VENICE 2024: The Mohican (2024) (Le Mohican)
★★★☆☆
The Mohican directed by Frédéric Farrucci is a beautifully shot, deeply felt film about an ordinary goatherd who becomes a social media hero in Corsica when he defends his beliefs.
Country
VENICE 2024: Vittoria (2024)
★★★☆☆
Vittoria is an extraordinary, moving drama based on real events about a woman’s need to adopt a child, directed by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman.
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’).
VENICE 2024: Super happy forever (2024)
★★★★☆
Super Happy Forever by Kohei Igarashi is a star-studded Japanese love story in reverse.
Black Dog (2024) (Gou Zhen)
★★★★☆
Black Dog is ‘Sixth Generation’ director Hu Guan’s hit film, a huge allegory about rapid change in modern China.
Mandoob (Night Courier) (2023)
★★★☆☆
Mehdoob (Night Courier) directed by Ali Kalthami is a sophisticated thriller about a hapless delivery driver caught in societal change in Saudi Arabia.
Kneecap (2024)
★★★★☆
Kneecap, written and directed by Rich Peppiat, is the comic, fictionalised story of the rise to fame of the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap – played by themselves.
Only the River Flows (2023)
★★★★☆
Only the River Flows is a scintillating Chinese neo-noir, the third film directed by Wei Shujun.
LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL 2024: Mexico 86 (2024)
★★★★☆
Mexico 86 by César Diaz is the tension-fraught story of a mother’s love versus her idealism, against the background of the World Cup.
About Dry Grasses (2023) (Kuru Otlar Üstüne)
★★★★★
About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan is another masterpiece from the Turkish auteur.
BFI LFF 2021: Brother’s Keeper (2021) (Okul tirasi)
★★★☆☆
Brother’s Keeper: Ferit Karaha’s tragic tale of boarding school brutality to Kurdish boys in snowy eastern Turkey.
Shayda (2023)
★★★★☆
Shayda, the heartfelt first feature directed by Noora Niasari, is a compelling story of an Iranian woman fleeing domestic abuse to seek cultural freedom.
Orlando, My Political Biography (2023) (Orlando, Ma Biographie Politique)
★★★☆☆
Orlando, My Political Biography by trans activist Paul B Preciado is a moving documentary inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel.
The Nature of Love (2023) (Simple Comme Sylvain)
★★★★☆
The Nature of Love directed by Monia Chokri is a modern Canadian romcom, seen from a woman’s point of view, with a contemporary twist.