Written by Eric Zhu "For us, unbound from the burden of direct representation, these images invite speculation of who these people are, of who they might be now, of lives before these images, and of Palestine’s future."… Continue reading.
Tag: VIFF
VIFF 2025: Christy
Written by Taylor Baker "With some decent fight choreography and dedicated turns by Merritt Weaver and Ethan Embry as Christy's mother and father, this would-be redemption story amounts to little by the time we see Sweeney walk out and bump … Continue reading.
VIFF 2025: Two Prosecutors (Zwei Staatsanwälte)
Written by Taylor Baker "Losznitsa, a director who primarily films documentaries, lets his cameras roll for extended sequences, allowing the spaces to come to life and the characters time to inhabit them. It is when Kornyev acts with kindness or … Continue reading.
VIFF 2024: Presence
Written by Taylor Baker "A whodunit can rarely refrain from giving itself away entirely in its opening moments, and it is even rarer for one to be presented with such experimentation. This is not a haunted house story. “Presence” is … Continue reading.
VIFF 2024: Measures for a Funeral
Written by Michael Clawson "“Measures for a Funeral,” arrives as her most ambitious work to date, and as a culmination of her collaborations with actress Deragh Campbell. More than just a leap in scale over her previous work, “Measures” suggests..."… Continue reading.
VIFF 2024: Dream Team
Written by Michael Clawson "Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn’s “Dream Team” is what you might call a “vibes” movie. A sparkly, sun-dappled, and pleasurably silly riff on crime drama, it melds erotica and absurdism through a plot that’s digressive and … Continue reading.
VIFF 2024: Black Dog
Written by Michael Clawson "A film of expansive visual power, of so many rolling desert vistas and desolate townscapes coated in metallic gray, “Black Dog” depicts the transformation of rural China in recent decades through the washed-out aesthetic of..."… Continue reading.
VIFF 2024: Julie Keeps Quiet (Julie zwijgt)
Written by Taylor Baker "It's less about talking things out in “Julie Keeps Quiet” and more about watching Julie physically process her emotions and exasperation at the situation. Extended sequences beautifully express Julie’s internal discipline and determination through physical action."… Continue reading.
VIFF 2023: Anselm
Written by Taylor Baker "Wim Wenders’s “Anselm” opens with landscape shots of statuesque dresses adorning the countryside with atomic structures, trees, and inanimate objects nestled into their neckline as symbolic..."… Continue reading.
VIFF 2023: A Cooler Climate
Written by Taylor Baker "“A Cooler Climate” glides across moments of Ivory's life from Klamath Falls Oregon to different regions in Asia and the Middle East and back. The film has a general sense of serenity that emerges from the … Continue reading.
