Locarno 2025 Review: Sorella di Clausura

Ivana Mladenović’s Sorella di Clausura is a darkly comic portrait of obsession, delusion, and the strange collisions between celebrity culture and everyday survival. Featuring a fearless performance from Katia Pascariu as the unforgettable Stela, alongside Cendana Trifan and Miodrag Mladenović, the film builds its own mad energy from the very first moments. A bright red title card declares, “If you thought you were going to watch a film based on true events, you are wrong and possibly paranoid,” setting the tone for a story that oscillates between satire, melodrama, and tragic comedy. Adapted from Liliana Pelici’s autobiographical manuscript, the film reshapes her personal testimony into a wild narrative that keeps viewers laughing, cringing, and thinking in equal measure.

Locarno 2025 Review: “God Will Not Help”

God Will Not Help, the sophomore feature from Croatian director Hana Jušić, is a poetic work on grief, faith, and the universal experiences of women within a patriarchal society. Led by powerful performances from its two stars Manuela Martelli as Teresa and Ana Marija Veselčić as Milena, the film explores how solidarity between the oppressed is able to form even in silence and cultural differences, and how it becomes their only shield against subjugation.

Rotterdam 2025 Review: “And the Rest Will Follow”

IFFR And the Rest Will Follow, Turkish director Pelin Esmer’s first fiction film in seven years, explores the relationship between personal aspiration, storytelling, and artistic creation. The film introduces us to Aliye, portrayed by Merve Asya Özgür, a 25-year-old housekeeper in the small Turkish town of Söke. Dissatisfied with her monotonous life and a stiflingContinue reading “Rotterdam 2025 Review: “And the Rest Will Follow””

Cannes 2021 Review: Semaine de la Critique Shorts

In this article I will be looking at nine short films that premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Semaine de la Critique selection. A refreshing slate of short films from all over the world, made by the hottest upcoming auteurs in cinema.