Last year at Haugesund: True confessions of a repeat-offence ‘juror’
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: Norwegian actor Herbert Nordrum hypnotises Czech Republic
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: Russell Crowe Band invades the ‘East of the West’
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.
Director Mark Jenkin’s unique “voice” is back with Enys Men – but will he speak to us?
Horror? No. A whole new genre, maybe? Unease, Disquiet, Confusion…? There will be no easy ride in Enys Men.
I think I thought I saw you try: Aftersun, and the reflective property of memory
What lingers after Aftersun is the overarching feeling of love it intricately captures, and the impossibly haunting desire to capture time itself.
Forget the totalitarian terror: Merkulova and Chupov’s Captain Volkonogov Escaped
Forget the totalitarian terror – this is worse – and here lies the true genius of Merkulova and Chupov’s Captain Volkonogov Escaped.
This Peculiarly Human Preoccupation, Love: Nicolas Roeg’s Bitter Counterculture Classics
Nicolas Roeg was one of the few British filmmakers who was willing to risk it all; and while sometimes the shots didn’t land, how extraordinary it is, still to this day, to see a film that refuses to cater to the caprices of the industry.
The Holy Ideology and its misogynistic treatise: Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider
Holy Spider portrays threats and terrors rising from “holy” ideologies with their claims of supremacy. It portrays a narcissistic narrative about a hegemonic ideology that ensures its persistence by masquerading as holy, whereas, in truth, it threatens humankind.
Rinse & Repeat: the Time of Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
What is the appeal of Jeanne Dielman for the viewers and critics in 2022? Is it possible that its influence stretches far beyond our immediate understanding, and is enveloped by external forces that wreak havoc on the film industry?
The man-child as mass murderer: Justin Kurzel’s Nitram
Without showing any violence, this emotionally stunning descent from pathetic misfit into merciless killer is utterly striking, convincing and instructive.
Just make something up! Tales of tall tales and parables for our times (KVIFF 2022)
Karlovy Vary 2020: We live in an age of creative awakening. This is the flipside, the upside of ‘post-truth times.’ We know not where this leads but it behoves us to make the best of the journey. The alternative is dystopia – and we all know what that is like!
Girls on film: Nina Menkes’ Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (KVIFF 2022)
KVIFF 2022: The truth about ‘girls on film’ according to director Nina Menkes.