Mark Cousins’ gargantuan series on female directors is captivating and aspirational from every one of its 14 hours.
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Review: Death, Lesbians, and Disappointment in ‘Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt)’
It may be a meaningful step forward for Australian queer cinema, but this lesbian teen rom-com offers little outside of representation.
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Review: ‘The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror’ is Little More Than A Fragmented Reflection of Former Greatness
Filmed in 1967 and reconstructed in 2020, Matilda Alexander ponders Raúl Ruiz’s Chilean cinépoem, which brims with visionary ambition.
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‘Ema’ and the Explosive Composite of the Dance Film
Pablo Larraín’s latest film is a metaphysical exploration that gives into the domination, submission and total openness of the senses.
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Lessons in Tenderness from ‘First Cow’
Kelly Reichardt’s quiet film offers examples of kindness amongst the exploited.
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Review: ‘Corpus Christi’ is a Clear-Eyed Drama about Faith and Fraud
There are no simple truths in this bittersweet, confronting film of a delinquent Polish youth masquerading as a Catholic priest.
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Review: The Adolescent Panic of ‘Shiva Baby’
Emma Seligman’s debut feature is an affecting examination of the pressures, anxieties and insecurities of young womanhood.
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The Slippery Substance of ‘Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets’
Matilda Dorman deciphers the hollow political and social resonances that lie with a quasi-fictional film about a bar on closing night.
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Review: Artificial Unintelligence in ‘Coded Bias’
Shalini Kantayya’s documentary is a methodical look at facial recognition algorithms which avoids being by-the-numbers.
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Review: The Dread of Waiting in ‘La Llorona’
This slow-burning Guatemalan ghost story deals with heavy questions about complicity and justice.
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Melbourne International Film Festival 2020 Shorts Round-Up: Animation
In this year’s impressive Animated Shorts line-up, three films elevate the mundane through style and tone.
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Melbourne International Film Festival 2020 Shorts Round-Up: International
In this year’s heavy-hitting International Shorts line-up, three women-centric films stand out, exploring separate facets of female isolation.
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Review: ‘The Plastic House’ Tends To A Garden of Isolation and Grief
The repetitive imagery and near silence of Allison Chhorn’s experimental film may cause pandemic-era viewers to reflect on their own daily routines.
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Review: Beats
Brian Welsh injects this coming of age tale, set against the last hurrah of Scotland’s rave scene, with visual energy and electric nostalgia.
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Review: The Souvenir
Joanna Hogg’s fragmentary portrait of an emotionally abusive relationship is both painful and distancing.
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Taking Back the Culture: An Interview with And Then We Danced’s Levan Akin
Claire White speaks to And Then We Danced director Levan Akin about same-sex desire, claiming a traditional culture for your own, and the queering of John Hughes.
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Review: Sequin in a Blue Room
A high schooler navigates the world of queer online dating in this hypnotic coming of age tale.
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Getting a Kick Out of It: An Interview with Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks’ Veronica Fury
At the Melbourne International Film Festival, Hunter Keeble talks with producer Veronica Fury about what makes an engaging documentary, the cultural impact of martial arts cinema, and the future of “films about films”.
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Review: The Wild Goose Lake
Diao Yi’nan’s expressively shot Chinese neon-noir is a pointless exercise in hard-boiled posturing.
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Review: Hotel By The River
Two occupants reflect on their pasts in a sleepy, snow-side hotel in this gentle, even-handed entry into Hang Sang-soo’s oeuvre.
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And Then We Danced: A Facebook Chat
Claire White and George Kapaklis reflect on the highlights of a tender, queer love story set in Georgia.
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#Big Truths: An Interview with Rolf de Heer
André Shannon speaks to Rolf de Heer about environmental filmmaking ahead of The Waiting Room’s VR premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
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Review: Present.Perfect.
Shengze Zhu foregrounds humanism in this pensive internet-age documentary about streaming and voyeurism.
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Review: The Day Shall Come
Chris Morris targets American intelligence with acid-laced humour in this off-kilter, spitfire satire.
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Review: In Fabric
Peter Strickland’s killer dress movie wears its influences proudly on its sleeve, but its competing stories are sloppily stitched together.
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Baby, or The Politics of Performance and Pain
Kai Perrignon challenges the state of political art in the age of cancel culture.
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Review: Beanpole
Kantemir Balagov’s sophomore feature hangs heavy with the maternal emptiness of post-war Russia.
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Review: The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão
The colours, the colours, the colours.
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Review: House of Hummingbird
This languid, slice of life portrait feels like a memory deep inside.
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Review: The Grand Bizarre
Jodie Mack’s experimental quilt of sound and colour gives “life and agency” to inanimate fabric.
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