HANABI aka Fire Flower (2026) Locarno 2026 NYFF 2026

Buy a ticket and take this ride because you need to see this film and you need to see it big and in a darkened room/theater.

Ana Vaz uses Yoko Hasuke’s essay “Journal of a Radioactive Brain” as the narrative thread to link up ten years of images and thoughts looking at the state of the world and particularly Japan in the wake of the Fukishima disaster. It is film that ponders life facing an invisible danger.

Moving light years forward from her first film IT'S NIGHT IN AMERICA Vaz as made a meditative film that you get lost in.  One part essay, one part diary, one part experiment, one part travelogue the film's weaving of sound and image takes us not only into Japan but also into Vaz's head space.  This is very much how one person sees the world. 

Days after first sitting down to watch the film I find I am haunted by it. I am haunted not so much by what I saw or heard but what I felt. Watching the film in a darkened room I left my body and went somewhere. I felt things that I hadn't before. I was forced to consider life in a new way.

This is cinematic magic.

It is also a film more about emotion than words so  this piece is going to be much briefer than I would like simple because what I want to share with you are the sensations of watching the film, but they exist in a place without words so I can't share them

I will say that the images on a big screen are trippy. We get a fantastic sense of place. If you want to get lost and travel without leaving your seat see this film. Please see it as big as possible with as few distractions as possible,

I am not going to lie, this film isn't for everyone. Its not a big action film. There is a long beautiful sun set  that is allowed to just happen which may not work for some people despite being beautiful. You have to work with it and go with it. If you can't do that, stay away.

If you want to take a cinematic trip, buy a ticket and go for a ride.

In All My Journeys I Am Returning (2026) Locarno 2026

Based on the poetry of Leon de Greiff and feeling like someone transported the werner Herzog of the 1970's to the modern day, IN ALL MY JOURNEYS I AM RETURNING is something special. Its a film that can not fully be explained but needs to be experienced.

The plot of the film has a couple from Sweden traveling down a river in 19th centry Columbia. However the further they go, the more things get hazy as past and present and future collide.

I can't explain more than that. The reason is not that it isn't clear, it absolutely is, the problem is its not just the narrative that is important, but the trip, the mix of sound and images that make the film so special. We are not outsiders watching events transpire but we are fellow travelers going along with the couple of the screen. To full discuss the film I would have to describe what I experienced on the journey but how I viewed it is not going to be how you view it.  This is a film that audiences must see  first and then discuss.

I loved this film. No, it is not perfect but I love that the film creates a head space and a feeling I couldn't shake. It is in its way pretentious, as many European art films of the 70's could be, but at the same time the narrative pulls you in and makes you not care. The film creates its own reality so well that you accept everything on the screen.

I have no idea how you are going to react to the film but it connected with me in unexpected ways. I can see this appearing at festivals like the New York FIlm Festival or New Directors New Films in the months ahead.

See it on the big screeen if you can. I wish I did.

Recommended.

I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming (2026) Locarno 2026 NYFF 2026

 

There is a moment about five minutes into the film when one of the characters shifts their gaze from tombstones and looks into our souls. It's a simple shot, with nothing special, but the look is delivered with such intensity that it made me talk out loud. It was the moment where I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING grabbed me by the throat and pulled me in. I was willing to go wherever the film was going to take me.

I say this up front because even if I RARELY WAKE UP FREAMING wasn't as good as it was, this was one of the few festival films I have seen this year which made me feel connected and part of the film. Too many films of late have lost their connection to the audience and to humanity, that when you find something special like this you want to hold on to it and treasure it.

Set in the days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the early days of the war, the film begins on New Years Eve when Oleh receives his new passport which lists him as male, his transition to male now complete. As talk at the party spirals into talk of an impending Russian invasion Oleh and his girlfriend Olya retreat. However, when the invasion comes the pair must navigate what to do and how to handle the situation since Oleh can now be drafted.

Based on the true story of the director's friends, I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING is more than a queer story of the war. While the people at the center are queer, they are also human. What happens to them is a story for everyone. It is new look at Ukraine, and war, that hits home and hits hard because having Oleh and Olya at the center forces us to consider what we are seeing. We see war and the war in Ukraine in new and deeper way. The pain we feel when Oly screams about wanting to break her husband's legs so he cannot serve is very real. We feel deep in our gut what it is like to be in a country at war and wanting to protect the thing you love at any cost.

More importantly the film also speaks volumes about being queer in a society that doesn't really understand or accept it. Being a straight male I don't feel fully qualified to speak on certain areas of the film, but I was rocked by the characters' anguish that results from living in a society and with loved ones that didn't fully understand who they are. One does not need to be queer to be an outsider, and the film uses that on that to make those of us who are straight better understand what Oleh and Olya are going through.

This is a stunning achievement that will make you feel and connect to life and the world.

Highly recommended.