True/False 2026: “A Place of Absence”

Halfway through her lyrical documentary A Place of Absence, director Marialuisa Ernst claims that ambiguous loss is the worst kind of suffering. The void your missing loved one leaves behind weighs you down. It’s a weight that only becomes heavier by the lack of answers or closure. But it’s the admirable women who push through […]

True/False 2026: “Landscapes of Memory”

Leah Galant’s slippery and sobering documentary Landscapes of Memory begins with two things: her father, and her pending move to Germany, where she intends to study Holocaust memory. Her dad, Allen, is the primary keeper of their family’s history; his parents— Galant’s grandparents— were Holocaust survivors, and few physical documents of their past remain. The […]

True/False 2026: “Who Moves America”

The title of Who Moves America, Yael Bridges’ galvanizing crowd-pleaser, poses the film’s central thesis statement with succinct clarity: that the world runs on the labor of the most underpaid and undervalued workers, whose inability to walk away from a consistent, decently paying job— regardless of the long hours and inhumane working conditions— keeps them […]

True/False 2026: “The Queen and the Smokehouse”

Łeba, the seaside resort town situated in northern Poland, is known for its verdant landscapes and sunny beaches, which attract 80,000 tourists every summer. Only around 1500 residents remain in the off-season, however. They’re the folks who run the many attractions that crowd the shoreline: the mock pirate ship that transports visitors back and forth, […]

True/False 2026: “How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps”

It’s like something out of a fairy tale: in 1998, in search of better opportunities, Beatriz Valencia immigrated to the United States from her home country of Colombia. She took on a job as a domestic worker in Florida, cleaning the absurdly spacious homes of the wealthy, sending most of her income to her husband […]

Review: “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert”

There are few greater pleasures in life than watching Elvis Presley when he’s completely in the zone. And while the singer’s earlier career appearances in Hollywood musicals, concert specials, and TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show certainly capture the seductive charisma and animalistic physicality that sent teenagers’ hearts thumping and older folks’ moral […]

Berlinale 2026: “Papaya,” “Chimney Town: Frozen in Time,” “The River Train”

Journeys of self-discovery are always ripe material for children’s fare (and can be enjoyed by adults who feel similarly lost and confused). The following three films that premiered at this year’s Berlinale— the animated Papaya and Chimney Town: Frozen in Time from the youth-geared Generation sidebar and the impressive debut The River Train from the […]

Berlinale 2026: “Yellow Letters”

At the start of Yellow Letters, Ilker Çatak’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated drama The Teacher’s Lounge, celebrated Turkish actress Derya (Özgü Namal) is taking her bows to thunderous applause, having just completed the opening night performance of a new play penned by her playwright husband Aziz (Tansu Biçer), who waits for her in the wings. […]

Berlinale 2026: “Nina Roza”

It’s been 30 years since Mihail (Galin Stoev) left his home country of Bulgaria behind for Canada, emigrating with his young daughter Roza following the loss of his wife. Now, he’s a Montreal-based art consultant, his validation of new talents prized by curators and collectors. He’s wholly left his Bulgarian roots behind; when the now-adult […]

Berlinale 2026: “Paradise,” “Narciso,” “A Russian Winter”

The Berlinale‘s Panorama sidebar is typically home to the festival’s most daring works in contemporary international cinema, spotlighting both debut filmmakers and established directors. The following films making their world premieres in this year’s Panorama section run the gamut from lyrical character studies to historical dramas to documentaries about global conflicts in the news right […]