Sometimes the most modest films deserve the biggest screens As production companies continue to balk at theatrically releasing their movies, streaming behemoth Netflix snaps up the most interesting and daring contemporary movies. On the one hand, smaller, more challenging movies…
The zany, genre-hopping Abracadabra kicks off the 21st Spanish Film Festival The appropriately titled Abracadabra was shown at the media preview for the 21st Spanish Film Festival, showcasing a little of the movie magic in Spanish filmmaking. Beginning 19 April and running…
As a loving and proud Northcote resident — a bit too proud, my friends might say — I’d like to think of it as the hood that has it all (as it does, of course, and always will). Going North,…
A spiritual journey that will reflect upon the viewer. Generally speaking, modern Australians are sceptical people. Our childhoods are rarely defined by strict adherence to religion, unlike a Catholic Irish upbringing or an orthodox Jewish American one. I was born…
France’s most controversial director delivers one of its most beautiful films in years. Introducing the film, the director of the 2018 Alliance Française French Film Festival slipped in a cautionary adjective, referring to Albert Dupontel as one of France’s most…
The 27th International Short Film Festival starts its January to May national tour of 50+ venues right across the land with two nights of selection viewing at Melbourne’s The Palace Kino Cinemas. With many award-nominees and winners, we were not…
Michael Haneke depicts contemporary life better than most directors half his age. Nobody can place a camera like Michael Haneke. Director of cinematic endurance tests (Funny Games) and aggressively perverted relationship comedies (The Piano Teacher) Haneke has a fondness for…
Skewers loneliness to an almost uncomfortable degree Even with the strictest sense of community, a tight-knit group can still strike a sharp note of loneliness in the individual. That’s certainly what Menashe (Mensashe Lustig) experiences, as the the titular protagonist…
The kind of film few directors still get to make Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed Phantom Thread, is an anomaly in today’s Hollywood. He’s what you could call an auteur (a director with a distinctive style and rigorous control over…
The Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) kicks off in the last week of February with a well-crafted program including contemporary and classic feature films, short movie screenings, and eye-opening panels and discussions. Supporting the work of women screen practitioners across…