The choice of child protagonists not only adds to Lost Land’s emotional heft but also brings home the extra level of uncertainty and confusion felt by youngsters across the globe forced to make these sorts of dangerous odysseys in hope of safe haven.
In the hope of reuniting with their scattered family, four-year-old Shafi and his nine-year-old sister Somira leave a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh on a perilous journey to reach Malaysia.
Koefoed isn't scared to treat his interviews as hostile witnesses on occasion, so that the film always seems to be on the side of the artwork rather than any individual.
The inside story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at $450 million, claimed to be a long-lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.
Eventually, The Lost Son ends up as a mixed bag that serves as a portfolio of Štante’s technical abilities as a director, but shortcomings as a writer.
A detective investigating a domestic abuse case who discovers that the perpetrator is his own brother, forcing him to confront the violence that shaped his childhood.
Janusz Kaminski directs with an originality completely lacking in churn'em'out horror flicks, using bled, grained colour to create a look that peels the lustre of life from New York's dark soul.
Half-formed ideas about the nature of family and responsibility can be glimpsed but the action ends with a whimper rather than a bang.
A bittersweet family comedy about two long-estranged brothers and the tense friction arising between them when they’re forced together for a family celebration.
Flitting from scene to scene with an increasing disregard for the constraints of logic, the film beguiles hesitant viewers with its gorgeous sets and costumes.
A silent film director forms a bond with a woman who has a hidden agenda.
The story of Leak, a teenage trans man who plays football in the under-21s women's team of Kampong Chhnang, and Pa Vann, the coach and father-figure to Leak and other LGBTQ+ players on the team.
Lousy Carter provides pleasant enough distraction in the moment but gives viewers very little to take away.
Variously labeled as a deadbeat by his ex, a failure by his mother, and a shell of himself by his best friend, Lousy Carter is falling apart, debt-ridden and cast adrift. As he interprets The Great Gatsby for an antipathetic graduate class, one of the students offers Lousy Carter one last chance at living the dream.
The film also gets hung up on its two time-period structure, without greatly benefiting from it.
Nic, alias Lovely Boy, is a rising star on Rome's trap scene who becomes sucked into a spiral of self-destruction and has to go to a remote rehab centre.
Campbell is perfectly cast. She has sufficient physicality to make one believe that she could cope with this demanding job, yet there’s a nerviness about her whole body reminiscent of prey animals.
A new back-country ranger travels alone through the dangerous wilderness, hoping to uncover the origins of a tragedy which has haunted her since she was a child.
Too much and over the top, the film nevertheless finds its rhythm.
François has to rush back to Paris to cover for a sick colleague, leaving his partner Daphné, three months pregnant, to welcome his cousin, Maxime. In the four days till Francois’ return Daphné and Maxime get to know each other, sharing increasingly intimate stories that bring them closer.
Hero, here playing a character called Boy (with support from fellow canine Dodge), is the most impressive canine star to grace the screen since the much-loved Uggie, and he is the main reason to watch this film.
Seven years after he survived the monster apocalypse, a young man leaves his underground bunker on a quest to reunite with the woman he loves.
Arsenijevic succeeds for the most part, by keeping the more whimsical moments tramelled in by a brassy soundtrack and careful editing, and use of colour that accentuates the bleak as well as the blossom.
"What happens if you fall in love on the very day you intend to leave forever?"
The film does an impressive job of bringing us close to its young female protagonists, and never more so than when showing us their appreciation of the absurd.
A high school girl engages in compensated dating in order to buy an expensive ring before the day ends.
On the technical level, Jacques Girault’s usually hand-held cinematography keeps the immediacy of associated with that choice, but never slips into “chaos cinema” shakiness.
Céline is expecting her firstborn. But she’s not the one who’s pregnant. In three months, her wife Nadia will give birth to their daughter. Under the gaze of her friends, her mother, and the law, Céline looks for her place and sense of legitimacy.
There's no doubt that by presenting several characters as pure id is quite a dangerous gambit for a filmmaker but Glass keeps things interesting by having them driven by different things.
Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.
Not only are there goldfish emblems absolutely everywhere, but the lives of fish and humans sometimes blur.
Makoto Kashiba is an elite bank clerk and works for a big bank at its Tokyo HQ. Due to a minor mistake, he is demoted to a small branch office in a country town. He is devastated by his situation. There, he meets beautiful Yoshino Ikoma, who runs a goldfish scooping store. Makoto falls in love with her at first sight.
Krieps operates at her usual level of greatness, and Anna Cazenave Cambet does her a favour by putting her in the spotlight.
One late summer, Clémence tells her ex-husband that she’s having romantic relationships with women. Her life is turned upside down when he takes custody of her son. Clémence must fight to remain a mother, a woman and a free woman.
Bohrer has a sharp eye and the film benefits from great production design and costuming that help to flesh out the supporting characters.
A thirtysomething drifter, stumbling from party to party, unsure of his place in the world meets a passionate and carefree woman. A summer of love, drugs and parties whips them into a passionate affair, until reality bites and he begins to question if he’s really ready to get serious.
The greatest achievement is perhaps that the far-reaching illusions constructed around the experience of the central characters do not distract from what is an enjoyable film.
Jacques Rivette’s 1980s comedy mystery, where life imitates art.
A young teenager worries that his family will discover he's gay before he's ready, and finds himself falling in love with a similarly closeted classmate he talks to online, without either of them knowing who the other is.
At once a light satire on the perils of modern dating.. and an enjoyably absurd nod to more old-fashioned humour, writer/director Collington gets away with a lot because of the sheer energy on display.
A woman who believes she has a 'loser in love gene' goes on the hunt of her exes in a bid to change her romantic future.
The plot begins where screenwriting manuals would suggest a cut, in the aimless downtime of everyday life.
A successful young artist's career derails, forcing her back to her hometown. While teaching high school to make ends meet, she navigates depression and rediscovers herself in unexpected ways.
There's a rare intelligence to this film, which explores issues around race, wealth, class, gender and what it means to be a real American in a nuanced, multifaceted way.
A married couple is forced to reckon with their idealised image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.
News and features
News & Features
Going ape
Antonin Niclass on character creation, empathy and animated short Into The Forest
Freeform
Will Niava on grief, new immigrant experiences and Jazz Infernal
In silence
Emir Kumova on child marriage in Türkiye, moral challenges and making The Witness
