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Festival coverage

Palm Springs International Film Festival

2 January – 15 January 2018

The Post opened the festival
The Post opened the festival

Palm Springs International Festival marks the start of the US film festival calendar year and runs from January 2 to 15. As part of its Awards Buzz section this year it will showcase 45 of the 92 official submissions to the Best Foreign Language Oscar race.

The festival will open with Steven Spielberg's The Post and close with Adam Rifkin's The Last Movie Star.

Several stars will receive awards during the festival, including Holly Hunter, Jessica Chastain and Saoirse Ronan.

Other years (5)

Latest reviews

  • The Workshop
    Review preview for The Workshop

    There's a potency to this film, largely thanks to a carefully judged performance by Marina Foïs as novelist and tutor Olivia, and a charismatic one by Matthieu Lucci as her most difficult student, Antoine.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    An exploration of group dynamics in a young people’s writing workshop.
  • Liyana
    Review preview for Liyana

    The Kopps' film provides insights into the fundamental nature of storytelling, its psychological relevance and its importance in intellectual development.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Five orphaned children create a story which is realised in animated form.
  • The Desert Bride
    Review preview for The Desert Bride

    Capturing this moment, this opening up, writer/director team Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato demonstrate that there's room on the big screen for small things.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    When a live-in maid's path crosses that of a travelling salesman, her life will change forever.
  • Racer And The Jailbird
    Review preview for Racer And The Jailbird

    As entertaining as the above is with its two charismatic leads, it is not an especially novel path for a 'crime couple' thriller to take, and it is in the last act that Racer kind of goes off the rails.

    Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
    In the Belgian underworld, a secret threatens a couple's romance.
  • Summer 1993
    Review preview for Summer 1993

    The film wears its story lightly. Even when Simón is dealing with heavier themes her focus is on Frida and her emotions.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A young girl struggles to adapt to her new life in the countryside after the death of her mum.
  • Sweet Country
    Review preview for Sweet Country

    There is artistry here and an absence of cliche.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
    Australian frontier drama, told from an Aboriginal perspective.
  • Hochelaga, Land Of Souls
    Review preview for Hochelaga, Land Of Souls

    Although it is technically beautifully realised and features an impressively varied and supportive score from Terry and Gyan Riley, not all of Girard’s connections fully work.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    An interconnected series of encounters between Native peoples and European settlers in and around modern-day Montreal.
  • The Endless
    Review preview for The Endless

    The proportion of films opening with HP Lovecraft quotes that manage to live up to the visionary writer's work verges on the infinitesimal, but The Endless is one of the special ones.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    Years after escaping a cult as teenagers, brothers Aaron and Justin return to their former home after receiving a mysterious message. While Aaron is quickly drawn back into the fold, Justin remains uneasy.
  • Waru
    Review preview for Waru

    This is powerful and painful, striking.

    Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
    Omnibus film about the loss of a young boy in a small town.
  • The Gospel According To André
    Review preview for The Gospel According To André

    Flashes a light to illuminate different stages in the life of the man who invented himself with style and grace.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    Portrait of André Leon Talley.

A–Z of Palm Springs International Film Festival 2018 reviews

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