Writing for Cinema Femme: Vol. 2
Though my annual retrospective compilations have traditionally been published in the days following the Fourth of July, my wife Rebecca and I will be on our first West Coast trip […]
Tag Archives: Berlinale
CIFF 2019: “Knives Out,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and Five More Contenders
Few modern filmmakers understand the essence of Frank Oz’s artistry as innately as Rian Johnson. The most euphoric sequence in Johnson’s sublime 2017 blockbuster, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” occurs […]
Olmo Omerzu on “Winter Flies”
Olmo Omerzu has quickly emerged as one of my favorite filmmakers yet to be discovered by the majority of Americans. By age 33, the Slavic director has helmed three features […]
Anne Zohra Berrached on “24 Weeks”
The topic of late-term abortion carries such a formidable taboo that few filmmakers have been brave enough to tackle it. German director Anne Zohra Berrached’s fearlessness was already on full […]
Maria Dragus on “Graduation” and “The White Ribbon”
When Cristian Mungiu wrote the script for his Cannes prize-winner, “Graduation,” he had only one person in mind for the film. It was Maria Dragus, an actress he had first […]
Dietrich Brüggemann on “Heil”
In the fall of 2014, I was covering the Chicago International Film Festival when I stumbled upon Dietrich Brüggemann’s German drama “Stations of the Cross.” It was a shattering portrait […]
Top 20 Films of 2015: Part II
To demonstrate just how spectacular a year it has been for film, this Top 10 list is followed by three “special honorable mentions,” which should be considered a tie for […]
Joanna Arnow on “Bad at Dancing,” “i hate myself :)”
There’s a scene in Joanna Arnow’s galvanizing 2013 documentary, “i hate myself :)”, where her ex-boyfriend, fearless poet-provocateur James Kepple, defends his use of offensive words, arguing that they exert […]
Dietrich Brüggemann on “Stations of the Cross”
How do you solve a problem like Maria’s? She’s a good-hearted girl who only wants to please her domineering mother, her church and, above all, her Lord. Yet Maria has […]
EUFF Spotlight: “Waltz for Monica”
There are few things less compelling than a reverential biopic that strips a fascinating human life of all blemishes and shortcomings. How can one be expected to get involved in […]
Indie Outlook 