Palm Springs International Film Festival — A–Z of films

Otero, who is in almost every scene, carries the film with her fresh and naturalistic performance, which is perfectly complemented by Solaguren’s impressionistic style.

Oscar shortlisted for Best International Feature and Best Documentary, this is an intense film with little respite even when no bullets are being fired.

It’s the multiple layers of mystery – which have less to do with actual events than with what different characters are thinking – which make the film compelling.

The aerial shots of the forest and the believable transformations with feathers, wings, beaks and claws as well as fish scales, make for riveting viewing.

This is a film built in the edit, a story which can but understood in linear form only in retrospect.

The unadorned observation of the physical aspects of the relationship in which middle-aged bodies are shown without artifice is one of the most hypnotic aspect of Naveriani’s vision.

Beneath the intense lead performance and the minimalist but effective camera work, there is a rigid moral waiting to be unearthed.

A multi-layered journey into the filmmaking process.

The vibrancy of childhood skips from the screen.

Rohrwacher’s visually eclectic style is well suited to exploring the contrasts between present and past, natural and artificial, poverty and wealth.

Janis Pugh’s ability to blend crowdpleasing comedy and emotional poignancy should not be underestimated.

A meditation on both memory and movies as well as ageing and a hankering for the past that is informed by the melancholic knowledge that nostalgia is inevitably rose-tinted.

Its pastiches of mid-20th Century Korean cinema are beautifully observed and a lot of fun.

Um is interested in how such landscapes seduce us into particular ways of thinking.

As Copa 71 goes on to show, it’s not the players that are the problem but the lack of a level playing field.

Moreno isn’t shy about his use of symbolism...What this effects to disguise, however, is the degree to which [the men's] own thinking has been shaped by symbols and by the belief system which surrounds them.

Jude masterfully keeps the audience attached to the screen for almost three hours without relying on heightened tensions or conventional plot twists.

There’s a sweet-hearted but dated dad rock quality to this tale.

An amuse-bouche of a film, Aki Kaurismäki’s latest comedy romance may leave you wanting more but it’s also a fully rounded, good looking experience packed with all the flavours we’ve come to expect from the master of deadpan down the years.

An emotionally engaging portrait of the struggles of life on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma

This film strikes one of those wonderful paradoxes, being simultaneously about holding on and letting go.

The exposure of the film’s underlying structures...invites audiences to think about the processes of storytelling and interpretation, which is important, because it’s a story which took the missing women away.

To refer to something as ‘pure cinema’ is uninspired, but Godland is one of those rare films that has some untranslatable quality that speaks for itself.

A documentary-drama of hypnotic power.

Kordofani uses the greater intimacy offered by the camera to bring us close to the characters and reveal the complex layers of relationship developing between them.

This is Scorsese at the top of his game.

Essential, urgent and damning.

Although the structure is offbeat, and the muscular scoring from Jonas Colstrup (The Square) emphasises the emotional rollercoaster, Fredriksson’s film remains empathetic to all concerned.

One of the film’s leading forces is its stunning visual composition.

A thorough, well-told tale intertwined with many of the key social and artistic movements of that century – and dotted with its luminaries – Hidden Master brings Lynes back out into the light.

For all the apparent chaos, this is a tightly controlled piece of work which fully delivers on the promise of Stolevski’s earlier films.

Steamy, bold entertainment with a dark sense of humour and a lush setting.

While Louis-Seize’s treatment of the night is atmospheric, the emphasis here is firmly on comedy rather on gore.

A sort of soft-faced tyrany abounds.

Writer/director Zarrar Khan uses techniques borrowed from the horror genre to address the experience of living in an environment where one is seen as less than fully human, or even as prey.

With plenty of meat for its fine cast to chew on, the film is often intense but never loses its nuance.

Beyond the stories that unfold within the vehicle, the tension of these journeys, often on dirt tracks in rural areas, is brought home.

First-timer Sarr - who is a musician - is a remarkable lead and matched by the support from fellow novice Fall.

This cinematic exploration, a manifestation of Christian bigotry, speculates with cinematic icons and religious imagery, laying bare the power-hungry clergy.

Ray feels like a real person plunged into an increasingly absurd situation, which is ultimately the source of a lot of the film’s comedy and its sometime tragedy.

Love To Love You, Donna Summer, has perhaps the best prism of all to observe the life of the Queen of Disco through - that of her family.

What's really revolutionary about this film is the way Ivory photographs male bodies.

The film is well made and the humour delicately balanced between corruption and farce.

Whether you’re a fan of the company’s work specifically or simply interested in the history of cinema, this portrait of its longest-lasting partnership will delight and entertain you.

Combining clever ideas with a deep current of emotional honesty, this is an unusual and powerful film.

A beautifully constructed piece of work in which every detail serves the whole, putting the tools of the epic at the disposal of a story which is intimate and delicately realised.

Everything about El Moudir’s film is unusual, from the structure to the mood.

This is a film which explores ‘otherness’ and what it truly means to be ‘abnormal’.

Will anyone see this who wouldn't anyway?

It’s a tremendously challenging role, in which Maadi excels.

Flair and verve are what it's all about, a fierce confidence used to defy white power structures since the original days of putting on the Ritz.

Just as Reymont’s book immersed itself in the metaphorical colour of Polish peasant life, so the Welchmans’ film delivers a flood of literal colour.

The 4:3 format, preferred by Yasujirō Ozu, is the perfect frame for paying attention to the small mysteries that are often overlooked.

There is a redemption arc here, but it’s not the whole of the story, and Arcel uses it to highlight the deep inequities so normalised at the time as to be almost invisible, even the most desperate characters tending to take them for granted.

It is an assured and relentless exposé.

What really drives the film is the quietly powerful central performance.

She shares her memories as she goes about her day to day life and her musical work, so the two narratives weave together very smoothly, making for a story which would be naturally engaging even if it didn’t have such an interesting focus.

This is a place of cleansing, not just of the body but so much more as this non-intrusive but immersive film gradually reveals.

The impact of the plane crash near the start of this retelling of the remarkable true survival story is shown in visceral detail with a sound design that slams right through you.

While the end result is important, Hùng’s film is all about savouring the moment, something that becomes more urgent as it progresses - although talk of speed has little place in a film that unfolds with the pace and beauty of a flower.

As befits a film set on a rapid commuter train, the pace rarely lets up.

The idea of different things being in and out of focus for the various generations runs through a film that has sweetly comic moments and poignancy in equal measure.

A curious case of real-life poison pen letters is given an oddly cosy retelling in this well-polished if tonally uneven drama.

The meandering pace can get tedious at times, but cinematically it's a masterpiece.

There are no shortcuts in this film, no conventions and nothing careless.