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 […]

Berlinale 2026: “I Understand Your Displeasure”

Do you ever think about who tidies your workplace? Who scrubs the toilets? Who takes out the trash? Most people don’t. It’s a thankless business, but also an extraordinarily cutthroat one, at least as evidenced by director Kilian Armando Friedrich’s debut feature, I Understand Your Displeasure. Heike (Sabine Thalau) is the customer service manager of […]

TIFF 2025: “Aki”

You won’t hear a word of spoken dialogue in Darlene Naponse’s Aki, an observational documentary depicting life in the indigenous Atikameksheng Anishnawbek territory of Northern Ontario. But the movie is far from silent. Naponse— a native of the region— uses her connection with the community to craft a sonically and visually rich story of the […]

TIFF 2025: “Ghost School”

At the start of Seemab Gul’s debut feature film Ghost School (Pakistan’s sole entry in this year’s Toronto International Film Festival), curious 10-year-old Rabia (Nazualiya Arsalan), backpack slung over her shoulders, sets off for school like any other day. But what awaits her there is a far from average sight: a guard standing outside the […]

Venice 2025: “Made in EU,” “Silent Rebellion,” “Songs of Forgotten Trees,” “Divine Comedy”

I’ve reached the end of my time covering the Venice Film Festival (and sitting on the beach on the Lido), my first visit not only to that event, but to Italy. As exciting as it is to experience the big, buzzy premieres at the kickoff to awards season, I tend to find discovering movies in […]

Venice 2025: “Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence”

Three complete features, two shorts, and four fragments are all that survives of the 160 movies Elvira Notari, Italy’s first female filmmaker, made between 1906 and 1930. She was incredibly prolific, even founded her own studio based out of Naples, Dora Film. And yet, you’ve likely never heard of her, the loss of nearly the […]

Venice 2025: “Kim Novak’s Vertigo”

The enigmatic black-and-white portrait of its subject that Kim Novak’s Vertigo opens with speaks louder than words. Its date is uncertain, but based on her appearance, the footage originates from somewhere in the vicinity of the peak of her success in Hollywood, the girl who made a detour to Tinsel Town for fun while touring […]