Anna Cazenave Cambet’s Love Me Tender is a radical portrait of the extent to which one’s attempt to free herself from heteronormativity is punished by society. Drawn from Clémentine Autain’s autobiography, it holds onto long stretches of the source text, letting the film’s voice stay personal, reflective, and grounded in lived detail. Vicky Krieps empowers the masterfully written screenplay with a transformative, unshowy performance that registers every shift in power and loss.
Author Archives: Julian Janssen
Cannes 2025 Review: “Reedland”
Reedland by Sven Bresser depicts contemporary rural Dutch life, where daily farming rituals collide with global pressures, family bonds, resulting in moral unease. Through striking imagery and evocative sound design, the film explores how tradition, isolation, and disruption shape the life of a solitary farmer in the reed fields.
Visions du Réel 2025 Review: “Shifting Baselines”
Shifting Baselines by Julien Elie is a visually stunning, dystopian-like documentary that examines the environmental and human consequences of industrial development in Boca Chica, Texas. The arrival of SpaceX’s Starbase facility has altered the landscape and reshaped the daily lives of the people living nearby. Elie constructs his film with an assured holistic vision, letting both architecture, people involved, and nature tell the story.
Visions du Réel 2025 Review: “To the West, in Zapata”
TTo the West in Zapata by David Beltrán i Marí is a contemplative, COVID-era work set against the remote backdrop of Cuba’s Zapata Swamp. It follows a crocodile hunter named Landi and his wife, Mercedes, who remains at home caring for their autistic son while Landi spends long stretches deep in the wetlands. Beltrán i Marí explores isolation, survival, and the rhythms of domestic and environmental life shaped by absence and routine.
Visions du Réel 2025 Review: “Gen_”
In Gen_, director Gianluca Matarrese creates an intimate and layered portrait of Dr. Bini, an Italian fertility specialist whose clinic becomes a meeting point for a diverse range of patients. Cisgender men with fertility struggles, gay couples pursuing parenthood, trans people receiving hormone treatments, and people questioning their own gender identity all pass through his doors. The film moves through these encounters, observing with sensitivity and without imposing a fixed viewpoint.
Visions du Réel 2025 Review: “Afternoons of Solitude”
Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude is a provocative, and unsettling documentary that explores the ‘art’ of bullfighting. While the ethicality of bullfighting hovers constantly over the film, Serra resists direct moralizing. He offers a raw, sensorial exploration of masculinity, performance, and spectacle, letting the audience sit with their own judgments. It becomes a strange, gorgeous character study of one man, bullfighter Andrés Roca Rey, and the hypermasculine, flamboyant culture that celebrates and consumes him.
Cinema du Réel 2025 Dispatch: Jessica Sarah Rinland, James Benning, Lee Anne Schmitt & More
Cinéma du Réel, the esteemed international documentary film festival held annually in Paris, France, has long been celebrated for its commitment to showcasing non-mainstream, intellectually, and artistically stimulating documentaries. The competition of the festival’s 2025 edition, running from March 21 to 30, continues this tradition by presenting a diverse program that blurs the lines between feature-length films and short shorts, treating each with equal reverence and attention. This egalitarian approach highlights the festival’s dedication to exploring the myriad forms and expressions within non-fiction cinema, providing a platform for both emerging and established filmmakers to present their unique visions.
Berlin 2025 Review “What Does That Nature Say To You”
© Jeonwonsa Film Co. Hong Sang-soo’s latest film, What Does That Nature Say to You, reaffirms the prolific Korean director’s status as a filmmaker capable of uncovering profound insights within the mundane. With this being his 32nd feature film, Hong continues to explore themes of life, art, work, and healing.
Berlin 2025 Review: “Home Sweet Home”
© Rolf Konow Frelle Petersen’s Home Sweet Home is naturalistic yet deeply touching exploration of the often-overlooked world of home care, showing the emotional and physical demands placed on caregivers and the elderly people who require care. The film offers an authentic portrayal of the balance between professional responsibilities and personal life.
Berlin 2025 Review: “No Beast. So Fierce.”
Burhan Qurbani’s No Beast. So Fierce. is a daring contemporary reimagining of Shakespeare’s Richard III, transforming the classic tale of ambition and treachery to the story of a woman among the gang-controlled streets of Berlin. The film centers on Arab lawyer Rashida York, portrayed with mesmerizing intensity by Kenda Hmeidan, as she maneuvers through a patriarchal underworld to seize power.
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