We are taught when wars began and when they ended, who surrendered and who won, but rarely what happened to ordinary people the day after peace was declared. What happened to the children who had no parents to return to, no home, no money and, in many cases, nobody interested in whether they survived? Set…
Author: View of the Arts
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF26): In Conversation with Kim Eo-jin of “The World Before”
For a young actor still at the beginning of his career, Kim Eo-jin already seems to understand what great acting is all about. After appearing in the 2021 web drama The Sweet Blood and later taking a leading role in Fragile in 2024, the model makes his feature-film debut in Yoon Dan-bi’s The World Before….
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF26): In Conversation with Sim Su-bin of “The World Before”
Sim Su-bin is still at the beginning of her acting career. So far, she has appeared in supporting roles in Korean dramas, alongside her film work, but Yoon Dan-bi’s The World Before gives her the space to show much more of what she can do. As seventeen-year-old Jin, a girl who has never left the…
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF26): In Conversation with Yoon Dan-bi, Director of “The World Before”
There is nothing overstated about Yoon Dan-bi’s films; her stories take shape through families sharing a home, young people spending time together, conversations that seem ordinary and feelings that are not always easy to explain. Her feature debut, Moving On (2019), follows teenage Okju and her younger brother as they move with their father into…
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF26): “The World Before” Review
I have always said to myself that not every film needs an extraordinary story. Korean independent cinema has repeatedly shown how much can be found in everyday lives, familiar places and experiences that might, at first, seem too small for the big screen. And, in all honesty, these films do not always have an easy…
83rd Venice Film Festival: “No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman” Review
“Only when we face death do we understand the value of life.” This line comes towards the end of Halkawt Mustafa’s No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman, and it stayed in my mind. Perhaps because most of us rarely think about life in those terms; we rush from one thing to another,…
83rd Venice Film Festival: “Lovers in the Blue Night” Review
Indian women filmmakers have been behind some truly remarkable independent films in recent years. The talent has always been there; the opportunities have not always followed quite so easily, especially when it comes to making that difficult second film. That is one of the reasons it is so exciting to see Anuparna Roy back at…
83rd Venice Film Festival: “One Minute to Midnight” Review
After I finished watching Nicolas Pariser’s One Minute to Midnight, one question popped into my head: what happens when a man reaches middle age and begins looking back at how he has treated women, loved them, misunderstood them, and perhaps taken certain things for granted? It is a subject worth exploring, especially at a time…
83rd Venice Film Festival: “What Belongs to Others” Review
Polish cinema has had a strong relationship with the Venice International Film Festival for decades, but its presence on the Lido has been noticeable in recent years. In 2022, Damian Kocur’s Bread and Salt (Chleb i sól) competed in Orizzonti and won the Special Jury Prize, with Kocur turning an ordinary summer in a small…
83rd Venice Film Festival: “Children of the Monkey” Review
Becoming a parent changes your life, but becoming the parent of a child with a disability can change it in ways nobody can fully prepare you for. There are appointments, routines, worries about the future and, depending on the child’s needs, a level of physical and emotional care that can continue for a long time….
83rd Venice Film Festival: “Diane in the Loop” Review
A mother wants to leave the past behind but her daughter wants to dig it back up. That difficult starting point is the premise of Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni’s Diane in the Loop. Diane (Ninon Borsei) learns that her mother (Sandrine Blancke) was raped three years before she was born. For Diane, discovering what…
Asian Cinema at the 70th BFI London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival has unveiled the programme for its 70th edition, and Asian cinema will once again form an essential part of the celebration. From long-awaited works by some of the continent’s most respected filmmakers to daring debuts, intimate documentaries and large-scale genre spectacles, this year’s selection reflects the extraordinary breadth of filmmaking…
JIB DREAM FANMEET 7: Joong and Dunk – Roman Adventures, New Challenges and a Little “Dare You to Death” – Exclusive Interview
Rome had plenty of reasons to be loud that weekend, and JIB DREAM FANMEET 7 added a few more. Two days, some very excited fans and a line-up of much-loved Thai stars – the event certainly gave the city something to shout about, and yes, there was a lot of shouting. Joong Archen and Dunk…
JIB DREAM FANMEET 7 – No Easy Roles: Sky and Nani on “WU”, Trust, Growing Together and Fanmeet in Rome – Exclusive Interview
Something quite extraordinary is happening with Thai BL right now; its stars are no longer loved only at home, or even within Asia. They arrive in cities such as Rome and are greeted by fans who know the characters they have played, the stories they have told and the journeys they have followed despite living…
