THE BADDEST SPEECHWRITER OF ALL (2026) DOC NYC

Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyer and speechwriter Clarence E. Jones talks about his relationship with his boss.

This film is an early entry on my Best of 2026 list. This is film about a man who wanted nothing to do with Martin Luther King and ended up getting talked into not only picking up the fight when king was killed.

This is a perfect example of less is more. Basically the film is just Jones telling his story while we see some photos and some animated recreations. It is nothing fancy or flashy, but it is exactly what the telling needed.

I absolutely loved this film. It's hell of a story perfectly told. It is also a story filled with hope which is exactly what we need these days 

I can not recommend this film any higher than this. You must see this film.

Three DOC NYC Shorts: THEY'RE HERE, THE BOYS AND THE BEES and ONE LAST ORDER

With DOC NYC starting this week- here is a repost of three short films I reviewed for the recently concluded NYFF and Woodstock Film Festival 

THEY'RE HERE
Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller's THEY'RE HERE is certain to be an Oscar nominee. A damning portrait of ICE and a glowing portrait of the people of Minneapolis who fought them as best they could. The film is a chilling look at the abuses that ICE has commited from following the watchers to pulling people out of cars just to arrest them. Its clear that the agents are thugs dressed up a government officers. This is a chilling film and one of absolute best films at this year's New York Film Festival.

THE BOYS AND THE BEES
This is a portrait of the Ray family, a Black family earning a living on a small farm in Georgia. Over the course of the film we see the life they live and watch as their sons learn to tend the bees in their hives.

This is a small lyric little film that reveals the beauty of family and the way we grow over the course of our life.  It is a small jewel of film that reached out and touches your heart in the best sort of way.

Highly recommended

ONE LAST ORDER

Portrait of a woman Sighle, on her last day working at Florida drive thru restaurant. She had worked there for 37 years and over all those years she knew the names and orders of everyone who came to eat... and everyone of them decides to show up and say good bye.

This is a lovely film. Its beautiful portrait of a woman who touched the lives of all of everyone she met for the better. Its a film made with the love that Sighle created - which apparently is infinite.

I loved this film. When It was done I was emailing my friends who are willing to cover shorts and told them to see it.

What a joy.

Highly recommended.

Everybody to Kenmure Street (2026) DOCNYC

This is the story of what happened when the Home Office in Glasgow had a raid on Kenure Street on Eid in the most diverse neighborhood in the city. Its the story of a neighborhood coming together in order to protect members of the community.

This is a film that shows people standing up can make a difference. This is a film about the basic goodness of humanity since it shows that somewhere in the world civility isn't dead. I say this having seen mere days after ICE in America shot and killed a woman in a car because basically she didn't like what they were doing.  I will not get into how what happened on Kenmure Street can no longer happen in most of the US, rather I will say you need to see this film because it will make you feel good and feel hope.

We need that.

Of course it helps that the people of Kenure Street come from a long line of protesters. For generations they have watched each other's back and fought the power when it needed to be fought. One of the great things about the film is that it shows a community that genuinely cares for each other regardless of where they came from. 

This film is glorious.

Forgive me for not saying more than that, but I can't say more because I will get off on a rant.

See this film - feel hope in a world where that is in short supply

Ariela Rubin on NUISANCE BEAR (2026) in theaters in LA now, DOC NYC Friday and every where soon

 

Nuisance Bear is a documentary set in Churchill, Manitoba—known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.

The film explores the destruction of the natural environment, how polar bears impact the town, as well as the ways Indigenous lives are forced to change as the town becomes gentrified. 

As climate change delays the freezing of the ice, polar bears are left without access to food, and so they venture into town in search of food, which brings them into constant conflict with humans.

The documentary is narrated by Mike, an Inuit, who speaks about how the presence of polar bears has disrupted daily life. He also expresses frustration over hunting restrictions, explaining that polar bears can now only be hunted a limited number of times per year. (I was surprised and upset to learn that polar bear hunting is still legal.)

The film follows the polar bear patrol, showing the measures they take to keep bears out of town: setting off fireworks, using traps, and, in one case, tranquilizing a bear, putting a tracker in him, putting dye on his fur, and relocating him via helicopter farther away. These scenes show how tense the coexistence between humans and bears has become.

What I found interesting was the audience reaction. At my screening, people seemed to be rooting for the polar bears. (People cheered at one point when a polar bear outsmarted humans) Yet the film itself felt more focused on the Inuit perspective, and how the bears are “nuisances”. In fact while the world says the polar bear population is decreasing, Mike says that isn’t the case. I’m not sure which direction the director was hoping people to go in, or if they were simply showing both sides without judgement.(Although the movie is called “Nuisance Bear” after all)

Visually, the documentary is stunning. The close up shots of the polar bears, as well as the videos taken from above (perhaps via drone) are beautiful. They really showed the beauty of the animals. However, it was hard for me to really love a documentary that seemed to showcase the burden polar bears are causing.

THE OTHER ROE (2026) DOC NYC

This is a portrait of lawyer Margie Pitts Hames who argued the case of Doe vs Bolton, which was decided at the same time as Roe vs Wade. Doe was a class action case about not having access to abortion, that was argued at the same time.

This film needs to be a feature. There is too much information for a 17 minute film.  Things feel slightly unfocused and we are left wanting to know more. 

Despite this there is an interesting look at an unheralded but important story 

 

A pointer toward threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE (2026) which starts at the Film Forum on November 13th

This is a look at the avant-garde New York fashion collective threeASFOUR which is made up of Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil.

I really can't review this film. As portrait of the designers and artists its a very good look at their lives and work.  Shot with with a wonderful style by Sean Ono Lennon and Brian C. Gonzalez, the film is a visual delight. The film is very much, like the clothing the collective makes, is work of art.

The problem for me is I never really cared. The collective seemed distant and far away from this mere mortal. Sure they connect with their clients, such as Bjork, but for me the fact that their work will never have any connection to me other than as a stage prop or as something a fabulously wealthy person wears kept me outside. Sure it looks great but who are they making these weird things for?

While I have a mixed relationship with fadhion docs, I tend to connect because the design of the clothes remains something anyone could wear, here it's something else.

three ASFOUR was not for me, but it might be for you, so if you feel you might connect give it a try.

STEAL THIS STORY PLEASE (2025) DOC NYC

Portrait of independent journalist Amy Goodman and her battle to get the real story out in an age of corporate crafted news, where every story comes with an agenda.

This is an excellent tale of what it's like to be in the media circus today. Its a take that is heartbreaking in many ways since it's clear that many of the people around Goodman are more interested in a buck and fame and not the truth. It's a tale that will open your mind as to just how skewed things are, and I say this as someone who tries to follow the news and who has seen more docs like this then is healthy.

While the film covers similar ground to some other journalists fighting the good fight across the globe, this one hit home simply because it is here at home. Watching the film, we realize we are not that far off then places like Russia and China in media control.

Highly recommended, STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! is an important one to hear if we want to remain in a genuine democracy.

The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a lyrical portrait of indigenous artist Sara Flores, her art and her work to help and protect her local community.

This is a stunningly beautiful film. It’s a film that creates a unique head space. Watching the film we drift off into Flores‘ world. To be certain it’s probably a bit more majestic in the film than in real life, but at the same time that is probably how she sees the world. And do yourself a favor and try and see this with a good sound system I say that because the first time I saw a work in progress version with a less aggressive soundtrack and the film didn’t click. However, seeing it again, where I could hear Flores‘ world as well as seeing it made it something magical.

I loved this film.

Recommended. See it on the big screen

DOCNYC 2026 curtain raiser

The crowds are lining up for DOC NYC 2026

DOC NYC starts Wednesday which means you now know why I have not been sleeping. (And since the festival has an on-line portion this year there is a reason why you soon won't be sleeping.)

Yes, boys and girls I have been wading into the annual documentary film festivals goodies and trying to write up reports so you know what to see,  It’s been a tough job, but someone had to do it.

All kidding aside I have been covering the festival every year except the first.  The festival is so well programmed that I will try anything they program. I may not like what I see but I never doubt that there will be an audience for their films.

I love this fest so much that in a year where I am pressed for time to actually watch films I’m expanding my awake hours just to see as many films as possible. What I love is I haven’t hit anything bad so my desire to keep watching is high, with the result that I jump from film to film and I’m getting to bed well after midnight. There are simply too many great films that I want to see them all. 

As I have said for years this is one of the best programmed festival in the world, period, full stop.

If you’ve been reading Unseen Films for any length of time you know how hard I go in covering the festival and I am trying to do that this year. I am most definitely watching a lot of films but since the fest schedules so many films there is no way I will get to anything and this year I can’t even try.

Understand I will be writing up everything that I see, though I am wildly behind in the writing part so reviews may run late or end up short because I want to simply get word out so I can help you decide if you want to see something.

That said the one rule for DOC NYC that has never let me down is if you have any interest in a film just see it because you will like it. I don’t think there has ever been a film I wanted to see that I didn’t like.

Just go and buy tickets. And more importantly there is an on-line portion to the fest so even if you are not in New York you can see some of the films.

Okay what are the films that I think are must sees?

With the understanding that I have only seen a fraction of the films playing and that as this posts I have a stack of screeners- here are the must see films for me (full reviews of all of them are coming):

WHIDDY is a look at a failed effort to bring petroleum transfer station to Ireland. It echoes to today with the grand projects we see the rich are trying to get passed.

UNDERSTORY- a look at plants and what is really going on with them. You'll want to see this for the incredible photography.

EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET- a truly great story of a neighborhood coming together to porotect one of their own.

BADDEST SPEECHWRITER OF ALL- A truly great short doc about Martin Luther King's speechwriter. One of the best films you will see in 2026.

DAYLIGHT- One of my most favorite directors in the world Jon Kasbe returns with the unexpected moving tale of a man saved by the music of Taylor Swift. Don't laugh because by the end you will be misty.

LANDSCAPE OF MEMORYis a look at how we remember the Holocaust.

ROBERT RICHARDSON: WHITE DEVIL a great look the mad man and cinematographer whose work changed what we see at the movies.

THE NAVIGATOR- the story of sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti without navigational instruments. Its amazing... and Beautiful

FIGARO UP, FIGARO DOWN- the story of a man who proved that sex drugs and opera don't mix. This is one of the best films of 2026

BEL- a look at the life and music of woman who might have changed the world with her songs

THE MAD WORLD OF HARVEY KURTZMAN - a look at one of the most influencial artists of the 20th century and his insanely delightful work

LOS LOBOS NATIVE SONG - a fantastic portrait of the group thats wall to wall music. One of my favorite films of 2026 with the sequence scored to One Time, One Night being a perfect use of a song to encapsulate the group and the country.

THE HOTLINE - haunting HBO short about a hotline where addicts can call so they aren't using alone and they can be saved if they overdose. It will rock your world

LET IT BE, LET IT BLEED: THE UNLIKELY ROCK N’ ROLL JOURNEY OF ETHAN RUSSELL the history of rock and roll through the photos of one man. One of the great rock films I've ever seen and one of the best of 2026.

Coverage starts tomorrow with some reposts of some of the films I have previously reviewed. Reviews will then drop after embargos fall or close to to the screenings

For more information, tickets and access to the on-lineportion go here

Thoughts on Ulya (2026) Baltic Film Festival

This is a portrait of Uļjana Semjonova who was pulled off the farm where she lived because of her height and sent to play basketball. She doesn't want to play basketball but has to decide what to do because back home she stood out because of her height, while at the sports academy she can actually do something.

This is a black and white art house sports film. Its a film full of rich images and silences and deep meanings. It's also sports film where there isn't remotely as much sports as you get in similar films. This is a film that is very much about Ulya's internal journey from being a young girl on the farm to becoming one of the best that ever played the game.

I've been sitting on this review for  couple of weeks now and I don't know what I think of the film. I mean that in good ways and bad ways. Its a beautiful film that is full of images that delight the eye and ideas that tickle the mind.  At the  same time there is something very art house about the film. It doesn't want to hit all the sports bio marks, and I love that but at the same time the film remains kind of distant. This seemed to be made for an audience other than me.

Sitting with the film a bit I decided that I should probably try it again, and I started it and I found all my preconcieved notions getting in the way. Days on I was still seeing it as I did the first time.  With festivals and such coming up I decided to sit with it a bit and then write something for the Baltic FIlm Festival screening and the revisit down the road.

As it stands now I like ULYA. I'm not sure to what degree beyond that. Lest you think that is a knock, it is not because any film that forces you to wrestle with it instead of letting it just wash over you is a must see.

Recommended for those who want their own wrestling match with cinema.

Dylan Skolnick is back at the Cinema Arts Centre- you may return to the theater

“Independently run movie theaters, started and programmed by people who give their lives to the cinema, are like beacons in the darkness. We need them now more than ever. The Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington was one of those places until a few weeks ago. And then Dylan Skolnick was ejected from the place he and his family had built from the ground up, brick by brick, film by film. The theatre still exists, but the heart of the place has been torn away and the community around it has been shattered. There’s only one way to turn the situation around. A simple solution: Bring Dylan Skolnick back to the Cinema Arts Centre.” Martin Scorsese speaking the words that removed the piratical board of the Cinema Arts Center

As many of you know the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington Long Island was the subject of a hostile take over by a group of people who knew corporate nonsense but didn't understand the film community. They threw out Dylan Skolnick, whose parents built the cinema, and marched on saying they knew the way to the cinematic promised land.

They had no idea what they were doing and it all blew up in their faces.

Their actions resulted in boycotts, protests, complaints to the town, the village and filmmakers across the globe who knew and loved Dylan followed. Distributors pulled their films and refused to allow their films to be screened there (They could only get the same films as the Multiplex a few blocks away). Members demanded their money back. Audiences never showed up. I am told things were so bad that the cinema had worsening money issues the last few weeks. 

Then things got worse because the filmmakers started to add their voices to the public out cry and it exploded as legendary director Martin Scorsese chimed in with the above quote, which got picked up by RogerEbert.com and other national outlets, so suddenly the local battle for a local cinema was national news and the board had to do something if they wanted to keep the cinema open, and save face since it was clear there was no one on their side.

Several days of mediation occurred  and the result is Dylan Skolnick has been returned as the director of the Cinema Arts Centre The people who replaced him are gone. I am also told that there will be a change to the board as well.

Back in September I suggested that the best thing to do was going to stay away from the cinema until Dylan was returned. He is back so feel free to go back to the movies.

I have seen on social media and I have been told by people I know that all of the programs that were canceled will be back.  Because of things just happened it may take a few weeks to repair the damage the old board did, but as a friend said "sometimes you have to burn it down to build it back better".

For now- go see a movie.

I am going to try and put something together on what happened with more details, assuming I can find a minute. There is a lot to the story and a lot of people made this happen and they should be recognized, which is something I can't do in this short piece.  

Again all need to know is that Dylan is back, well programmed cinema will soon be returning to Long Island.  According to an email I got from the cinema Dylan will be there Monday if you want to say hello.

Information of the cinema and its schedule can be found here.

KILORAN BAY (2026)

 

One of the best films of any length in 2026 is KILORAN BAY.

The film is a  musical short film about a man returning with his husband to his hometown and dealing with all the memories of growing up there. It’s a film that uses the music and lyrics to perfectly express all of the repressed emotion of returning home. I was rocked, especially by the ending which was note perfect and completely unexpected.

All hail the cast which is headed by Alan Cumming as the man going home. His expression and his singing give the film its heart and soul- and if Oscar looked to shorts for major awards should put him in the running for a Best Actor Oscar.

This film is glorious beyond words. You must see this film.

Anna By The Window (2026)

I am not going to go into the luddite movement that spawned this film. Yes it was made by some people who wanted to walk away from technology, but the truth of the matter is that it isn’t important. Yes the film presents someone literally running away from technology, but the truth is you don’t need to know any of that for this film to work. ANNA BY THE WINDOW is simply put a wondrous cinematic experience.

The plot is minimal. It has to do with 24 hours in the life of a young man as he travels around New York City, avoiding his father's call and his promise to help his brother.

Running a breeze, yet very meaty 70 minutes, Myles Flusser and James Hyland's ANNA BY THE WINDOW is a film that requires you stay with it. Less a narrative and more a collection of moments that make up a journey the film is raw and real, and choppy and uneven and wildly intriguing. This is a film that begins with you feeling uncertain, as if the filmmakers weren't certain what they were doing  but by the end you are sitting gobsmacked wondering how they managed to pull all the seeming pieces together into something unlike any other film out there. 

 No, that's not quite, right, there are other films that try to do this, create a world and feeling from all sorts of different pieces that shouldn't go together,  but where these other films don't manage to make it work, Flusser and Hyland make ANNA IN THE WINDOW work.

Now I know I am frustrating you by not completely explaining what the film is like, and you will have to forgive me since it is very hard to explain what the film is like. Its a film that is telling a story, but all of the shots are unexpected. It kind of breaks what you think of how you put scenes together. Shot choices are different. Everything creates a mood and a feeling and yet moves the story, such as it is forward. There is a narrative thread but its not entirely what we expect.

Thinking about it the fractured(?) narrative most feels like the fractured narrative of GIRL WALK ALL DAY , one of my most favorite films which imagines three people literally dancing across New York City to a mixtape by Girl Talk. Its pieces that shouldn't always go together but do.

I love this film.

In an age of Hollywood and studio sameness, Flusser and Hyland have proven that creativity isn't dead. Its a film that shows what amazing things people with a vision and a camera can do.

Is this technically the best or greatest film of 2026? Probably not, at least asto how we conventially think of a film as best, however the film is one of the most alive films of the last five or ten years. Its a film that makes you realize that true mind expanding cinema is not dead. It gives you hope that we are still going to be able to find films and filmmakers who can truly surprise us with things other than computer manufactured images.

Simply put ANNA BY THE WINDOW is exactly the sort of film that I created Unseen Films to highlight and trumpet.

If you want something atypical and potentially magical track ANNA BY THE WINDOW down.

The film opens in Los Angeles at the Laemmle NoHo 7 and Laemmle Royal on November 11th and 12th, and New York screenings are being set for December ahead of its December 15th release on Dolpho

Drummer Boy (2026)

DRUMMER BOY is a musical spawned from the group For King + Country.  In 2012 they had worked up the song The Little Drummer Boy as parrt of their Christmas show and the song took on a life of its own. The song eventually spawned this historical musical drama.

The plot of the film has two brothers ending up on either side of the  American Revolution. One brother joins the British and tries to make time with the daughter of a rich general while the other ends up as a drummer in the American army. Their paths eventually cross on the battlefield.

The plot of the film is trying to do a great deal. The film want to not only tell the story of the brothers but also deal with notions of racial equality with one of the brother having feelings for the Black girl owner by the family of the general.  It's a thread that is rightly there but at the same time it's a bit too shiney for what the reality would have been. It done in a way that makes them look  good for including it but it does so in a manner that isn't going to offend their chosen audience.

Over all the plot isn't bad but it isn't anything we haven't seen before. The basic story is fine but ultimately unremarkable

The problem with the film is the music.  Most of the songs sound similar and all of them seem to be show stoppers. The music sounds like it was made by a group that is used to playing stadiums and going for big emotions. Beyond the songs sounding the same, the music breaks the film because the music doesn't fit what we are seeing. It isn't that the sound is anacronistic, the music in THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE was at time wrong for the time, rather its big and booming and you feel its outside the action.  Sequences that should rock us emotionally just sit there. 

My thought over and over again was that this film would have been soo much better as a straight film. 

For me this a major miss.

Not really recommended, this is going to work best for fans of For King + Country.

return of the projectionist (2026)

 

Portrait of projectionist Samid who wants to start showing movies in his small community in Azerbaijan. He still has his Soviet era projector and wants to set it up and show movies. Of course he has to find a bulb, a place to do it and get the permission of the authorities.

The is a low key and lyric film about trying to reconnect with your past and bring joy to the people around you. Paced almost as a meditation, the film is a trip with Samid to make his dream come true. It’s a trip that isn’t always straight forward, but it is one, like many of the best journeys that gets there eventually.

I was delighted.

The problem as much as I like this quiet gem of a film, I don’t have a great deal to say.  My original stab at writing it up was to say it was a nice, sweet film. I then had no idea where to go and I sat on this review until a day or two ago when I decided to power through. I still didn’t get far.

The truth is this really is a lovely film and you should make the time to see it.

Soul Patrol (2026)

Based on the memoir by Ed Emanuel, SOULPATROL tells the story of Vietnam War's first Black special ops team who would go deep into enemy territory. Made up of material from the members as well as rememberences from their final reunion, the film puts us in a time an place over a half century agon.

Transcending just being a war story, SOUL PATROL is a snapshot of America over the last half century. Yes we get to know the world that had these guys go into the military, but it also reflects on how that time changed the men and the world around them. There is a lot  here and the film requires multiple viewings to get all the details. That is a rave, since this is a film you have to engage with and not simply allow to wash over you.

This is great filmmaking.

Highly recommended.

My Friend Kev (2026)

Filmmaker Colin Peppard reconnects with his friend Kev who he hasn’t seen in years. Kev lives on a farm, and caddies on the slow winter days at the golf course, which is owned by Donald Trump, that is next door to the farm. Kev is also trying to get visa so he can go work at a golf course in Florida.  Spurred on by Kev’s constant rightwing social media posts Colin decides to meet up with his friend and see how time and distance have changed him.

Weeks on from when I saw the film I am still pondering it. It’s a bracing and clear-eyed look at how people change over time when we aren’t looking. It’s something that everyone of us has experienced.

What I love about Peppard’s film is that he doesn’t say much. You get a sense of his position from the moments when a mutual friend calls him to ask what is going on with Kev. Kev seems to have gone down a rabbit hole, and he wants to know why. Peppard isn’t certain but wants to know too. The rest of the film is largely just the meeting with Kev being allowed to speak his mind as he shares his life. There is no confrontation or lecturing there is just Kev until the kicker in the end. It’s a portrait of man who isn’t full recognized by his friend.

Until the end we are not guided anywhere, we are just left to watch and the result is haunting.   As I said above this film has haunted me for weeks. Pieces of the film keep drifting back. I keep writing on this film and then restarting as I reconsider what I’m thinking. It doesn’t help that I am in a couple of similar situations with long time friends with whom I am drifting apart because of life.

This is a simple film that seems quiet and small; however the truth is there is the weight of a bar of gold inside it, and it bashes you in the head as the parallels between the film and our lives become more and more apparent.

I am in awe of this film. I complete see how it has won awards.

Highly recommended, MY FRIEND KEV is a film to search out.

(And perhaps pair it with the feature MY OMAHA about the distances that are created in our families)

DeGaulle Part 1 Resistance (2026)

DEGAULLE: PART 1 RESISTENCE grabbed me by the throat and held me tight until the end. I did not want to walk away from the film at any point, to the extent that I knew I was going to be late for a zoom meeting if the film didn’t end before the start time.

The film is the story of DeGaulle from the German invasion of France until the assassination Admiral Darlan who was briefly put in charge of the Free French by the Americans before he was shot. The film is also the story of one young man who is fighting the Germans in France.

This is one of the best films of 2026. A staggering old school historical epic that manages to be both intimate and truly epic, with DeGaulle and the tanks at the start and the Battle of Bir Hakeim which is shown to have changed the Allies feelings about the French, are as good as any set pieces in any film this year. Actually, the siege is so magnificently done that I wish we had a whole film covering the events in the desert. There is a need to see the whole story of that act of heroism without the cutting back and forth to DeGaulle in Europe.

What makes the film work is the the way the film makes us feel for DeGaulle. While he is often seems stiff and stereotypically stoic and unemotional, the film manages to color him on infinite levels. This is thanks to Simon Abkarian's performance, which is one for the ages.  Playing things small and close to the vest he gives us every emotion in looks and subtle body shifts. DeGaulle may look like a man in control but we know he is not. We also get to see the difference between the General and the dad in a short sequence where he lights up when he sees his daughter who had Downs Syndrome. The smile and wave speaks volumes. Abkarian gives one of the greatest performances of the last decade and it will be ignored by most award groups because it isn't showy and loud, despite being note perfect and dead on.

I should point out that the film isn't exactly precisely what happened. Details are compressed or simplified, not because the filmmakers are lazy, but because there isn't enough time to explain it all. For example the whole Admiral Darlan thread would really require a whole film unto itself, as would the story of his assassin. The filmmakers kept it brief simply because it affects DeGaulle's tale but isn't the focus. When you see the film remember this is a movie not gospel history.

I loved this film.

As I said above this is one of the best films I've seen this year.  Hopefully the second part of the story won't disappoint.

Recommended.

THE SECRET READING CLUB OF KABUL (2026)

This is a ,look at a group of young women, three of whom shot the film secretly about a life in Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban, and how the women are trying to remain connected to the world and each other to meet and discuss the banned books that they are reading.

This is a very good slice of life look at life after the American withdrawal. While there have been other films that have attempted to show us life under the Taliban, almost all of them have been shot by professional filmmakers.  There is a polished nature to what we are seeing with lots of scenes that women could never have shot. On the other hand THE SECRET READING CLUB OF KABUL is full life as lived sequences that professionals probably would not have shot. Additionally, this film has a lot of discussions that other filmmakers could not have gotten because they are the discussions that happen between friends when they are open and unguarded.

I liked this film a great deal. Its one of the must-see films on life under the Taliban.

MOUSE (2026) opens Friday

MOUSE is the story of a high school senior getting ready to go off to college. When her best friend is killed in a car accident her life is thrown into disarray. She ends up finding support from the mother of her deceased friend and falling for the girl who works at the local video store.

This is a moving film that will require tissues. Tears, both happy and sad will flow. They flow because we care about the characters on screen and because the film doesn't follow the expected path. This is not a Hollywood production where the course of life and grief follows a predicted path.  The reality is that this is film of complications where choices collide with other choices. It is a film that feels real and has weight.

I really liked this film a great deal and after I was sone I emailed several friends to tell them that they should track the film down.

Recommended.