VENICE 2024: Aïcha (2024)
★★★☆☆
Aïcha, directed by Mehdi Barsaoui, is a thrilling study of a young woman’s life amid endemic corruption in Tunisia, as she tries to find a new life and new identity.
2024
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: TWST (2024)
★★★★☆
Romanian director Andrei Ujica’s documentary TWST is a snapshot of America in a hot August 1965, the year The Beatles arrived.
Venice and Toronto 2024: Mistress Dispeller (2024)
★★★☆☆
Mistress Dispeller, an intimate documentary by Elizabeth Lo, shows a unique Chinese practice.
VENICE 2024: Manas (2024)
★★★☆☆
Manas by Marianna Brennand takes us into turmoil in a closed Amazonian community.
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.
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.
Toronto Film Festival 2024 (49th): 6–15 September 2024
★★★★☆
TIFF 6-15 September 2024
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.
Sheffield Documentary Festival: The Boy and the Suit of Lights (2024) (El niño y el traje de luces)
★★★★☆
The Boy and the Suit of Lights is a raw documentary by Inma De Reyes that uncovers an insider’s view of some of the tensions between traditional and modern Spain.
Cannes Film Festival 2024: Day 12: Saturday, 25 May: Awards
★★★★☆
Cannes Film Festival 2024: Awards
Cannes Film Festival 2024: Day 11: Thursday, 23 May: All We Imagine as Light (2024)
★★★★★
Cannes Film Festival: Day 11: All We Imagine As Light (2024). All We Imagine As Light is a beautiful film about the contrasting lives of three women in India, the second film directed by award-winning Payal Kapadia.