Germany

Locarno 2026 Review: “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming”

© X Filme Creative Pool GmbH There is a cruel irony at the center of Isabelle Stever and Anna Melikova’s newest film: just as co-protagonist Oleh begins to embrace his masculinity on his own terms, war arrives to prescribe him what being a man is supposed to mean. For Oleh (Markus Bright), a transgender manContinue reading “Locarno 2026 Review: “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming””

IFFR 2026 Review: “Butterfly”

Although Butterrfly’s aesthetic ambition may come at the expense of a thorough exploration of the narrative’s emotional core, viewers may find themselves intrigued by Renate Reinsve’s transformative work and her character’s arc, while fans of Guttormsen are met with a reward that links the film back to the director’s earlier, more successful works.

Locarno 2025 Review: “Donkey Days”

Dutch director Rosanne Pel’s sophomore feature Donkey Days, a Dutch-German co-production filmed in Germany with a predominantly German cast, is an intense and ambitious film that examines the tensions within an all-female family of three, using both realism and surreal elements. It examines the power dynamics between two adult sisters and their mother, demonstrating how conditional affection and criticism can define relationships over a lifetime. Pel balances a detailed depiction of domestic conflict with a confident and unique style, resulting in an upredictable, intense, and occasionally funny work.

Cannes 2025 Review: “Once Upon a Time in Gaza”

Set in Gaza in 2007, Once Upon a Time in Gaza is a complex genre-bending drama from the Nasser brothers that blurs the line between reality and cinema. Mixing noir, Western, and political satire, it follows the lives of Palestinians lived under the zionist blockade, where love and loyalty coexist with occupation and concept of martyrdom.

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.

TIFF 2024 Review: “Horizonte”

César Augusto Acevedo, the acclaimed director behind “Land and Shade” (winner of the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2015), returns with his long-awaited follow-up, “Horizonte,” a haunting and poetic exploration of loss, memory, and redemption. The film tells the story of two ghosts -a mother, Inés, and her son, Basilio- as they wander through a war-torn world in search of the man’s missing father. Their spiritual journey, traversing the desolate, misty landscapes of a city torn apart by conflict, uncovers the wounds left by war.

Venice 2024 Review: “Quiet Life”

“Quiet Life” by Alexandros Avranas, who won the Silver Lion award at the 2013 Venice Film Festival for his film “Miss Violence” is a gripping and oftentimes bitingly satirical exploration of a family’s struggle for asylum in 2018 in Sweden. The film follows Sergei (Grigoriy Dobrygin), his wife Natalia (Chulpan Khamatova), and their two daughters, who have fled Russia claiming persecution due to Sergei’s promotion of banned political texts at his school. The family’s hopes for a new beginning are crushed by the cold and harsh system of Swedish bureaucracy, which doubts the credibility of their story and dismisses their application for asylum, leading to a sudden medical emergency. Avranas presents a narrative where the family’s life is reduced to a series of inspections, interrogations, and regulations, all captured through a meticulously controlled and sterile lens.

Berlinale 2024 Review: “Rising Up at Night”

This work by Nelson Makengo, is an overwhelmingly evocative documentary that delves into the stark realities of life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly focusing on the struggles faced by residents in Kinshasa amid frequent power outages and devastating floods. Makengo depicts the struggle of his subjects that is as much about the physical darkness brought on by the lack of electricity as it is about the metaphorical darkness of living in a disaster-stricken area.

Berlinale 2024 Review: “Pepe”

¨Pepe¨, the sophomore feature from Dominican director Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias is a bold outing that recounts the life and death of real-life hippopotamus Pepe in a wildly imaginative and stylistically exciting manner, covering a wide range of topics and concepts to explore themes surrounding colonialism, racism, exploitation and the feeling of being ¨othered.¨

Berlinale 2024 Review: “I Saw Three Black Lights”

Set against the serene backdrop of the Colombian jungle, I Saw Three Black Lights unfolds as an evocative exploration into the realms of heritage, mortality, and the profound connection to ancestral lands and culture. Directed by Santiago Lozano Álvarez, this film transcends the boundaries of conventional storytelling, creating a mesmerizing audiovisual experience that honors Afro-Colombian culture and confronts the ominous threats of external violence.