet, singular, fearless, unboundaried ode to relationship. Short Summer (New Directors Competition; Germany/France/Serbia, dir. Nastia Korkia) - Uncannily evocative of child's POV as family rifts and national crevasses widen. Every aspect exquisitely calibrated. The Tale of Silyan (Documentary Competition; North Macedonia, dir. Tamara Kotevska) - Kotevska once more grounds and widens story of entrapping poverty with glorious specifics. Humbling. Inspiring. The Love That Remains (International Competition; Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France, dir. Hlynur Pálmason) - Out of day-to-day moments, amasses a quiet, commanding, surprising overview of relationships and mortality. If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (Spotlight; USA, dir. Mary Bronstein) - Mothering not as good time but as Good Time. Dark, funny, unpredictable. Wish it looked a touch better. We Are Pat (Comedy, Documentary, OutLook; USA, dir. Ro Haber) - Processing session as communal party. Study of a vexed character becomes a tribute to art, inconsistency, disagreement. It Was Just an Accident (Special Presentation; Iran/France/Luxembourg, dir. Jafar Panahi) - Hard to imagine improving on start or finish. Middle more dramatically uneven across nervy range of tones. (capsule review) Highly Recommended Magellan (Spotlight; Portugal/Spain/France/Philippines/Taiwan, dir. Lav Diaz) - Colonialism as violence (especially), boredom, idealism, and rivalry. Mostly earns grand scope, slow pace. Smart ending. Two Prosecutors (Spotlight; France/Germany/The Netherlands/Latvia/Romania/Lithuania, dir. Sergei Loznitsa) - Knowing how it'll likely go is part of the point. Conveys authoritarian mood and machinery with precision, nuance. A Useful Ghost (Comedy, OutLook; Thailand, dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke) - Unabashedly surrealist satire about toil and grief under capitalism gaily expands into broader indictment of power. Wind, Talk to Me (New Directors Competition; Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia, dir. Stefan Đorđević) - Slow pace, glassy surface are discouragements but contribute to brave, layered, and deepening immersion in grief. (full review) Below the Clouds (Documentary; Italy, dir. Gianfranco Rosi) - Less revelatory than other Rosi docs but a handsome, variegated, surprising survey of Naples’s pasts and presents. The Secret Agent (International Competition; Brazil/France/The Netherlands/Germany, dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho) - Merits second look? Despite tense premise and usual Mendonça gifts, this felt sluggish and imperfectly integrated. (capsule review) Only Heaven Knows (City & State, New Directors Competition; Kyrgyzstan/USA, dir. Nurzhamal Karamoldoeva) - Tense immigrant drama. Smart writing, controlled editing mostly supersede traces of low budget and inexperience. Recommended Hamnet (Special Presentation; UK, dir. Chloë Zhao) - Not sure I buy every device. Zhao has uneven impulses. But story, milieu, and actors pack a punch, especially Buckley, Jupe. My Father's Shadow (International Competition; UK/Nigeria, dir. Akinola Davies) - Uneven but increasingly powerful on personal and political fronts. Let down by a shaky start and abrupt finish. (full review) The Voice of Hind Rajab (International Competition; Tunisia/France, dir. Kaouther Ben Hania) - Emotionally powerful, in more ways than I'd guessed. Tactics work unevenly, but "perfect" wasn't important. (capsule review) The Mastermind (Spotlight; USA, dir. Kelly Reichardt) - Works well as the comedy of a dunce who thought himself a wizard, but sad second act is bigger and deeper than that. Palestine 36 (Spotlight; Palestine/UK/France/Denmark/Norway/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Jordan, dir. Annemarie Jacir) - Style, production tilt old-fashioned. New in this setting, though, and there's lots of fire and energy in the telling. Nouvelle Vague (Special Presentation; France, dir. Richard Linklater) - Perhaps no pressing need behind it, but it nicely avoids idolatry or Schadenfreude. Stylistic execution is debonair. (capsule review) The Best of CineYouth (Shorts Program; USA/Spain/Poland, dir. Elon Nunez, Autumn English, Esther Yung Kong, Sam Clayton, Shane Chung, Mey Montero, Jeremi Rzadowski, Annie Xia, Ysa Quiballo) - Talent and versatility from eight filmmakers, 22 or younger. Sad, stylish, scary, funny. Paper Love my favorite. Black Rabbit, White Rabbit (International Competition; Tajikistan/U.A.E., dir. Shahram Mokri) - Day for Night meets Inland Empire in Tajikistan? Fun, but I preferred tense start to long comic middle. Miroirs No. 3 (Spotlight; Germany, dir. Christian Petzold) - Sometimes a gift lands darkly in your lap. Sometimes you keep more than you should. Small, but a clever little trap. Strange River (New Directors Competition, OutLook; Spain/Germany, dir. Jaume Claret Muxart) - Good takes on family, adolescence, dawning desire, maybe too clearly and repetitively signaled. Poignant but padded. One Golden Summer (Black Perspectives, City & State, Documentary; USA, dir. Kevin Shaw) - Spirited, layered inquiry into a disheartening episode, even if it halts some lines of inquiry before it should. (full review) Mixed Bags Resurrection (Spotlight; China/France, dir. Bi Gan) - Whoa, Bi Gan! Are you a great director? Good at parts but bad at wholes? Plenty to marvel at here, lots to question. The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (OutLook; Chile/France/Germany/Spain/Belgium, dir. Diego Céspedes) - Proudly singular. Uneven guidance of actors. Uncertain line between adventurous and arbitrary. Anything That Moves (City & State, After Dark, Comedy; USA, dir. Alex Phillips) - Uninhibited libido and vital, chromatic filmmaking badly served by gross, poorly executed serial murder plot. The Stranger (International Competition; France, dir. François Ozon) - Several positives—the lensing, the star turn, the unslavish fealty to Camus—don't always interact well. Deadly pace. (capsule review) The Currents (International Competition; Switzerland/Argentina, dir. Milagros Mumenthaler) - Unusual framing, cutting, rhythm, and story suggest an artist eager to push us—maybe too much? Didn't buy late beats. Mārama (After Dark; New Zealand, dir. Taratoa Stappard) - Gothic predictability is part of the point but also a flaw. Potent moments but structure could be tighter. End not for me. Dead Man's Wire (Special Presentation; USA, dir. Gus Van Sant) - Structure, build, and emphasis all feel a bit scattered, but I still enjoy a Van Sant collage and an offbeat tone. What Marielle Knows (Comedy; Germany, dir. Frédéric Hambalek) - Deader-than-deadpan quasi-comedy never finds a center of gravity or worthy payoff for its fantastical conceit. New Group (After Dark; Japan, dir. Yûta Shimotsu) - From central image to odd props to spiky cutting to surreal tone, there's initially lots to savor. So where'd it all go? (capsule review) Emi (OutLook; Argentina/Uruguay, dir. Ezequiel Erriquez Mena) - Moving but slight. Plot goes one of only two ways it might have. Supporting cast and characters all more compelling than lead. Not Recommended Father Mother Sister Brother (Special Presentation; USA, dir. Jim Jarmusch) - Jarmusch in his least appealing mode. Three incomplete ideas lazily composited. Drab filmmaking, too. (full review) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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