Random thoughts on this year's New Directors New Films which starts April 8

New Directors New Films has always been a fest I've attended. Even before I started Unseen, I would stagger into the city to see its films. Every year I always found several special films that haunted me to the years end. This tends to be a fest that usually has a surprise or two upmits sleeve

The last few years the number of haunting films has diminished for me  as the gulf between the programmers tastes and my own have gotten wider. The programmers want more art house titles, and I think they lean too far in that direction.  This is fest that has narrowed its search  to a certain type of film for a certain type of audience (They haven't shaken things up with a film like THE RAID in years).  I cannot lie to you, of the 11 films I saw for the fest (so far) most lean into the slow art house film esthetic.  That's fine if you like that sort of thing, but as festival that used to catch things from across the spectrum it seems more limited now.

As much as they are programming of a type now, there are some films that got away from that and of the films I've seen so far, the best of the bunch are as follows:

IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT is one of the few alive at the fest. The story of a couple living together in the big city, it's one of the few films that feels more that it's about the people on the screen and less about being a piece of art. 

THE PROPHET is the one slowish film that uses it's pacing to put us in a place and into a life for a reason. The film is a killer story about a minister who turns to darker things to save his ministry. It is NOT a horror film even though there are supernatural elements

TWO MOUNTAINS WEIGHING DOWN MY CHEST is the calling card of director Viv Li. One of the few mold breaking films at NDNF, it's going to worm into the hearts of anyone who connects with it. Its a documentary exploration of the directors life that doesn't do what you think it should and becomes something greater as a result.

If you are in the mood for some art house films look into New Directors New Films.