Life Is A Film Fest

In Zuzana Kirchnerová’s CARAVAN, Ester spends the summer in Italy with her teenage son David, who has Down syndrome and autism, and free spirited Zuza, who quickly clicks with David and eases Ester’s burden for a period.  It is inspired by Kirchnerová’s own life. She has a son with similar conditions, but the film is […]

Momoko Seto’s animated Cannes Critics’ Week Closing Night film DANDELION’S ODYSSEY is the wordless journey of four dandelion seeds that find themselves on an unknown planet after a nuclear explosion.  The gorgeous visuals are like nothing I’ve seen before and they are set to a wonderful score and sound design from Quentin Sirjacq and Sound […]

TABOR Collective’s spellbinding Cannes Directors’ Fortnight entry MILITANTROPOS chronicles the Ukraine war from the viewpoints of soldiers, evacuees, and those who are left behind. The filmmakers of the observational documentary do a commendable job of capturing the lives of their subjects without any noticeable interference.  It is a solemn look at the devastation and people’s yearning […]

Hubert Charuel’s METEORS depicts a devoted friendship that plays out like a heart-rending doomed romance. Mika and Dan, played convincingly by Paul Kircher and Idir Azougli, dream of leaving their decaying small town while trying to overcome addiction and avoid jail sentences.  After introducing them in a comedic opening sequence, Charuel and his co-writer Claude […]

Pedro Pinho’s I ONLY REST IN THE STORM is a 3.5 hour long journey with Portuguese environmental engineer Sérgio through Guinea-Bissau and surrounding regions and I was happy to tag along.  It takes its original name O Riso e a Faca (Laughter and the Knife) from the Tom Zé song the characters sing along to […]

Ghosts are everywhere in Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s Cannes comedy A USEFUL GHOST. They have to deal with bureaucracy, and face discrimination and the legal consequences of their actions. People make out with haunted vacuum cleaners and monks curse like sailors. Around the 75 minute mark we get what appears to be a conclusion to a lighthearted […]

Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s dreamlike hand-drawn animated film DEATH DOES NOT EXIST makes fascinating use of colors and is visually captivating.  It starts with a brutal, bloody armed attack scene that startles without having any red in it. We later get a different version of the same scene, this time with red blood, when the main character […]

Frelle Petersen’s HOME SWEET HOME from Seattle International Film Festival follows divorced home care worker Sofie as she tries to balance her new job taking care of the elderly with parenting her 10-year-old daughter Clara. She starts the job enthusiastically, but the hectic nature of it and having to deal with difficult people soon take a […]

Alireza Khatami nods to Buñuel and Lynch in the Seattle International Film Festival revenge thriller THE THINGS YOU KILL, one of my favorites among the films I have seen this year and the first great WTF movie of the year.  It is dreamlike, puzzling, and features breathtaking cinematography and intricate camerawork including a mind-blowing mirror […]