Sally Potter’s dinner party farce boasts a distinctive style and impressive performances, emerging as a pithy but pleasing satire of the contemporary bourgeoisie.
Ama-San
Cláudia Varejão’s documentary on female Japanese shellfish divers comprises moody, living tableaus that capture informal portraits of the ama and their families.
The Forest of Lost Souls
José Pedro Lopes’ art-horror offers glimpses of the extraordinary, even if there is a lot of clutter.
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.
We Don’t Need a Map
Warwick Thornton’s irreverent and passionate Sydney Film Festival opener tackles a broad range of pressing contemporary discussions on race, history and identity.
Ordinary People
A haunting teenage odyssey set on the streets of Manila, Eduardo Roy Jr’s Ordinary People is a humanist drama imbued with a deep compassion for people living on the margins.
78/52
Alexandre O. Philippe’s cinephilic documentary neuters interesting avenues of discussion around Hitchcock and Psycho, instead preferring to traffic in the superficial.
King of the Belgians
Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth’s gently funny mockumentary is a light, somewhat diverting romp through the Balkan states.
Fashionista
Simon Rumley’s fashion thriller dives into the subjectivity of loss, trauma and physical sensation.
Sexy Durga
South Indian director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s Rotterdam Tiger Award-winning third feature is a technically dazzling and wilfully onerous thriller that walks an uncertain line between advocacy and exploitation.