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New Directors/New Films · 2019

New Directors/New Films 2019

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24 films · 13 reviews

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All Is Well (Alles Ist Gut, All Good)

Review preview for All Is Well

Trobisch lets the normality bite.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman keeps silent after a rape.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Eva Trobisch; Writer: Eva Trobisch; Stars: Aenne Schwarz, Andreas Döhler, Hans Löw, Tilo Nest, Lina Wendel, Lisa Hagmeister, Dagny Dewath, Thomas Gräßle, Annika Blendl, Doris Buchrucker, Hildegard Faust-Albrecht, Vera Flück, Marc-Philipp Kochendörfer, Valentina Kühnel, Hermann Linnenbrink)

Full review

Angelo

Trouble brews for a young African in Europe in the 18th century.

(Country: Austria, Luxembourg; Year: 2018; Director: Markus Schleinzer; Writer: Alexander Brom, Markus Schleinzer; Stars: Alba Rohrwacher, Christian Friedel, Larisa Faber, Michael Rotschopf, Dominic Marcus Singer, Gerti Drassl, Marisa Growaldt, Lukas Miko, Éric Gigout, Daniel Hoesl, Nilton Martins, Nancy Mensah-Offei, Makita Samba, Martine Schambacher, Ryan Nzogang)

Bait

Review preview for Bait

Bait looks, sounds, feels amazing.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Martin is a cove fisherman whose brother has started using their father’s boat to shuttle tourists, soon causing latent familial tensions to explode.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Mark Jenkin; Stars: Morgan Val Baker, Georgia Ellery, Martin Ellis, Chloe Endean, Stacey Guthrie, Jowan Jacobs, Giles King, Edward Rowe, Simon Shepherd, Tristan Sturrock, Janet Thirlaway, Isaac Woodvine, Mary Woodvine, Morgan Val Baker, Georgia Ellery)

Full review

Belonging (Aidiyet)

A murder investigation is flipped inside out.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2019; Director: Burak Cevik; Writer: Burak Cevik; Stars: Eylül Su Sapan, Çaglar Yalçinkaya, Eylül Su Sapan, Çaglar Yalçinkaya)

The Chambermaid (La Camarista)

Review preview for The Chambermaid

This is a quiet movie, which never loses its focus on its central character study, while allowing points about economic and social inequalities to sound out loud and clear.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Character study of a maid in a Mexican hotel.

(Country: Mexico, US; Year: 2018; Director: Lila Avilés; Writer: Lila Avilés, Juan Carlos Marquéz; Stars: Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez, Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez)

Full review See: Lila Avilés talks about making The Chambermaid , Interview with Gabriela Cartol about The Chambermaid

Clemency

Review preview for Clemency

Despite the raw power of its performances, the film suffers from an impulse to spell out some of its points.

Jeremy Mathews · 3.5 out of 5
Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Chinonye Chukwu; Writer: Chinonye Chukwu; Stars: Alfre Woodard, Richard Schiff, Aldis Hodge, LaMonica Garrett, Wendell Pierce, Noshir Dalal, Vernee Watson, Michael O'Neill, Danielle Brooks, Dennis Haskins, Debbie Pollack, Michelle C. Bonilla, Richard Gunn, Jed Bernard, Anahi Bustillos)

Full review

End Of The Century

An Argentinian man from New York and a Spanish man from Berlin hook up by chance while in Barcelona. What seems like a one-night encounter between two strangers becomes an epic, decades-spanning relationship.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2019; Director: Lucio Castro)

A Family Submerged (Familia Sumergida)

It's summertime in an empty and heated Buenos Aires. Marcela's world is shaken as her sister passes away.

(Country: Argentina, Norway, Germany, Brazil; Year: 2018; Director: María Alche; Writer: María Alche; Stars: Mercedes Morán, Marcelo Subiotto, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Velazquez, Laila Maltz, Mercedes Morán, Marcelo Subiotto, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Velazquez, Laila Maltz)

Fausto

The legend of Faust mingles with local folklore on Mexico's Oaxacan coast.

(Country: Mexico/Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Andrea Bussmann)

Genesis (Genèse)

16-year-old Guillaume is the class clown who loves attention and never takes anything seriously. His older stepsister Charlotte has already found someone that she considers her forever love. Life is about to turn their worlds upside down.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Philippe Lesage; Stars: Noée Abita, Paul Ahmarani, Théodore Pellerin)

Honeyland

Review preview for Honeyland

The directors let the humanism shine out without resorting to sentimentality, capturing moments of joy, such as the pleasure of shared, sticky honey with the same lack of artifice as moments of pain or grief.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
When nomadic beekeepers break Honeyland's basic rule (take half of the honey, but leave half to the bees), the last female beehunter in Europe must save the bees and restore natural balance.

(Country: Republic of Macedonia; Year: 2019; Director: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov)

Full review

Joy

Drama about a woman caught up in the world of sex trafficking.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2018; Director: Sudabeh Mortezai; Stars: Joy Alphonsus, Mariam Precious Sanusi, Angela Ekeleme)

A Land Imagined

First we follow gruff, disenchanted detective Lok as he searches for Wang, a missing construction worker from mainland China. We’re then ushered back in time to see Wang’s life before his disappearance

(Country: France, Netherlands, Singapore; Year: 2018; Director: Yeo Siew Hua; Writer: Yeo Siew Hua; Stars: Peter Yu, Liu Xiaoyi , Yue Guo, Jack Tan, Ishtiaque Zico, Kelvin Ho, George Low, Debabrota Basu, Andie Chen, Khalishan Liang, Qin Tianshu, Ottylia Liu, Xiao Jing, Andy Nyo, Joey Heng)

The Load (Teret)

Review preview for The Load

Glavonic, who has a background in documentary, has crafted a moody and broody piece, built less on onscreen incident than the oppressive atmosphere and offscreen imaginings.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A truck driver is tasked with transporting mysterious cargo across a scorched landscape from Kosovo to Belgrade during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

(Country: Serbia, France, Croatia, Iran, Qatar; Year: 2018; Director: Ognjen Glavonic; Writer: Ognjen Glavonic; Stars: Leon Lucev, Pavle Cemerikic, Tamara Krcunovic, Ivan Lucev, Igor Bencina, Kosta Bekric, Novak Bilbija, Tadija Calukovic, Branislav Ciric, Radoje Cupic, Mateja Dimitrijevic, Olga Dimitrijevic, Sara Dinic, Milos Gasevic, Marko Grba Singh)

Full review

Long Way Home (Temporada)

In order to take a new job, Juliana moves from the inner city to a smaller town. While waiting for her husband to join her, she adapts to her new life.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2018; Director: André Novais Oliveira; Writer: André Novais Oliveira; Stars: Grace Passô, Russo Apr, Rejane Faria, Hélio Ricardo, Juliana Abreu, Renato Novaes, Grace Passô, Russo Apr, Rejane Faria, Hélio Ricardo, Juliana Abreu, Renato Novaes)

Manta Ray (Kraben Rahu)

Review preview for Manta Ray

The film remains mysterious without being confusing - you don't need to grasp every detail to understand its metaphors and message and its enigmatic aura invites repeat viewings.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A fisherman finds an injured refugee and tries to help him.

(Country: Thailand, France, China; Year: 2018; Director: Phuttiphong Aroonpheng; Writer: Phuttiphong Aroonpheng; Stars: Aphisit Hama, Wanlop Rungkamjad, Rasmee Wayrana, Aphisit Hama, Wanlop Rungkamjad, Rasmee Wayrana)

Full review

Midnight Family

Review preview for Midnight Family

By keeping the camera in the back of the ambulance largely at a level above that of the various patients, Lorentzen ensures the film never becomes voyeuristic.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
In Mexico City's wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a for-profit ambulance, competing with other unlicensed EMTs for patients in need of urgent care. In this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care.

(Country: Mexico, US; Year: 2019; Director: Luke Lorentzen; Writer: Luke Lorentzen)

Full review

Monos

Review preview for Monos

Landes' film has the queasy, uneasy feel of a nightmare - and that's before magic mushrooms are involved.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
On a faraway mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.

(Country: Colombia, Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Uruguay; Year: 2019; Director: Alejandro Landes; Writer: Alexis Dos Santos, Alejandro Landes, Alejandro Landes; Stars: Julianne Nicholson, Moises Arias, Jorge Román, Laura Castrillón, Wilson Salazar, Sofia Buenaventura, Deibi Rueda, Karen Quintero, Julian Giraldo, Paul Cubides, Sneider Castro, Julianne Nicholson, Moises Arias, Jorge Román, Laura Castrillón)

Full review

MS Slavic 7

A young woman tasked with executing the estate of her great-grandmother, a renowned Polish poet, takes a trip to Harvard University to research a correspondence between her deceased relative and another poet who seems to have been her lover.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Sofia Bohdanowicz, Deragh Campbell; Writer: Sofia Bohdanowicz, Deragh Campbell; Stars: Deragh Campbell, Aaron Danby, Elizabeth Rucker, Mariusz Sibiga, Deragh Campbell, Aaron Danby, Elizabeth Rucker, Mariusz Sibiga)

The Plagiarists

Review preview for The Plagiarists

The film is unashamedly intellectual and yet amuses itself with its characters' overly enthusiastic attempts to understand everything around them as deeply as possible, often missing what's going on on the surface.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young novelist and her cinematographer boyfriendare waylaid by a snowstorm on their way to visit a friend and are taken in by the kindly yet enigmatic Clip, who puts them up for the night. But a discovery months later recasts events.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Peter Parlow; Writer: James N Kienitz Wilkins, Robin Schavoir; Stars: William Michael Payne, Emily Davis, Lucy Kaminsky, Eamon Monaghan, William Michael Payne, Emily Davis, Lucy Kaminsky, Eamon Monaghan)

Full review

Present.Perfect.

Review preview for Present.Perfect.

Rather than an expose of the dark side of live streaming, or focusing on its superstars, Zhu gravitates towards marginalized voices: those in rural areas, the disabled, single mothers.

Sunil Chauhan · 4 out of 5
A documentary portrait of Chinese society by focusing on the most marginalised - a chain-smoking burn victim, an uncoordinated street dancer, a man with growth-hormone deficiency, a cattle farm worker, and many others.

(Country: Hong Kong, US; Year: 2019; Director: Shengze Zhu)

Full review

Sauvage (Full Frontal, Savage)

Review preview for Sauvage

Showing a keen understanding of the nature of sex work and of life on the streets, Vidal-Naquet carries us through several days in Léo's life in a observational, non-judgemental way.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young male sex worker searches for love and companionship.

(Year: 2017; Director: Camille Vidal-Naquet; Writer: Camille Vidal-Naquet; Stars: Félix Maritaud, Eric Bernard, Nicolas Dibla, Philippe Ohrel, Pavle Dragas, Mehdi Boudina)

Full review

Share

Review preview for Share

Moody images don't make for high drama and even at a trim 87 minutes, the story feels stretched.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
After discovering a disturbing video from a night she doesn’t remember, 16-year-old Mandy must try to figure out what happened and how to navigate the escalating fallout.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Pippa Bianco; Writer: Pippa Bianco; Stars: Rhianne Barreto, Charlie Plummer, Poorna Jagannathan, J.C. MacKenzie, Nicholas Galitzine, Lovie Simone, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Ivan Wanis-Ruiz, Emily Debowski, Darlene Cooke, Milcania Diaz-Rojas, Daimen Landori-Hoffman, Jai Jai Jones, Jhaleil Swaby, Kimmy Choi)

Full review

Suburban Birds

When an engineer finds the diary of a schoolboy, he discovers startling parallels within its pages.

(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Qui Sheng; Writer: Qui Sheng; Stars: Gong Zihan, Huang Lu, Mason Lee)