What's On
La Bola Negra
A big, old-school historical melodrama gets a thrillingly modern, queer makeover from Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who artfully juggle three gay protagonists across stories set in 1932, 1937, and 2017. Winner: Best Director, Cannes.
Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird)
Winner of the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at this year's Berlinale, Anna Fitch and Banker White’s exuberant documentary combines vérité interviews with a playful mix of puppetry, collage, and insect actors to memorialize a friend.
Image: © Mirabel Pictures
Short Forum 9: Big Time Sensuality
Explorations of desire and intimacy serve both pain and pleasure.
Kikuyu Land
Kikuyu Land follows Mr. Mungai’s struggle to reclaim family land taken during the colonial era. Through personal stories and archival research, the film explores the enduring impact of land dispossession in Kenya.
No Good Men
Naru, the sole camerawoman at a major Kabul newsroom, is convinced that there are “no good men” left in Afghanistan. But partnered with the station’s star reporter in the leadup to the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, her outlook starts to shift.
Reclaim My Skin
A three-part documentary series that challenges stereotypes and authority while celebrating the resilience and resurgence of Indigenous female identity. Reclaim My Skin empowers Indigenous women and their allies with the knowledge of their true history.
Ugly Cry
When her Ugly Cry costs an aspiring actor her dream role, she takes desperate measures in pursuit of perfection. A cheeky injection of dark humour and delirium, this genre-bending psychological thriller takes a clever jab at internet-age beauty standards.
Afterlives
An immersive, essayistic documentary, Afterlives examines the effects of violent spectacle via propaganda, refusing reductive answers or cliched responses to questions about extremism, justice, and art.
Wild Horse Nine
Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are dispatched to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). There, the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies.
Ana, En Passant
Fernanda Salgado makes an elegant feature debut with this lyrical animated drama about a young Black woman returning to her late grandmother’s native town in Brazil to make sense of distant memories and her family’s legacy.
The Guest
This drama explores the conflict between a son and his mentally ill mother, who unexpectedly shows up at his child’s christening party. Full of vivid performances and desperate catharses, The Guest takes us to the point of explosion and beyond.
Image: © Henrik Ohsten