Julian Janssen

Venice 2021: Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’ Review: To Rebuild or Preserve?

With his third film, Indian director Aditya Vikram Sengupta creates an interesting portrait of life in post-communist Kolkata.

Venice 2021 ‘Erasing Frank’ Review: A Riot Against Censorship

Erasing Frank is a well-crafted look at totalitarian censorship behind the iron curtain.

Venice 2021 ‘Miracol’ Review: Naturalistic Genre-defying Cinema

With Miracol, Romanian director Bogdan George Apetri breathes new life into the Romanian New Wave.

Venice 2021 ‘107 Mothers’ Review: A Jarring Piece of Docufiction

Punkchart Films Slovakian director Péter Kerekes provides a humanistic glimpse into the lives of imprisoned mothers in a Ukrainian correctional facility.

Locarno 2021 ‘Zeros and Ones’ Review: Reflective Pandemic Thriller

Abel Ferrara delivers a relevant COVID-era thriller, with Ethan Hawke showing impressive versatility in a contrasting dual role.

Locarno 2021 ‘The Balcony Movie’ Review: A Tapestry of Human Experiences

Over the course of two years, Polish documentary director Paweł Łoziński studies the lives of people walking by, while he’s standing on his apartment’s balcony.

Locarno 2021 ‘Mad God’ Review: Worldbuilding to Perfection

After 30+ years of development, SFX Master Phil Tippett delivers an impeccably crafted stop-motion horror fantasy.

Cannes 2021 ‘La Civil’ Review: The Strength of a Mother’s Love

La Civil offers a jarring look into the life of a Mexican woman, whose world is turned upside down after her daughter is kidnapped by a cartel. Based on a real woman’s story.

Durban Film Festival 2021 ‘The Last Shelter’ Review: Melancholic Malian Migrant Documentary

In a melancholic and deeply empathetic documentary portrait, director Ousmane Samassékou focuses on a series of brief moments in the lives of several West African migrants in The House of Migrants in Gao, Mali.

Cannes 2021 ‘Europa’ Review: An Urgent Refugee Thriller Set in Europe

Italian-Iraqi filmmaker Haider Rashid recreates a realistic survival experience in an urgent film that’s essential viewing for every European citizen.