Bruno Dumont engages in a restless confrontation with the historical drama in his delightfully rewarding JEANNETTE, a musical biopic about Joan of Arc.
Austerlitz
Sergei Loznitsa’s formally powerful Austerlitz traces the contours of loss, memory and history by recording the passage of visitors to concentration camp memorials.
Kate Plays Christine
Robert Greene’s investigation of the on-air suicide of newscaster Christine Chubbuck is admirably engaged with the ethics of documentary, though not especially nuanced.
No Home Movie
NO HOME MOVIE is one of the director’s highest achievements; an incredibly moving portrait forged out of the painful vestiges of passing time.
Letters From War
Ivo Ferreira’s period piece LETTERS FROM WAR wed voice-over readings of writings by an army doctor to images representing his experiences and thoughts, with inventive results.
Sixty Six
Lewis Klahr revels in the popular visual iconography of 1950s and 60s America, creating a moving personal engagement with an archive of images.
Havarie
Havarie is at once both a stark stylistic experiment and a thoughtful reflection on depictions of Europe’s recent refugee crisis.
Here’s to the Future!
Gina Telaroli’s Here’s to the Future! belongs to a long tradition of self-reflexive cinema focused on the mechanics, frustrations and joys of the film making process.
Approaching the Elephant
Amanda Rose Wilder’s Approaching the Elephant is a remarkable document of a utopian schooling experiment that shows great restraint in withholding judgment on its outcomes.
The Treasure
Corneliu Porumboiu’s THE TREASURE draws its strength and humour from the significant restraint Porumboiu displays in keeping the story simple.