Life Is A Film Fest

Milo, a nine-year-old from an Argentinian village, takes the train to Buenos Aires in hopes of becoming an artist in Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale’s debut feature The River Train.  With touches of magical realism and symbolism, this coming-of-age story moves briskly through its 75-minute runtime without overstaying its welcome. It boasts a strong […]

In the heartfelt drama Nina Roza, writer-director Geneviève Dulude-De Celles traces the journey of Mihail (Galin Stoev), a Bulgarian contemporary art curator living in self-imposed exile in Montreal, as he returns to his homeland for the first time in 28 years.  When eight-year-old Nina, a girl from a village near Sofia, goes viral for her […]

Ian de la Rosa’s feature directorial debut Iván & Hadoum is a tender love story set against the beauty of the coastal city of Almería in Andalusia.  Iván (Silver Chicón), a greenhouse manager anxiously awaiting a long-overdue promotion, and Hadoum (Herminia Loh), a recently hired Spanish-Moroccan worker, start having feelings for one another, but conflicts […]

Jérémy Comte follows his devastating Oscar-nominated short Fauve with Paradise, an intriguing story of yearning, trust, and empathy set in Ghana and Quebec.  He blends realist and dreamlike elements into a semi-autobiographical narrative. The plot is difficult to describe without either revealing too much or misrepresenting it. It is probably best going in blind.  The […]

With Yellow Letters, Ilker Çatak delivers another pressure cooker following The Teachers’ Lounge. This time, working with an all Turkish cast, he shoots Hamburg as Istanbul and Berlin as Ankara. The film may not try to give you a heart attack as its predecessor did, but the anguish facing its protagonists is no less intense. Özgü […]

In Kilian Armando Friedrich’s Dardennes-influenced I Understand Your Displeasure, we witness cleaning manager Heike’s daily balancing act, as she navigates mounting pressures between her bosses, demanding clients, and the workers caught in between.  It is chaotic and intense, and never loses its realism, thanks in part to the non-professional actors, lead by Sabine Thalau, many of […]

Beth de Araújo’s heart-rending psychological thriller Josephine, which explores trauma from the viewpoint of a child, instantly makes her a director to watch.  She keeps nothing back and the film relentlessly takes hold of you. Miles Ross’ score is utilized exceptionally. The camerawork and the editing are wonderful as well.  This would not be the […]

2026 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 22 to February 1, 2026 in Park City, Utah for one last time before moving to Boulder, Colorado next year. You can also stream some of the selections online from January 29 to February 1. Here are some of the highlights of this year’s lineup: THE INVITE, Olivia […]