The Universal Theory (2023) (Die Theorie von Allem)
★★★☆☆
The Universal Theory directed by Timm Kröger is a stunning homage to all those black-and-white film-noir mysteries of the 1940s with a dreamlike sci-fi twist.
Germany
TORONTO 2024: Seven Days (2024)
★★★★☆
Seven Days, directed by Ali Samadi Ahai and written by Mohammed Rasoulof is a poignant film that explores the human tensions between political resistance and personal sacrifice.
Venice 2024: The Witness (2024) (Shahed)
★★★★☆
The Witness, directed by Nader Saeivar and co-written with Jafar Panahi, uses women and dance to tell the story of contemporary Iran.
VENICE 2024: Quiet Life (2024)
★★★☆☆
Quiet Life, directed by Alexander Avranas, shows how the stress of being a Russian refugee in Sweden can result in resignation syndrome (a ‘shutting down’).
About Dry Grasses (2023) (Kuru Otlar Üstüne)
★★★★★
About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan is another masterpiece from the Turkish auteur.
A House in Jerusalem (2023)
★★★☆☆
Palestinian filmmakers Muyad and Rami Alayan prick and prod Israel’s conscience about dispossession in A House in Jerusalem.
Tiger Stripes (2023)
★★★★☆
Tiger Stripes is a compelling coming-of-age body horror, the first feature by Amanda Nell Eu.
Elaha (2024)
★★★★☆
Elaha, directed by Milena Aboyan, is a powerful contemporary story about the conflict between tradition and modernity in the life of a young girl from an immigrant family in Germany.
Omen (2023) (Augure)
★★★☆☆
Omen is multidisciplinary artist Baloji’s magical realist award-winning first feature.
Four Daughters (2023) (Les Filles d’Olfa)
★★★★★
Four Daughters is a powerful and emotionally compelling mixture of documentary and drama directed by Kaouther Ben Hania that examines the roots of fundamentalism and how women pass on self-imposed repression through the generations.
Berlinale 2024: Reas (2024)
★★★★☆
Reas is an extraordinary documentary and musical by Lola Arias set in a women’s prison in Argentina, unlike anything you have seen before.
Perfect Days (2023)
★★★★☆
Perfect Days is acclaimed director Wim Wenders’ Tokyo-set film for which Koji Yakusho won a well-deserved Best Actor award.
The Settlers (2023) (Los Colonos)
★★★☆☆
The Settlers is an angry, violent Western-type version of the brutal colonial birth of Chile by first-time filmmaker Felipe Gálvez.
Padre Pio (2022)
★★★★☆
Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio links religious fervour, the growth of fascism and socialism, and the Ukraine invasion, and is based on true events culminating on 14 October 1920.