«We could do a lot worse than come together with the living cinematic remains of a few notable kindred spirits, here in the ghostly, life-affirming audiovisual exuberance of Tromsø’s Silent Film Days.»
Tewfik Saleh’s The Dupes (1972) serves as a reminder of cinema’s potential to incite social change and foster cross-cultural empathy. By amplifying Palestinian voices and challenging dominant narratives, it advocates for human rights and justice.
The enormously influential film scholar David Bordwell passed away just a few days ago. This massive interview from 2004, never before published in English, makes for a snapshot of his personality and cinematic vision.
Berlinale 2024: People in Sex, the new film by Dag Johan Haugerud, build an entire rhythm out of talking – not just about the act of sex itself, but rather about notions of identity, social norms and the purview of modern masculinity.
In the realm of cinematic farewells, The Boy and the Heron stands as a poignant adieu from the masterful hand of Hayao Miyazaki.
Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley’s Praying for Armageddon (2023) shines a piercing cinematic light on the madness as well as the astonishing influence exercised by this particular brand of religious fundamentalism.
BIFF 2023: Bergen International Film Festival is renowned for its documentaries, great vehicles for challenging authority, fighting the good fight. This year Åsmund Hasli’s Ping Pong Family and Sharon Roggio’s 1946: The Mistranslation that Changed Culture were two of the highlights.
By acknowledging itself as spectacle and as the product of an inherent contradiction between a radical message and commodified medium, Masculin féminin cements itself as a thoroughly postmodern work.
True confessions of a repeat-offence ‘juror’ for The Norwegian International Film Festival. I might have said ‘You Be the judge!’ but I certainly didn’t mean it!
KVIFF 2023: Ernst De Geer’s Hypnosen («The Hypnosis») put a spell on audiences at Karlovy Vary last week. It’s hard to think of a more telling and darkly ironical critique of the seldom-questioned, self-satisfied direction of modern society.
KVIFF 2023: Never underestimate the proverbial margin; it’s where new things are born. Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s (KVIFF) signature programme “East of the West” may be gone but the concept resonates more than ever.
Horror? No. A whole new genre, maybe? Unease, Disquiet, Confusion…? There will be no easy ride in Enys Men.