Few directors are as skilled as Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa when it comes to articulating the alienation and paranoia of the digital age. One of his first international breakouts, already decades deep into his career, was 2001’s Pulse, a distressing ghost story about the gradual supernatural invasion of the online world which managed to accurately…
Category: Foreign Films
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: In Conversation with Lee Yujin, Director of “Manok” – Exclusive Interview
South Korean filmmaker Lee Yujin brings a refreshing and nuanced perspective to the screen with Manok, a film that beautifully combines humour with moving themes of acceptance and belonging. Set in the rural village of Iban-ri, Manok follows its titular character as she returns to her hometown in the wake of her mother’s passing, only…
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: In Conversation with Kim Si-a – Exclusive Interview
At just 16, Kim Si-a proved she is a truly talented young actress with her superb performance in Summer’s Camera, directed by Divine Sung. She beautifully portrayed the emotions of a teenager experiencing grief and self-discovery through her first love. After the world premiere at the 39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, we sat…
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival: In Conversation with Divine Sung, Director of “Summer’s Camera” – Exclusive Interview
Divine Sung is a filmmaker based in Seoul with an MFA in Film Directing from the Korea National University of Arts. She has directed short films such as True Story (2018) and My Boyfriend and Our Yesterday (2023). Summer’s Camera is her feature film debut. Summer’s Camera had its world premiere at the 39th BFI…
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival – “Summer’ Camera” Review
Having its world premiere at this year’s BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, Summer’s Camera is the feature directorial debut of Divine Sung, a South Korean filmmaker. The film depicts a wonderful and subtle exploration of youth and love. It also captures the theme of self-discovery while painting a portrait of a high school student,…
39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival – “Việt and Nam” Review
If you’re a Vietnamese filmmaker, presenting a story to the world about two star-crossed lovers nicknamed Viet and Nam is all but asking the audience to interpret the trajectory of their relationship as a metaphor for the nation itself. The third film from writer/director Truong Minh Quy attempts to avoid this straightforward categorization due to…
75th Berlin International Film Festival: “The Good Sister” Review
Sarah Miro Fischer’s The Good Sister, screened in Panorama at this year’s Berlinale, is a haunting exploration of family bonds tested by the unimaginable. The film depicts the emotional turmoil of Rose (Marie Bloching), whose brother Sam (Anton Weil) is accused of a sexual offense. By centering the narrative on a sibling rather than the…
75th Berlin International Film Festival: In Conversation with Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys, Directors of “We Believe You”
At this year’s Berlinale, We Believe You made an impact with its unflinching portrayal of the intersection between the legal system and the emotional toll of a custody battle involving abuse allegations. Directed with precision and sensitivity, the film explores the labyrinth of judicial procedures while centering on Alice, a mother fighting to protect her…
75th Berlin International Film Festival – “Village Rockstars 2” Review
Seven years after the release of the critically acclaimed Village Rockstars (2017), filmmaker Rima Das revisits the vivid terrain of Kalardiya to continue the subtle narrative of Dhunu (Bhanita Das). Now on the cusp of adulthood, 17-year-old Dhunu confronts the complex realities of life in her small Assamese village, a world shaped by cyclical floods,…
75th Berlin International Film Festival: “How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World” Review
Much like the greyscale outlook of those with depressive disorders, sometimes cinema is so uninspired it seems like the entire industry has been lost to shareholders. But on one’s first watch of Florian Pochlatko’s How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World, it’s like trying fudge after a lifetime of eating cardboard….
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