Photograph courtesy of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival
There is no more perfect time to watch silent films than the present. Apart from the intimacy and preciousness of the art form, which is the great-grandfather of modern day blockbusters, these days the era from which a lot of those movies come from can provide both a guide and inspiration to move forward.
Read More
A still from ‘Mirrors of Diaspora’ by Kasim Abid
When we think of Iraq these days, we hardly think of poetry, art and cinema. It’s a land that evokes visions of war and destruction, not the land of the iconic architecture of Mesopotamia anymore.
But living around the world, making up the diaspora from the Region, there are quite a few wonderfully creative Iraqis who continue to provide humanity with the beauty of their work. Among them, personally I can name at least two — both dear friends and wonderful innovators. And one of those happens to be Shahnaz Dulaimy.
Read More
Going forward, if we’re going to learn anything about the pandemics and how to handle them, it’s going to come from New Zealand. And in the film festival world, if we’re going to find a way to move forward, it will also come from this edition of the New Zealand International Film Festival, under the direction of Marten Rabarts.
Read More
A still from ‘The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975’ by Göran Hugo Olsson
“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” — James Baldwin
When I learned what happened to George Floyd on Memorial Day, I remembered more profoundly what “white privilege” means.
Read More
Born out of the ashes of 9/11, one of the most catastrophic events NYC ever experienced, the annual Tribeca Film Festival is something very near and dear to my heart.
So, when they announced yesterday WE ARE ONE A Global Film Festival, joining forces with the likes of the Festival de Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Toronto, Tokyo and San Sebastian (for the full list read here) I was over the moon.
Read More
An empty red carpet means anticipation. No red carpet means defeat.
I wrote a letter to the Festival de Cannes. I asked it to help save cinema by not going online.
Read More
Brian Ray Norris and Gil Brady in ‘Sideways The Experience’, photo by Jeremy Daniel
Everyone is probably familiar with the 2004 film ‘Sideways’ by Alexander Payne, starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, playing two best friends on a trip through California’s wine country. Giamatti’s Miles wants to enjoy the wine tastings while his buddy Jack is looking for a last fling before his wedding at the end of their journey together. Sprinkle in Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh as their romantic interests and needless to say, the film was a indie hit. Yet I never realized what a devoted fan following the story has, originally written as a novel by Rex Pickett who also did the stage adaptation for ‘Sideways: The Experience’.
Read More
There has never been such a great time to enjoy animation. With Netflix purchasing the catalogue of famed Japanese art house animation Studio Ghibli, which just dropped on their platforms around the world (alas, not the US yet) on February 1st, the genre has moved beyond something only kids can enjoy. In fact, even famed world filmmakers like Yonfan have dabbled into animation and his film is definitely for adults only!
This year, Animation First promises to shine the spotlight on women in animation.
Read More
Because if you did, I’ve got some swampland in Florida I’d love to sell you. Along with a few magic beans that grow into diamonds.
Honestly, from the moment I stepped off that last red carpet at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, in 2017, I knew the festival was done. In fact, the headline of my wrap-up piece for the 14th edition of DIFF was “Following the Dubai International Film Festival, Where Does Arabwood Go Now?” Yes and that was months before the official decision to skip the festival in 2018 and reformat its approach. There was a dark cloud in the crisp desert sky and it loomed above the festival throughout. My headline was just what my heart told me to write, regardless of my personal feelings towards that weird last edition.
Read More
Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel in a still from ‘Breaking Bread’
In history, it has often proven dangerous to attempt to be a peacemaker. In fact, men from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to John F. Kennedy and even Malcolm X — once he realized his own philosophy of hate was going nowhere and advocated peace between the races — have fallen victims to assassinations because of their ideals.
When we look to the Middle East, the list grows to include Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In April of 2011, Palestinian-Israeli actor and director Juliano Mer-Khamis was murdered by masked gunmen outside his theater in Jenin, where he worked to promote a meeting of minds.
Read More
There were films, fashion and public conversations with cinema celebrities. But beyond the red carpets, this year's Festa del cinema di Roma proved a meeting point for understanding the world around us, and sharing thoughts with like-minded people from faraway lands. Here is my personal diary of a wonderful event held in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Read More
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of the Doha Film Institute, flanked by the managing team of the Ajyal Film Festival
I believe wholeheartedly that we are what we watch. It’s been my mission to find works of art on the big screen — and on the little one now through Netflix and the likes — that will make life better. I mean, we can all remember that moment, as children, walking out of a theater having watched our favorite character or cartoon on the big screen and feeling an extra bounce in our step. I still experience that these days, whenever I watch something really special. I walk out of the darkened theater into the light of day — as a film writer most of my viewings are done during the day — feeling like anything is possible.
So when the Doha Film Institute kicked off their Ajyal Film Festival in 2014, I went to Qatar to experience the wonder first hand. It was everything I hoped it would be, children and young adults as juries, films that although made for all ages, could really infuse younger minds with a message of peace and hope. You know, an idealist film writer’s dream come true.
Read More
I had a craving for ‘Judy’ ever since I heard the project announced. Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland on the big screen seemed extraordinary to me. And yet, I also wondered if it would satisfy my cravings. Would it focus on the camp, would it give me the fashionista angle I craved or feature tired old costumes that made La Zellweger seem like a caricature of the great, albeit lost diva?
Well, ‘Judy’, directed by Rupert Goold, with original music by Gabriel Yared, featuring Zellweger herself singing and wearing some beautifully modern costumes by Jany Temime and wigs plus makeup by Jeremy Woodhead was everything I wanted it to be — beautiful, glamorous, sad and poignantly modern.
Read More
Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Edward Norton in a still from ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
Alright, I’ll kick it off right away by saying that the opening film for this 14th edition of the Rome Film Festival is wonderful! ‘Motherless Brooklyn’ the second directorial venture by beloved actor Edward Norton is everything an opening film should be for a festival — full of star power, great performances and evoking an elegance that only that particular time and in that place can bring about. More on it later.
Read More
Jack Irving in a still from Grear Patterson’s ‘Giants Being Lonely’ — photo courtesy of ROD30 productions
“If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.” — Émile Zola
I watch films to understand the world. And it seems sometimes the biggest lessons are just behind the scenes.
What I’ve learned at this year’s Venice Film Festival is that it seems that if you’re a woman journalist, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. I’ve run the gamut from enemy of the people for publishing an interview with a man accused but never convicted of bad things, to being made to feel (by my women editors) that I don’t know how to write just so they can justify only having male writers in their roster. I also felt that a current article was unjust to the amount of women filmmakers that are actually in Venice — if the journalists who wrote it actually bothered to look at all the films, and not only the few titles in Competition — so I pointed out in another piece about a Critics’ Week title that the filmmaker was indeed a woman. And a man, I swear I can’t make this stuff up, added a comment to the FB post saying I made it sound like women filmmakers were creatures from another planet. I used the phrase “woman filmmaker” one time in the entire piece, to claim her as one of my own who makes me proud… But anyway.
Read More
What a rollercoaster this has been.
The last couple of months feel like a dream to me. And not a good one. Anyway, cinema always puts me back together, at least films like these do. They somehow erase the cynic in me, and recharge the woman and lover who has been wronged by the world.
Read More
Alright, I’m partial I’ll admit it, ever since securing this wondrous interview with the man back in 2017 in Cannes. But now on stage performing in the second half of ‘Sea Wall / A Life’ which premiered last summer at the Public Theater before moving to the Hudson for its Broadway run, the man does blow every other actor of his generation out of the water.
How, you ask?
Read More
In March of 2020 a revolution will begin in Saudi Arabia. But the country’s royal family and even that now infamous bad boy MBS — as the crown prince is known for short — needn’t worry about getting ready with armies and bodyguards. They just need to sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Read More
A still from ‘Family Romance, Llc’ by Werner Herzog
In ‘Family Romance, Llc’ Werner Herzog finds a new way to work through the difficulties life throws our way — outsource them to an agency specializing in family connections. He does it with his usual flair for our human ridiculousness and making the impossible seem real. During the junket following the screening, I loved listening to my esteemed colleagues’ confused explanations of stories they thought they’d seen like this one in documentaries, or even completely convinced this was a reality film, instead of fiction. And Herzog himself quite perfectly, calmly and smoothly shooting down each and all of their perplexed ideas.
‘Family Romance, Llc’ was a Special Screening at this year’s Festival de Cannes.
Read More
Julianne Moore in ‘The Staggering Girl’ by Luca Guadagnino
There has been a certain je ne sais quoi in the air here in Cannes, and I wasn’t able to quite put my finger on it. It bothered me, someone always good at defining a moment, person or place, that I couldn’t put that feeling into words. Then I attended the press conference for Luca Guadagnino’s ‘The Staggering Girl’ and I had a ‘EUREKA!” moment. So bear with me for a moment while I get to that…
Read More