Category: Film Festivals

Valentyn Vasyanovych’s To the Victory!, which won the Platform Award at TIFF 2025, looks at the war in Ukraine from a perspective that is not often talked about. It envisions a near future in which, despite the war’s end, the women and children who fled at the conflict’s onset do not return to their war-ravaged […]

Philippe Falardeau’s Lovely Day (Mille Secrets Mille Dangers) is a coming-of-age drama disguised as a wedding movie.  Neil Elias delivers a layered performance as Alain, who experiences a crisis of anxiety on his wedding day. The non-linear narrative tells his story effectively, alternating between different periods of his youth and the present day. However, the […]

Gianni Di Gregorio co-wrote, directed, and stars in Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t, a distinctly European comedy/drama about aging, family, and companionship.  After her husband Helmut cheats on her with one of his students, Sofia takes her children Olga and Tommaso to Rome to live with her retired father, affectionately called Professore […]

Indian filmmaker Anuparna Roy follows in Payal Kapadia’s footsteps with her feminist debut feature Songs of Forgotten Trees, a beautiful film that portrays the bond between two women sharing an apartment in Mumbai.  Thooya is an aspiring actress supporting herself with sex work. Swetha is in IT sales and has hopes of getting married. The […]

The extended opening sequence of Tereza Nvotová’s Venice Film Festival drama FATHER, depicting a loving parent’s grave mistake, is simply devastating.  It is the high point of the film that goes on to convincingly explore memory, forgiveness, prejudices, and the chances of a relationship’s survival in the aftermath of a tragedy.  Milan Ondrík’s outstanding performance […]

These are the highlights from the lineup of the 52nd Telluride Film Festival, August 29-September 1, 2025: Hamnet – Chloé Zhao, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal Ballad of a Small Player – Edward Berger Bugonia – Yorgos Lanthimos Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier Jay Kelly – Noah Baumbach Hamlet – Aneil Karia, Riz Ahmed Tuner – […]

82nd Venice Film Festival will run from August 27th to September 6th, 2025. Below is a list of highly anticipated films that will have their premieres at the festival. You can find the complete lineup and more information about the films on our Letterboxd list: https://letterboxd.com/filmfestival/list/venice-film-festival-2025

The highlight of Fantasia 2025 for me was Brandon Daley’s anxiety-inducing, pitch-black gambling addiction comedy $POSITIONS.  Mike (Michael Kunicki) is trying to get rich quick trading crypto. There is a joyful opening credits sequence that takes place right after he hits it big and quits his job. What follows after that is a slow descent […]

Tina Romero picks up the baton from her father and delivers QUEENS OF THE DEAD, a vibrant and campy queer zombie horror set in Brooklyn.  She assembles a fantastic ensemble cast led by Katy O’Brian and lets them have some gory fun for an hour and forty minutes. The synth score and house-heavy soundtrack is […]

Addison Heimann’s campy sci-fi horror comedy TOUCH ME is unlike anything I have seen, which is always a plus. Despite some of its shortcomings, the fact that it is never boring also works to its advantage.  Joey and Craig cannot stop having sex with Brian, an alien with tentacles in human form, even after they […]