THE PROPHET (2026) NDNF 2026

A minister with a failing flock turns toward darker means in order to help him have his congrgation return. It works for a while but the cost and escalating demands make him question if it is worth it.

This is not a horror film. There may be a supernatural and surreal element to the film, but the film is actually an examination of things closer to home such as spirituality and the things we will do in order to get ahead. I say that up front because horror fans maybe tempted to see the film because of its supernatural element.

Then again the film might be considered an attempt  to make a horror film in the style of Bresson or Ozu, though I suspect that both of those directors would never attempt  something like this. They are not  from a society where spirits walk like this. In that sense writer director Ique Langa  is operating entirely with in his own territory. 

This is a masterful and beautiful film. Its a film that has a great deal to say or at least ponder.  It's a film that is one of the better films I have seen for this year's New Directors New Films because it's one oe og the few films that feels more than just an intellectual or artistic exercise. There is a sense of a it coming from a life lived.

At the same time the film is not for all audiences. Paced at  the speed of life or perhaps a bit slower, this is a film that is operating in the realm of slow cinema . While I know that the are are people who like this sort of thing, the film echos the previously Ozu and Bresson, it isn't, like those directors, not for everyone. I liked the film but the pacing kept me from loving it. 

Recommended for fans of thoughtful slow cinema

Era oculta- hidden Era (2024) Tribeca 2024

In Mozambique an artist tries to create while working to secure enough money to send his young son to school and pay the young woman who is his muse.

This is a mannered and deliberate film where sequences frequently play out in tableaux. It is a film that seeks to paint a broad picture of the city where the narrative takes place as well as exploring the questions of what it takes to be an artist and a father.

This is a rambling tale that moves in it's own way and at its own pace. If you can click with the film's pace and rhythms then you will find yourself enraptured. If it doesn't click with you then this 75 minute is going to feel several times longer than that. 

While I found the film intriguing on several levels, I loved the sense of place and I think the performances are first rate, I had problems with the narrative's pacing. There isn't enough here to make the film not feel like an expanded short. It also doesn't help that several of the discussions seem more directed at making a point rather than feeling natural.

I never clicked and so felt adrift.

MAPUTO NAKUZANDZA (2023) NDNF 2023

 

From dusk to dawn in Maputo the capital city of Mozambique

One part narrative and one part documentary MAPUTO NAKUZANDZA is the course of a day compressed into an hour. It’s a film largely without dialog with the only sounds being that of the actual settings and the non-stop stream of a local radio station. The narrative threads are loose as we watch several people go through their day.

This is a very nice little film. .While it doesn’t break any new ground it is a wonderful window into a place most of us have never been and probably never go. I was intrigued. Actually when the film was done I wanted to go back in and see the arc of everyone’s lives again knowing the where and hows of all that transpired.

If you like quiet meditations on life this film is for you