Tag Archives: Sweden

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.

Venice 2024 Review: “Possibility of Paradise”

In “Possibility of Paradise”, Serbian documentarian Mladen Kovačević presents a bold, unconventional exploration of human desires and ambitions, set against the backdrop of Bali, Indonesia. The film is divided into a series of seemingly unrelated vignettes, each highlighting a different individual or group in search of their own version of paradise. An unconventional structure and observant, non-interfering camera heighten the film’s existential and philosophical undertones, inviting viewers to engage deeply with the questions it poses, rather than providing easy answers.

Locarno 2023 Review: “Sweet Dreams”

In Bosnian-Dutch director Ena Sendijarević’s sophomore feature “Sweet Dreams,” an unflinching narrative unfolds, exposing just a fraction of the horrors of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia. The film, which premiered in the International Competition at the 76th Locarno Film Festival, eloquently juggles dark satire and profound tragedy. It boldly presents the evils and terror the Dutch colonizers caused, marking a radical departure from the traditional lenient portrayals in Dutch cinema.