Over the past several years, a new wave of Palestinian film directors, working on different genres, has constructed a specific, on-screen national identity. The projected images of the Palestinian productions have become much more political than the earlier narratives about the life and history of the Palestinians. However, there are still some stories to be…
Category: Foreign Films
LEAFF 2018 Pre-Fest Screening: Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days Review
Following the success of Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, writer-director Kim Yong-hwa returns with a sequel, with the story picking up right where it left off. I wonder how many underworld trials I would have to go through if I were to be resurrected; I can only hope that it would not be…
LEAFF 2018 Pre-Fest Screening: Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds Review
South Korean cinema is known for its wealth of excellent thrillers, horror films, historical dramas and melodramas, but its fantasy genre has been known more for the misses than the hits; it always seemed that the industry found itself slightly out of its depth when it took on the more massive, epic-level projects – or…
Styx Review
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic atoll, located 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean. Charles Darwin visited this lonely archipelago in 1836 aboard HMS Beagle as a part of his second survey expedition of the world, during which he gathered data that aided him in the development of the theory of evolution…
53 Wars Review
Ryszard Kapuscinski once said that the war correspondent profession is something one can only do for a short period of time as it destroys a person physically and mentally; it sends people to places of death and human misfortune. Often, for mere tens of seconds of recording or a single exceptional photo, journalists risk their…
In Conversation with Fanni Metelius, Director of ‘The Heart’
This year, the 15th Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz gave us an up-and-close look into the exciting world of the new Swedish female feminist film power. They screened three exceptional debut films, largely made by female crews: a spirited documentary about a rising LGBT hip-hop star, Silvana (Sweden, 2017), an inspiring fiction film Beyond Dreams…
The Heart Review
The story of The Heart (Hjärtat, 2018), which was screened during the 15th Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz, starts, like many others, with a broken heart and a poem – and yet, it is not like other stories. The base for the script was a 52-pages-long collection of poems which young and fiery Swedish director, Fanni…
Dear Ex Review
When Song Zhengyuan dies, he leaves everything he has to the most important person in his life: his gay lover Jay (Roy Chiu). To his wife Liu Sanlian (Ying-Shiuan Hsieh) this comes as a shock, as it leaves nothing for her and their teenage son Chengxi (Joseph Huang). She’s livid, and jumps at the chance to…
71st Cannes Film Festival: Fugue Review
Agnieszka Smoczynska has already made her mark with her feature debut The Lure, which was awarded with the Golden Lion for the best debut in her native country, Poland. On top of that, the film was recognized overseas and received the Special Jury Prize for “a unique artistic vision and design” at the 2016 Sundance Film…
71st Cannes Film Festival: Alone at My Wedding Review
The Bucharest native Marta Bergman directed 4 documentaries about the life of Roma people in Romania, and their stories inspired her to create a fictionalized story that reflects the culture of Roma people and the struggles that the young Roma girls face as they grow up — some trying their best to break away from…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 