The Slamdance Starts Thursday

The always great Slamdance starts this week, and we are better for it.

What was once the punk little brother of Sundance has moved from Park City and is now living in LA where for the last year plus it has been trying to take over Hollywood.  It’s been largely successful and now we get to explore the fruits of its labors.

Slamdance was even more inde than Sundance. Slamdance was where the truly independent filmmakers went to show their wares. These were and are the films with rough edges and raw mentality that don’t gloss over their feelings but show you what is going in the world and in the hearts and minds of the filmmakers. Even when it was running at the same time as Sundance, I leaned into Slamdances slate because it was and is way more interesting.

In years past I would try to see everything however, since the move to LA that isn’t possible there are too many films to comfortable do so. Yes, I have seen a great number of films, but at the same time I have way too many too go. Truthfully, I’m so swamped that I’m being forced to do brief reviews for too many of the titles.

I need to point out something important- which is that Slamdance has an online component and for the not large sum of 50 bucks you can see everything in your living room. That’s right for 50 bucks you can see it all. It’s a killer price to see a couple hundred killer films. (For information go here)

As the embargoes drop reviews will appear as fast as I can get them up. I will review as much as I can.

I do have to say, with many apologies to the filmmakers, that I will not be reviewing all the films, particularly the shorts, that I have seen. I've watched a very large number of them and many are difficult to write up (this is particularly true of the animated films). I do not want to do them any disservice so I will not be mangling my thoughts on their wonderful merits or reducing my feelings to a simple statement of "this is good" or "recommended" or something snide just to make you laugh. I'm simply leaving some films out, in part not to say something that could be a disservice, but more that is I revisit a film down the road (which is always a possibility because I cover festivals)  that I will ngive the film a second shot and may find the words the next time out. I know this goes against my policy of if I see a film at a festival I will mention it, but this year it's simply not possible.

I have no idea how many films I've seen but the MUST see films (so far):

MURPHY'S RANCH two unexpected and truly perfect performances make this a film you'll want to see expanded...which may happen soon. Seriously this film has a buddy combo for the ages at the center.

INEXCHANGE FOR FLESH is a tough look at sexual abuse in prison

STANDING STILL is a look at how the the wild fires in plasces like California are poisoning the homes that were lefy standing thanks to smoke residue

BRAILLED IT i film for people wih limited sight made by people with limited sight

BRB - a wonderful portrait of two sisters on a road trip

And there are more- but this will get you started.

Do yourself a favor and wade into the cinematic goodness.

For tickets, virtual access and more go here

A FAMILY (2026) Berlin 2026

This is a look at Nina and her younger brother who end up caught in the madness of their parents divorce which causes bumps in their relationship.

This is a well made domestic drama that plays at times like a cinema verite look at an imploding family. The camera frames everything as if it is one of today's documentaries.  We are there standing just out of the image as the kids crumble.

As solid as the film is, how you react to the film is going to be determined by how you feel about Euro- family dramas. Have you seen a lot of them recently? If so this may seem like one a number of recent films. If you think that I have to remember that the film is different than other films in that that the film is fully focused on the kids. It may look like other films but it stands out for taking another track. It is enough to make this film worth your time.

This is a small gem- see it.

Papaya (2026) Berlin 2026

This is a wordless film about a papaya seed trying to float around and not be planted and having a grand adventure.

A visually stunning film is going to leave many people scratching their heads. Who exactly is this film for? Young kids will love the images and motion, slightly older kids will  like it okay, and I suspect anyone beyond a certain age will wonder why this is a feature. There really isn't a great deal here with sections being more interesting than the whole.The film has things to say about the enviorment and how we treat it and the animals in the world but nthe presentation isn't always fluid and seems preachy.

While I don't dislike the film, I'm just not sure it will connect with its intended audience.

This film will be playing at the NYICFF in March

PARADISE (2026) Berlin 2026

PARADISE hooked me from the opening moments when a young man races in a boat to a burning cargo ship ship in the ocean. It is one of the most visually arresting things I've seen in a while, and if Oscar noticed films like this it would be the moment the film became an Oscar contender for best cinematography. Beyond the near perfect marriage of sound and image, PARADISE has a killer story.

Nominally the film is the story of missing fathers. Kojo is in Ghana and is torn between the traditional life that his fisherman father lives and the street gang who fills his time when his dad is out to sea. At the same time we get the story of Tony, a teen in Canada who discovers his mother is having a relationship with a sea captain.

I will not say any more about the plot. I say this because what happens is not what you expect and the result is like a punch in the face. It speaks volumes that director ends the film without music and just let's us sit in the darkness. This is a story unlike anything we seen before and it is wonderful. 

As I sit here writing this I am trying to find the words to express how much I like this, but I find I am too deep under the emtional spell this film has cast to do so. I know it's early into 2026 but I have penciled this into my list of the best films of 2026

See this film. More to the point - if you can see it on a big screen see it in a darkened theater where it will get inside you and haunt your soul.

MICHAEL SOLACE (2025)

 

MICHAEL SOLACE is the latest film from Chris Esper. 

The film is the story of a writer who is trying to sell a film script. As he tries to make a deal various characters come to life and challenge him not to make the deal because the producer will remove him from the project and do it his way.

As much as I love Chris' films, this film didn't quite work for me. To be certain its the best looking and best crafted film he's made to date. However the narrative doesn't quite come together the way it should. Part of it is the fact that the layers of reality/unreality get a bit too messy. And part of it is there is something wrong with the title character. I don't know if its because the normally excellent actor Justin Thibault is wrong for the role or if there is something wrong with the writing. Thibault has worked with Esper numerous times before and has always hit it out of the park, so I'm not quite sure what is off but it is. For me this is a double from a director who normally hits home runs.

This isn't to say that the film is bad, it isn't. It's actually quite good. Esper and writer Kris Salvi's exploration of an artist and his battle to retain artistic control is timely in the age where corporations with no soul and less imagination want to control everything, more so when they are run by brain dead execs who want their blank stamp on things so they can say they they did that.

Definitely worth searching out.

Brief thoughts on IVAN & HADOUM (2026) Berlin 2026

Ivan meets Hadoum at his place of work and falls madly in love with her free spirited nature. However gets a promotion that changes how he must behave and it complicates his relationship with his lady love.

Well made and well acted romantic drama... that kind of disappeared the space between finishing it anf sitting down to write on it.  Don't get me wrong I loved the romance, and the ending made me misty, but the details kind of didn't stick with me. I definitely enjoyed the film, I just don't remember much beyond that.

Recommended.

WATCHING WALTER (2024) Santa Barabara 2026

Stephen Tobolowsky stars as a Holocaust survivor and watchmaker who remembers his younger days when a German man brings in a watch for repair.

This is a small gem of a film which gives Tobolowsky a killer role. While he is only on screen for about half the running time, it’s a role that makes it clear just how good he is as an actor. It also makes clear that he has been wasted in the by the number comedic roles that he is best known for. Clearly he can do anything. Let's hope this proof of concept leads to a feature.

This is a film to search out.

I Understand Your Displeasure (2026) Berlin 2026

Heikeis a woman who runs a cleaning service. When one of her subcontractors demands more work, it puts a strain on her delicately balanced business and life.

Feeling more like a verite documentary than a narrative I UNDERSTAND YOUR DISPLEASURE is a solid little drama. Buoyed by the performance of Sabine Thalau in the lead the film is a trip through the life of a woman attempting to keep it all together. Going into unexpected directions the film really packs an emotional punch that leaves us affected for hours after the film ends.

This is a small gem or a film and is a must see for anyone who loves slice of life films or films with Oscar worthy performances.

There Are No Words (2025) Santa Barbara 2026

Filmmaker Min Sook Lee tries to piece to gether what happened with her mother who committed suicide when she was 12.

Belt in ladies and gentlemen, this is a tough ride. 

And as tough as it is for us to watch at times, It's worse for Lee. This is a ride into the past Lee doesn't want to take but knows if she doesn't do it now all of her questions will never be answered since her father is 90 and she didn't know how much longer he'd be around. Complicating matters is the fact that he is an unreliable narrator and he knows it. He asks his daughter if he can lie, which instantly makes everything suspect and Lee has to try to find other sources. What she uncovers is a lot of secrets and pain. 

This is an emotional rollercoaster. The journey through the past is not a happy one witth everyone largely looking like they would rather be having a root canal with out novocaine then behaving this discussion. Rarely has a documentary been this revealing. By the end I felt bruised.

Honestly this is a really good film but you have to be willing to go with it since the film's frank talk of suicide, mental illness, abuse and other subjects may result in it waking up things from your own past.

Worth a look.

Brief thoughts on In The Room (2026) Santa Barbara 2026

This is the story of five Afghan women who flked their country and use their positions in Canada to try and reveal the life they left behind and what is like to be from Afghanistan

Using recreations, straight interviews and some artistic florishes, IN THE ROOM tries to bring the lives of its subjects to life. While I found the women's stories compelling I'm not too fond on the means it used to tell the story. I really wish that the film had  been a more straight forward telling of the stories. While what here is compelling, the means of telling the story distracts from the stories.

IN THE ROOM is worth a look but you may wish for something a bit meatier.

Wonders Of The Wolf (2025) Santa Barbara 2026

This is a look at the wolf packs that were reintroduced into  Yellstone National Park.

This is a beautiful film about the efforts to correct the ecology of Yellstone by restoring the balance of  nature by return the apex predator to the park. Its a film with a lot of great images that will make you want to see it on the big screen.

Over all this is solid film.  Its definitely worth seeing. It reminds me of of the the Imax documentaries that I have seen at museums over the years.  If my reaction to the film is subdued it is because I recently saw a feature film that was specifically on the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and there are  was some over lap.

Recommended, especially if you can see this film on a big screen.

Le bruit des choses qui brûlent | The Sounds of Things Ablaze (2025) Santa Barbara

A woman deals with memories of war.

This animated film is a trip into the head space of a woman who had suffered in a time of war. The film made with charcoal and simple images packs a strong punch. Its a film that makes us think about how the trauma we experience bleeds into our lives. It's a film that works on several levels and needs to be seen.

Recommended.

Mortuary Assaistant (2026)

Jerimiah Kipp's films are so good that I am continuously shocked that he hasn't risen to the level of horror icons like Wes Craven, George Romero, Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Lucio Fulci and others. Perhaps it's because he hasn't had a break out hit. His films tend to dance around being major releases, but with the access to a wider variety of films via streaming I would love to hope he gets discovered by the audience he desperves.

I am hoping this will happen with his latest film MORTUARY ASSISTANT which is getting released int theaters and then on to Shudder, because this film is deeply disturbing.

The film is the story of a woman named Rebecca who has just gotten a job as mortuary assistant in a funeral home. Her boss is a bit odd, but she is happy to have a job. She is a recovering addict who has guilt over the death of her father.  However she isn't long into her job when she realizes that things are not quite what they seem.

Based on a video game, the film has a very intentional unreal feel. It feels like it's set in a self contained world that you only get in games and horror movies.  The funeral home feels like a place that exists only in horror films. This is no doubt intentional because Kipp's direction leans heavily into horror tropes we have come to expect. There is blood and gore, and there is a dark and stormy night. Kipp is messing with his audience both giving us what we expect but subverting our expectations and using things against us. Kipp creates a world that messes with our sense of reality, and for a film that plays with Rebecca's notion of what is and isn't real, almost to the breaking point, he manages to keep things together to the point that we are deeply disturbed.

I'm not going to lie and say this film makes a lot of sense at times, it doesn't. The film layers on a few too many games what is or isn't real, but the central narrative actually holds it all together, more so when you get to the end and it's revealed what is going on. (Not to give too much away but it has to do with demonic possession but with a different set of rules than we are used to. This is a horror film that ultimately works because the world it creates is revealed to make sense in it's own universe.

As always Kipp's direction is masterful. There is a reason that I reached out to him over a decade ago to speak with him about what he was doing in his short films. Kipp hits us from all sides, first from the visual side by showing us graphic embalming and then slipping us into Rebecca's mind set. She doesn't have a grasp of what is real at times and neither do we. The result is that we don't know what is happening or why- but we knoiw its wrong on a cosmic level and we don't want to be there. (I want to add that when you see the film just go with it- it's all sorted at the end).

This film rocked me. There is something so visceral about it that it over rode my sense of logic. I went into pure fear for much of it because I didn't know what was going to happen because anything was possible.

This is one of the best American horror films in years

THE LAST PUESTERO (2026) Santa Barbara (2026)

This is the story of Adonai Jara, a gaucho, who work on a remote ranch in Arentina. We watch as he goes through his routine and tries to convince his son to continue the family tradition. 

This is a beautiful film. If you can see this on a big screen do so because you will lose youself in the images.  This film is so good looking that it made me angry that most awards never consider short films, no matter how good they are. This film deserves to win a boatload of statues for its images.

Beyond the images there is Jara. Jara is a great subject. For a man who spends so much time alone, he brings us in and pulls us close. We come to love him and his family, in ways that we don't usually get in shorts.

What I love about this film is that the film nails the pacing. Moving at the slow pace of the life on the ranch, the film never feels draggy. too often films like this feel slow. Too many directors don't understand how to pace quiet and medatative, director Belle Casares does.

You will fall in ,love with this film.

TOUGH OLD BROADS (2026) Santa Barbra 2026

Sharon Farmer

This is a portrait of three women who changed the world in their time and are astill pushing the boundries of what women are seen to be able to do. 

Katherine Switzer was the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon and was instrumental in pushing to get sports into colleges for women and for getting the marathon into the Olympics for women.

Siila ‘Sheila’ Watt-Cloutier fought for the rights of the Inuit and the effects of climate change.

Sharon Farmer is a photographer and activist whose work with Our Choking Timesresulted in changes in how thing were done at Ohio State, and her photographs changing the way we see the world. She was the first person of color to first person of color to hold the position of Director of White House Photography.

Katherine

This is a great portrait of three "tough old broads" who fought and continue to fight the system. They are women who are continuing to push for change and inspire women today. Their stories are so compelling that I really wish that each of the women were given a feature of their own. There is just so much to each story that you'll be left wanting to know more.

If there is any flaw in the film it's the fact that the film constrantly is cutting between the women. Everytime each tale get a good head of steam we  jump to the next tale. While far from fatal it fed my desire for three stand alone features.

Minor quibble aside, this is a great film and is highly recommended.

Silla

The Other Roe (2026) Santa Barbara 2026

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 

 

ROSE COME BACK TO ME (2025) releases Valentines Day

With ROSE COME BACK TO ME opening on Valentines Day here is my review from when it Premiered at Tribeca last year.

One of my favorite discoveries of this year's Tribeca is THE ROSE: COME BACK TO ME.  The film charts the rise of the Korean group The Rose from their formation on to the present day. We see how they came together, broke apart and then came together again. 

I was hooked from the opening moments where we see where the group perform the title song. There was something about it that hooked me and I just went along to the end.

While there is nothing special about how the film is presented, on the other hand the four guys at the center are wonderful. You can't help but like them and you completely understand why they are becoming a global sensation.

One of the must sees at Tribeca-its so good I had to go back and see it at the festival.

My Father's Shadow (2025) opens Friday

 

The British Oscar entry for best international film follows a father and his two sons as they travel from the country into the Nigerian city of Lagos so he can collect money owed. Unfortunately it is the same time as a national crisis

Autobiographical first film is a very heady mix of every type of life that smashes us from pillar to post, exactly like the characters on screen. This is life as lived and not all movie like with all happy or sad.

I really liked the film a great deal, though to be honest I don't think the very end section is needed, except that it ties into the first lines of the film.

Going For Home (2026) Santa Barbara 2026

Portrait of the townof Altadena and their Little League whose season was stalled by the Eaton Canyon Fire. Despite the fact that the fire destroyed much of the town and scattered the players and their families, the league decided to try and have the season go on as a way of giving hope.

This is a good, if by the number portrait of communities coming together. The film weaves together the story of the town and the people on the team to make a story full of hope that reminds us that people are actually good at heart.

I liked the film.

The Berlin Film Festival starts Thursday

 

This year’s Berlin Film Festival starts this week, and it heralds the potential arrival of a whole bunch of cinematic treats.

Now in it’s the 76th edition the festival is one of the big festivals of every cinematic year.  I know that most people look to Cannes as the big European festival but the truth is that Berlin has just as many films that become contenders and big releases down the road, however where Cannes has films that PR people push the films that come out of Berlin get noticed because of their quality.  Berlin is one of the few festivals that cross my desk where I instantly take anything that is thrown my way because odds are it won’t be bad.

One day when, I actually am making money writing on films, I am planning on going in person.

My advice is that if you can go- do so. If you can’t go watch the coverage at Unseen and other outlets and make notes because there is a great chance that anything that is well reviewed will end up in a theater near you.

As this posts I’ve seen a few films, and I am waiting on more to hit my in box. The best of what I’ve seen is as follows:

PARADISE- it begins with an arresting opening and then goes into all sorts of unexpected directions in a tale of connected lives -this is a hell of a tale you need to see for too many reasons.

I UNDERSTAND YOUR DISPLEASURE-A slice of life with what is one of the great performances of 2026. Its the story of a woman trying to keep her life and company together.

A FAMILY- this is moving tale about a family moving across Europe which reveals the true cost of migration on families and connections.

CHIMNEY TOWN:FROZEN IN TIME is one of the best films of 2026

And now, time to go back to the darkness and watc more films.

The Steve Jobs Monograph

BC Wallin (Ben) has finally done what he has threatened to do for years and that is write THE book on the film STEVE JOBS. Bringing together a group of great writers he has taken the film by Danny Boyle and pulled it apart and layed it at your feet in ways you probably never thought of.

Okay- full disclosure- I know Ben. I have known him for almost two decades ,since we met in the Tribeca screening room over Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Grill. We have seen countless movies together, watched Spike Lee and his brother talk for several hours about his old neighborhood and we've had hours of discussion about movies. Ben, whether he likes it or not, is a card-carrying friend and member of the Unseen Films family. He is also a man with knowledge of movies that will blow your mind when you sit down to talk to him. That said, there is zero bias in this review and other than the fact that I read it as soon as my copy arrived from Amazon, I have not spared any slings or arrows (I simply didn't need to use them). I reviewed the book as I would any other piece of art that appears here at Unseen Films.

Knowing him for so long means that I have been kidding him about his obsession with STEVE JOBS since he first saw the film. I had thought that  he was at the press screening of it at the New York Film Festival, but his second piece in the monograph said that wasn't the case. I know he saw it soon after the festival, and it has been downhill ever since his obsession with the film became a running way to gently pick on him for a decade.  (That was until SPEED RACER became a second obsession- but that's another film and another monograph that is coming soon to a bookstore near you). 

Ben knows everything you can know about STEVE JOBS short of personally interviewing every member of the cast and crew. I seriously think that short of putting everyone who ever had anything to do with the film into a trash compactor and making a single being, Ben knows more about the film than anyone else on earth. As a result, it isn't surprising that Ben would not only write a book on the film but also find likeminded people to go with him on this journey. 

THE STEVE JOBS MONOGRAPH is an excellent book. It's as a great look at the making of the film, the man its about, as well as the ideas the film is trying to express. It's everything you wanted to know (and possibly didn't want to know) but were afraid to ask.

And I am deadly serious about it being everything. For example, there is a long discussion about Jobs signature look and where it came from. The discussion also wanders through a long discussion of Indian fabric and Gandhi's call for people to make their own cloth. (its way more interesting than that sentence reads). There are side discussions of things that you genuinely are not expecting to appear in a film about a business giant on three dates when he presents his latest product.

The monograph also wanders a bit far afield with a chunk of the Camera section talking about the different cameras used in all his films, with a longish digression into how he shot 28 DAYS LATER. It's interesting, but it also makes you wonder if Devan Scott, who wrote that section, is working on a book on Boyle and his films since it seems to  belong in a work on all of Boyle's films and not on one just on STEVE JOBS. The section is quite good, it just seems out of place.

The one section of the book that didn't really work for me is Scout Tafoya's section on Danny Boyle. Written in the style of one of his excellent Unloved films (he looks at underappreciated films) the section frequently reads like he is a hipster film fan arguing about esoteric points that you find in a short video essay that you let wash over you but which you don't fully engage with. On the page, where you are reading actual words, we are more engaged and we want more meat than in a video essay. Tayfoya is capable of doing that and his piece has moments of that in the first half but at the same time, in the second I was feeling that his points were something he was coming up with because they sounded good at the time rather than they was fully thought out. The case in point is repeated discussion/comparrison of "niche" director Peter Greenaway to the works of Boyle. Having lived in the world of Greenaway for almost four decades I'm kind of left wondering why, of all the filmmakers out there, Tafoya would have chosen Greenaway, Partly because intodays world I doubt most people are going to have any sort of working knowledge of the Welsh director. Worse, I just don't see the connections he's trying to make. (With apologies to Mr. Tafoya I'm going to leave it there because this piece is not on his piece but on the monograph as a whole, though some of his questions about Greenaway can be answered in his various lectures about cinema being dead)

But lest you think I'm nitpicking the book, I'm not. Most of the sections soar and speak volumes beyond just STEVE JOBS. I have no notes. Sarah Jae Lieber's section on Performance is masterful. Her discussion of the performances made me say "wow" several times as I finally understood certain actor's tricks. It opened up my understanding to film Performance on a larger level. Charlie Brigden's section on Music is outstanding. Its a section that explains how film scoring is done and how songs are chosen. The long discussion of the versions of Both Sides Now reveals how picking the right version can alter how your film plays. Alexander B Joy's discussion on how the film was editted and mimiced RAGING BULL is another knock out that will make you aware of what good editing can do for a film. 

Despite some bumps this is a great book and is highly recommended and will make you look forward to Ben's next monograph.

Death Does Not Exist (2025) Animation First 2026

Hélène goes with a bunch of friends to the estate of the rich land owners. The idea is to kill them and start a revolution. As the attack happens her friends are killed and she flees. Wandering the forest she is haunted by the spirits of her friends, her guilt and her life. Meanwhile the forest seems to be changing everything in it and outside it.

This is a great looking, even better sounding sounding film. The images are frequently striking. There are several that I would love to hang on my wall. The sound design is incredible with the mix of music and effects creating a mood and place most films only hope to achieve.

I just wish the film's plot matched the technical achievement. This film is a journey through Helene's head space. What we see and experience is what she does, and that is fine, but the material is very literary. This is a film where the filmmakers are more interested in making a point  with the result that there are times where the characters get lost. I never connected to the actual people on screen as much as I did to the images and sound. It doesn't mean it's a bad film, but rather one you may just watch once and not revisit.

Worth a look for animation fans.

Brief thoughts on Abril (2026) Santa Barbara 2026

A divorcing woman is at a crossroads. Her daughter wants to live her father, she isn't sure of what she's going to do as an empty nester or what whe is going to do with a certain cute bartender.

loved this film. There is something about the performances and the characters that just make this film. Before the plot even takes hold you become hooked by the people on screen and you simply want to travel with them. 

What makes the film work narratively is that the film doesn't create a lot of false drama. We don't have lots of ups and downs, or heroes and villains, we simply have people interacting and letting the messiness that occurs between people play out.

What a delight.

Recommended. Search this one out.

Thoughts on the shorts in Francophone Shorts 3 at Animation First 2026

AUTOKAR
A young girl takes the train from Poland to Belgium and imagines all the passengers as different types of animals. This is a sweet little film about  how a little girl sees the world. It will make you smile.

ORDINARY LIFE
The repetiion of life's daily routine...which reveals that life  never exactly precisely. This is a beautiful and quietly philosophical look at life

UBU ROI
This is an okay film that is based the first page of the novel Ubu Roi. Running a mere two minutes, its more a blackout then a full film

LONG DISTANCE
The connection between a deep sea diver and an astronaut.  This is a nice film about finding connections in unexpected places

FEET IN WATER
A couple in their 70's take a footbath and reconnect with the past. This is a another low key gem.

AND I WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL
A young woman has to battle other people's thoughts about how she looks. This is a nice,and very pointed look about how we let the thoughts and actions of other people influence how we see outselves.

Fil-Am (2026) Santa Barbara Film Festival

A 16 year old young man is told that his mother and her new husband are going to be moving them from Milpatas to Santa Barbara, and despite the fact that its tough place, he doesn't want to go.

The best thing I can say about this film is that this needs to be a feature. There are so many threads running through the film, from being Filipino, to being a child of divorce, to having a new dad who is of another race and on and on. It needs to be expanded because what here is so good and so on target that I want to see more.

This film rocks. That the film hits as hard as it does is the performances. The cast sell the story perfectly and make us more than willing to go along for the ride.

Recommended.

Brief thoughts on Dear Lara (2026) Santa Barbara 2026

DEAR LARA is the story of classical musician Lara St. John who in 2019 revealed that she was sexually abused by some people in the classical music community. This opened the floodgates and she began to get letters from people who also suffered abuse during their journey through the classical world.

This is a really good film. Its a film that will open your eyes about the darker side od something that has always been viewed as being above board. Its a film that reveals the damage done by some evil people to people who trusted them,

At the same time the film  is portrait of St. John who survived and managed to overcome her demons.

Recommended.

Magnificent Puppets: The films of De Swaef and James Roels at Animation First

Animation First is going to be screening two of the films of Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels in connection with their appearance at the festival.  

THIS MAGNIFICENT CAKE

Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels have made a film that is going to delight and confound you (that last one in both positive and negative ways). If you are like me and want a film that does more than wash over you then you must make an effort to see this film when it plays at Animation First.

Set in Belgium and Africa in 1885 when the Belgian king was doing horrible things to the African populations he had enslaved, the film tells a number of stories that are all connected and all of which do not do anything remotely expected.

The film begins with the Belgian king, shifts to the story of a young African boy who must stand in the hall way with an ashtray on his head, to the story of the son of a pastry maker who took the family fortune and went to Africa, and it keeps going as characters from earlier appear in un expected places. I was flabbergasted at the audacity of it all.

The visuals of the film are stunning. The film looks only like the work of De Swaef and Roels. You will wonder how they animated it all.

The story is a mix of wonderful, WTF and head scratching. There is a very sardonic tone to it all. There is a bleak black nature to some of the turns. There are also some incredible belly laughs that come from turns that are out of left field. The issue with the story is that the central narrative thread is very obtuse. While the film is told in parts that connect, some of the connections are a bit too loose and seem to be there only to drive what is ultimately a shaggy dog story forward.  I was amused about much of it, but some it landed like a sack of cement.

That said there is no film out there that even approaches this level of creative vision. It may not always work but what does shines.  Definitely worth a look.

OH WILLY....
As with many of DeSwaef and Roels reality is bent and things are not as we expect. The film has a man named Willie return home to his parents after a medical incident. It should be noted that the parents live in a nudist colony. This is another weird headscratcher film that like their other films forces you to do more than just take everything at face value. Something is going on- though to be honest I have no idea what that is. If you want a film unlike anything else out there give this film a shot.

The Songbird's Secret (2025) Animation First 2026

This is a sweet little film, perfect for families and non-families about Lucie a young girl who goes on vacation to spend time with her mom who is leading an archeological dig where her family once lived. Having dreams of various events, Lucie begins to investigate her family’s past, as well as making friends with the people working with her mom and the various animals living in the area.

This is the right sort of family film. Not as saccharine or preprocessed as most Hollywood film, this tells us a tactile story about a young girl and her life.

Told with cloth cut out puppets the film looks unlike most films that play here in America, this film instantly creates its own world and own vibe from the first frame. Even if we’ve seen similar films we lean into the story because the world is so unlike anything we are used to seeing. I love the look which is so warm and inviting.

THE SONGBIRD'S SECRET is an absolute delight and highly recommended for anyone wanting to see a good film

Brief thoughts on Strawberries, Snails and Slugs: the Films of Sylwia Szkiłądź Saturday at Animation First

Just a few quick words on the films of Sylwia Szkiłądź.

Szkiłądź’s work is lovely.  The films are delights for the eye and often full of whimsy that delights the adults as well. When you see a film like STRAWBERRY SOUP you instantly think of the child like images and notions. However, there is a much heavier undercurrent as to what is going on.  This isn’t just a film about enjoying soup but about memory and how we view the past. These are notions that the kids who see the film won’t get but that the parents will.

But I’m over selling the films, all of the films are delights and will make you smile.

Go see them.

The Magician of Ostend: The films of Raoul Servais at Animation First on Saturday

 

Watching all of the films in the tribute collection to Raoul Servais one becomes overwhelmed. It’s not just the quality of his work but also by the realization that his work and style were lifted by non-Disney filmmakers across the globe. Granted some of the image’s echo what was done by the Disney artists in Fantasia 2000, but the truth is that filmmakers like the Hubley’s, Ralph Bakshi, ----, and others. You also have to realize that his work was influenced by and an influenced on other European animators who all operated in a society where animation was not just for kids.

Servais’ work is not really for kids. There is more serious edge to it. Yes there are cute characters and plots, say in CHromaphobia which is about people who hate color, but there is a more serious edge about control and division of humanity which comes as a warning some 20 years after the Axis Powers tried to refashion the world in their image. These films hit harder for thinking adults.

Watching the films in the collection I felt like I was dropped into another time and place. While Servais had a great influence on cinema as we know it (both live action and animation) his filkms are also of the time they were made and seeing them in succession you can feel that time leaking in to the theater from the edges of the frame.

This collection is glorious. Its one that must be seen by those who love art and animation and cinema because it will force you to make connections and readjust your notions about the visual arts.

Buy a ticket and go.

Tales From The Magic Garden (2025) Animation First 2026

After their grandmother dies, three kids spend some time with their grandfather. The pass the time as their grandmother did by "pulling" things out of her hat and making up stories. 

This film may look like a family film, but there is a reason this film is running in the evening at Animation First and that is this is an often dark film that isn't for young kids. I mention this up front since after a wonderfully joyous opening the film turns dark as grandma dies, and the stories the kids tell have parents getting run over by a truck, dead loved one and melancholy over tones. It's not bad, but if you want light children's fare this film isn't for you.

Darkish subject matter aside this is a lovely movie. Containing a series of atypical stories TALES is not your typical animated film. We have not been here before even if the film has magical cats, monsters and a loving family. I enjoyed that I didn't know how the tales were going to play out a great deal.

Beautifully animated there are several shots I would love to have hanging on my walls.

Definitely one to bring the older kids to TALES FROM THE MAGIC GARDEN is a delight.

Girl Who Cried Pearls (2025) plays Animation First 2026 on Sunday as part of Animating the Surreal

 

The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a lovely but incredibly bittersweet film. It’s another winner from the National Film Board of Canada that has been Oscar shortlisted.

The film is a memory tale of a grandfather telling the story to his granddaughter of the young girl who lived next door to him. She was abused by her evil stepmother and cry herself to sleep. When she cried, she cried pears which she put into a hole in the wall.

This is a beautifully animated film that is full of melancholy. The lives portrayed are not happy ones. While we know that some of the characters will be okay, there is no guarantee for others. It’s a film that is very much like life or the original dark versions of Grimm’s fairy tales.

That this gem of a film is coming from Canada isn’t surprising. The film board is responsible for some of the best animated shorts of the past five or six decades. They don’t aim for happy, but films that are good and enlightening. Unlike Hollywood, bittersweet doesn’t bother them.

While I don’t think the film will win the Oscar, I’m guessing Snow Bear will probably do so because it looks like Disney, I adore the fact that Oscar got it right and has this marvel in the mix.

Recommended.

The film will also be playing at the New York International Children's Film Festival in March in Shorts Collection 3

President's Cake (2025) opens tomorrow

Set during the reign of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, this is the story of Lamia, a young girl from a poor family, who is told by her teacher that she must make a cake for the President's birthday or there will be dire consequences. She then is forced to go out to get the ingredients she needs.

This film is on the Oscar Short List this year for Best International Feature. It is a film that has been recommended to me by several friends... and now having seen it it is a film I will need to see again away from the Oscars and the word of mouth. I want to revisit because I need to get the distance from the hype and discussion that made me jump into the film too quickly.

I should say straight up that this is a very good film. I like it, hence the desire to revisit, but I didn't find the greatness that some did, and as a result I am dealing with the collision between the words of people I respect and the the film I saw on the screen.

My issues with the film come from two places:

The first is that while the film is very much about the trials of the young girl at the center, the film isn't about Lamia, the girl at the at the center. What I mean by this is that the quest to get the things to make the cake is simply the reason for writer director Hasan Hadi to explore society, particularly the one that existed under Saddam. The trip is designed to bring the girl into places where things can happen that will be reflected in the story. Why do the things happen? Because the director is trying to tell a larger tale.

While this is an issue it could have been solved had there not been a second problem. The second problem is that the Lamia, played by Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, is little more than just a place holder for the audience.  Yes, Nayyef is good, but the script doesn't give her enough to work with to stand out. Yes she is often the focus of events and is at the center of the screen, but there isn't enough to the character for her to be a fully formed person. I apologize for making this point but right around the time I was making my best of 2025 lists I had a couple of conversations about the difficulty of having a central character who is the "main" one but who isn't. What I mean by that is the central character who exists just to move the story or audience to a place where the events can transpire that the director wants to highlight. You have to create a character that stands out from the rest or alternately have an actor who can hold the center.  I don't think there is enough of a character here for that to happen.

While I don't hate THE PRESIDENT'S CAKE I definitely will need to revist.

Heart of Darkness (2025) plays Saturday Night at Animation First 2026

In a Brazil of the near future, where everyone is corrupt and drug gangs battle the police and military for control,  a “boy scout” of a lieutenant is set upriver to find a rogue officer named Kurtz who seems to have set up a cult of personality that is causing everyone problems.

This version of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is one of the best films I’ve seen over the last few years. A staggering piece of filmmaking it is possibly as good a telling of the tale as we have gotten so far (and yes that means this may be better than Apocalypse Now). Neat and compact, it is direct and to the point. The images perfectly set the mood and express all the emotion the that we don’t get from the minimal dialog.  We are in this other place and other time. We are traveling with these characters upriver.

Those who only know Conrad’s story from Coppola’s film and are looking for something similar are going to be disappointed. They will see a few echoes, but most of the cinematic set pieces we think of with that film are inventions for that film.  While it has been years since I read the original novella, this is the first time that I felt I was seeing something close to what Conrad had imagined, with the result that the film better echoes the world be life in.  In setting the film in a city not far from today director Rogerio Nunes has made a film that brings the actual heart of darkness closer to us and not in a jungle far away or in a country at war.

I was staggered by this film from the first few moments. Rarely has any film grabbed me by throat and forced me to go along.  This is particularly true of a film based on a classic novella and which has inspired various retellings. Rogerio Nunes‘s Heart of Darkness is such that made me reconsider every version of the tale all over again.

And this is not just for fans of animation. This is an adult tale that isn’t for kids. The use of animation is simply because this film could not have been made live action and had this effect. I say that because the manipulation of image and sound create a real world that fully connects to out psyches and make the tale something greater

One of the best films I’ve seen in 2026- this is a must see.

Scarlet (2025) opens Friday

SCARLET is Mamoru Hosoda’s riff on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. While it is a starting point with echoes, it takes it into its own universe.

The film is the story of princess Scarlet (Hamlet) whose father is killed by her uncle.  Before she can kill him she is poisoned and sent to a kind of purgatory world that she has to cross to get to the infinite land. However, her uncle has also died, and he is entrenched in a castle guarding the path to the infinite land.

Visually arresting, SCARLET is a film you will want to see on a big screen. Images, such as the giant godlike dragon who floats over the world will blow your mind. This film as some of the most incredible images you will see all year.

Narratively the film is all over the place. Some sections work to the point that you will be reduced to tears, and others are simply intellectually interesting. Characters are unevenly drawn, with some of the uncle’s henchmen seemingly to be little more than a sketch despite having important roles. The rules of the after life also seem thrown together (the timeless nature for example)  for no really good reason except it allows certain things to happen. While never fatal, the film simply isn’t as narratively strong as any of Hosoda’s other films, despite having moments that are among the best things he’s ever done, which means they are high points in cinema history.

While Scarlet is imperfect, it is still a deeply moving film. While a doubt it might get an Oscar I do think it is a must see. This is a film that is going to influence a generation of filmmakers and story tellers.

Luc Besson's Dracula(2025) (aka Dracula A Love Tale) open's Friday

I do not believe in god - Jonathan Harker
Then pray god believes in you -Coachman

Man lives and breathes in his name - why would he want us to kill his creation? Man kills in his own name. Christoph Waltz's unnamed priest

When you see Luc Besson’s retelling of Dracula know a couple of things going in. First it isn’t a horror film. Besson is on record as saying he hates horror films and he turned it into a love story (with blood).  There are no scares in the film, through there are some really cool moments that will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Secondly know that the film, while very serious, is often very funny Christoph Waltz as a priest who acts as a kind of Van Helsing stand in, is often funny. His humor is a way of dealing with the darkness. We learn this because when things turn dark, he turns deeply philosophical in a way that lets us know that he knows there is a cost to everything. Lastly know that in one of the rare times on a decades long career Besson borrows some riffs. Yes, he riffs on Coppola’s version and there are references to a few other films, and it’s okay because he does something unique with each thing he borrows.

If you can take the film on it’s own terms, I think that you will ultimately find it to be a masterpiece. Granted it is flawed in a couple of ways, but it is also a masterpiece in the truest sense. That really is a hill I will die on. I honestly think that down the road, once people can see it or resee it for what it is, that the film will find its audience and its place in the cinema canon of vampire films.

The film is the story of Dracula from his perspective. It is the story of his romance with his wife and her death in the aftermath of war.  He renounces god and is cursed with the inability to die. He then travels the world looking for the reincarnation of his love. It all spirals down to a version of the story we know. Not all the characters we know are there and somethings are changed. This doesn’t flow as we expect because Besson has altered the POV and as such changed the ground rules. Yes, he is a vampire, and yes there are other vampire agents- but they are working for him to find his love across the globe.

I was absolutely floored. Pretty much until the final third of the film this film is near perfect. I didn’t mind the riffs (in addition to Coppola’s films there are references to THE DEVILS, PERFUME, among others) , the oddly shifting tone or even the odd special effects (the gargoyles are Full Moonish). I was more intrigued by what Besson was doing with the story, me managed to blend a new take with nostalgia.  I loved how he was creating this grand love story and reconfiguring the Dracula legend in a way that we really hadn’t seen before. I also loved that we had a parallel thread about god, belief and forgiveness. I don’t think we have ever had this deep a dive into that realm in Dracula tale. It’s a thread that gives deep resonance to Waltz’s priest who clearly has seen horrible things in the world and knows that it shouldn’t be like this and wants to fix it. His final confrontation with Dracula is not what you expect, it is two world weary men who have seen too much talking on a common ground.  It’s note perfect for what this film is but not if you are expecting a huge Hollywood blow up.

I am not going to lie and say the film is perfect, it is not. Waltz’s character can occasionally seem like he is coming from another movie. Some of the effects are uneven. Additionally, the film’s final third is a bit too quick and there isn’t enough development of Mina. The film could have used another 10 or 15 minutes to make her stand out a bit on her own. None of it is fatal, but some of it feels like a momentary speed bump.

Ultimately, I love this film. I think it’s a brilliant rethink of the tale. More so when you realize that the film is digging deeply into the various thematic elements...and that the film should have retained the subtitle A LOVE TALE.

If you can take it on its own terms and go with the reinvention, I think you will love this. Recommended.

The Hole 309 Days To the Bloodiest Tragedy (2026) Rotterdam 2026

In the 1960's a cop and his new bride return home to investigate a series of murders of people every 30th of the month. Victimes are left with a large whole in their back and crime scralled across their forheads. The federal authorities aren't certain what is behind and partly fear there maybe a coup in the works. They want a solution and they want their officer to get his father, an important figure out out of the village.

This is an uneasy mix of supernatural horror and a thriller like SEVEN. It's a film full of jump scares and practical effects. It's a film of great moments a bit of confusion in the plotting.

I think the confusion for me is that the plot is tied into events that happened in Indonesia in the 60's. While I have a vague idea of the history of the country, I was not fully aware of the levels of authority, the police, the military and their battles, nor was I aware of the political situation  and fears of coups and rebellion. I think not fulling understanding took some of the edge off.

At the same time this film has some truly kick ass moments. The demon in the mirrorr is freaky and some of the jump scares got me. The truth of the matter is that while I may not love it, because I didn't fully connect, I trully think this is one of the better horror films I've seen in the last few years because it has a series of great set pieces, any one of which would make this work seeing, but there are several which makes this even more a must see for the horror fan.

You'll forgive for leaving my discussion there, but I don't want to spoil the good stuff here. I do have more to say, but it would reveal somethings, such as scares, that would diminish the fun.

If you like horror films- see this film.

Ariela Rubin on ANTIHEROINE (2026) Sundance 2026

 

I’ve been a Hole fan since junior high, so I was very excited to find out there was a documentary that was made about lead singer of Hole, Courtney Love. I actually bought a ticket to the premiere so I wouldn’t miss out on seeing it. (Premieres are very hard, if not impossible, to get into at Sundance)

Antiheroine was made by James Hall and Edward Lovelace. Courtney Love allowed them into her home in London, where she spoke candidly, shared old journal entries, and invited them into the recording studio. (Yes! She is working on new music!)

The documentary chronicles Courtney’s life. From her childhood (her father gave her LSD when she was just 4), to the making of Hole, to her life with Kurt Cobain, to becoming a movie star, and finally to the present day. 

This film made me laugh, sing along, and cry. I hope this film helps reshape many people’s opinions of her.

The only bummer was that I was really hoping Courtney would be at the premiere, and sadly she wasn’t. 

Brief thoughts on Home (2026) Rotterdam 2026

Director Marijana Janković tells the story, only slighty altered of her family's move from Yugoslavia to Denmark in an effort to find a better life.

This is a solid little film that feels lived in. Even before reading that this was based on the director's own story, I could sense that there was a connection to life that you don't normally get. The clues are in the fact that the film doesn't gloss over all the little things that almost every movie about migration does, things like language, the culture class  and the isolation. Every other film, regardless of the origin breezes over the small details. Here that isn't the case. You can see small details as well as big ones that draw us in and make us know this is real.

I was moved.

This is a wonderful film about the real cost of migrating

Recommended

Teacher's Pet (2025) opens Friday

 

A brilliant student who is heading to Yale must survive the advances of a new teacher.

I am not going to lie; we have been here any number of times previously. However, the film, which is includes Michelle Torian, Luke Barnett as well as the great Barbara Crampton sells this film to the hilt and then some. Seriously this film has one of the best casts of any film (no qualifier) this year.  The cast is so good that I could argue for year end awards, with Crampton shining in a role that in a bigger film might have gotten her an Oscar nom. (She really is that good).

This is a great little film. It’s a perfect thriller for a night at the movies or on the couch.

Recommended.

With SIRAT opening Friday, here is Peter Gutierrez's review from the New York Film Festival

“Is this what the end of the world feels like?”

*  *  *

It’s become something of a cliché to recommend a film by saying, “You’ve got to see this one on the big screen.” Well, maybe not a cliché, but a phrase so common that after you’ve seen SIRĀT and subsequently recommend it—and you’ll want to do both—you’ll probably wish that you could take back a few instances: “No, this time I really mean it. SIRĀT is what cinemas are made for...”

And the funny thing is, in this case the recommendation is not for the sake of visuals, which are consistently stunning, but for the sound.  In fact, at the risk of being cutesy, I’d like to offer that SIRĀT is the most soul-stirring, transporting “musical” I’ve seen in quite long time. Of course, what writer-director Oliver Laxe has created is not a musical, and it’s not a horror movie either—although there are scenes of horror that I guarantee you will never forget. One could term SIRĀT a thriller without too much objection, but more accurately it’s a member of a genre we don’t hear much from—it’s an adventure movie. Once upon a time that meant John Huston-like sagas, but nowadays I’m straining to recall more than a handful of accomplished recent releases whose narratives aren’t significantly encroached upon by other genres (e.g., action, romcom, fantasy & sci-fi). Perhaps Laxe is reinvigorating, if not redeeming, a genre that seems to have been domesticated and rarely offers the truly unpredictable or tragic. 

This is not to say that SIRĀT is wholly original—arguably most great works of popular cinema aren’t. In fact, you’ll see shades of many other filmmakers here, from John Ford to George Miller and Henri-Georges Clouzot. However, this does not detract one ounce from the freshness and grim vitality on display; it just shows that Laxe has good taste.

The only letdown occurs, unfortunately, right around the dramatic climax. The script, which has been careful to keep its allegorical messaging in the background—present for those who care to notice but not directly taking the spotlight from the characters and the immediacy of their situation—removes the matter of survival from of our own dirty human hands and places it in something like fate, or faith. In these moments, SIRĀT ceases to be a harrowing experiential dream from which we can’t escape and instead becomes what’s clearly a mere text, an arena for the play of themes; that is, we’re now watching the screenwriter’s “ideas” come alive rather than an organic and fluid unfolding of action... which has been a key strength of this remarkable film all along. 

New Francophone Shorts 2: Dark after Dark at Animation First 2026

 

This collection oif films offers a wide range of visual styles and subjects, all on the darkside and all with a slightly more adult turn of things

THE MAGICIAN
The longest film in this collection has a painted style. It concerns a magician seemingly on his last legs as he wanders around a seaport town. I really can't say too much about the film's plot because what happens is a long journey and I don't want to clue you in. Odds are you will not know where this goes. The film uses a beautiful painted style that looks at times like some of my more favorite art.

QUAI SISOWATH
This Cambodian horror film is a mix of live action and animation that tells the story of a young woman who goes on a date...and well something happens. This film is a mix of horror and bittersweet drama involving a creature that people who love Thai and some South Asian horror films from the 80's and 90's might recognize. I won't spoil it. I will say that what sets this film apart from many other films with supernatural overtones is that it leaves you feeling not scared but kind of sad.

LIFE WITH AN IDIOT
For not working hard enough a man is sentenced to live with an idiot. Pen and ink rendered animation is a deleriously bizarre tale that traps us in a man who quite possibly be the craziest person in the film. Its a wild ride where the odd tale is given added kick by the frantic sound and images

THE EXPLODING GIRL
A girl  named Candice talks about how she has been exploding several times every day over th last few months. Bizarre computer rendered images (see above) make a weird story somehow believeable. operating in a seemingly different reality (or is it all allegory?) THE EXPLODING GIRL is a mind bending trip into another person's head