Alex Descas

In an intriguing long take static shot of the oppressively barren Siberian frontier, a converted tank (turned off-road passenger utility vehicle) traverses a rugged terrain that seemingly bisects a rural, indigenous village, disappears in a spray of displaced mud as it sinks partially out of frame into a trench, then momentarily re-emerges to continue on its plodding journey, only to become imperceptible from the horizon once again as it descends into a series of depressions on the gravel road. Watching this sequence (and film) again within the added context of having also seen Twentynine Palms, I couldn’t help but think that Bruno Dumont must somehow have been influenced by this unstructured and glacially paced, yet lucidly pure, challenging, and entrancingly reductive film by Lithuanian filmmaker Sharunas Bartas, a feature that he developed from his earlier diploma film, Tolofaria on the nomadic, indigenous tribe.Read More »

Dah from Benin and Jocelyn from the Caribbean, make money through illegal cockfighting. As Pierre, the owner of the restaurant where the fights take place, pushes them to make the events more violent, the disillusioned Jocelyn begins looking for a way out from the sordid dealings.Read More »

Lionel has brought up his daughter, Josephine, on his own since his wife’s accidental death. Over the years, their life together has grown to resemble that of a couple. Josephine has now reached the age at which the roles begin to be inverted. She is now the one who seems to want to take care of her father. Lionel knows that he has one more thing to do: to convince Josephine to make her own way in the world, to become a woman and to leave him.Read More »

Cameroonian filmmaker Bassek ba Kobhio provides a fascinating revisionist perspective on Albert Schweitzer, Noble Peace Prize winner and secular saint of the colonial era.

Like Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask, this film begins to rewrite the history of colonialism from the point of view of the colonized. Le Grand Blanc de Lambaréné is not, however, a facile exercise in iconoclasm but rather a deeply-felt lament for a missed opportunity, for a cross-cultural encounter between Africa and Europe which never happened.Read More »

December 2012. After four months in captivity in Syria, two French reporters are released.
Gabriel, the younger one, is just shy of 30.
Following a day of interrogations and medical exams, Gabriel is allowed to see his loved ones: his father, his ex- girlfriend Naomi… His mother lives in India, where he grew up. She has cut ties with everyone.
A few weeks later, unable to find his bearings, Gabriel decides to leave for India. He moves into his childhood home in Goa, and meets Maya, a young Indian girl.Read More »

The Limits of Control is the new movie from filmmaker Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers, Down by Law).
The film is set in the striking and varied landscapes of contemporary Spain (both urban and otherwise).
The location shoot there united the writer/director with acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle
(In the Mood for Love, Paranoid Park).

Isaach De Bankolé stars in the lead role for Mr.
Jarmusch; this marks the duos fourth collaboration over nearly two decades, following Night on Earth,
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and Coffee and Cigarettes.
The Limits of Control also features several other actors with whom Mr.
Jarmusch has previously worked, including Alex Descas, John Hurt, Youki Kudoh, Bill Murray, and Tilda Swinton;
and actors new to his films, including Hiam Abbass, Gael García Bernal,
Paz De La Huerta, Jean-François Stévenin, and Luis Tosar.

The Limits of Control is the story of a mysterious loner (played by Mr. De Bankolé),
a stranger, whose activities remain meticulously outside the law. He is in the process of completing a job,
yet he trusts no one, and his objectives are not initially divulged.

His journey, paradoxically both intently focused and dreamlike,
takes him not only across Spain but also through his own consciousness.
Read More »

Plot Synopsis by Gönül Dönmez-Colin
Following the success of Hamam, Turkey-born, Italy-based Ferzan Ozpetek delivers another exotic film that delves into the traditions of his origin. Once again, the exotic city of Istanbul is the place of intrigue. But, unlike Hamam, which was a contemporary story, Harem Suare takes place at the turn of the century in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. The locale of this ornate story of love, power, and fear is the magnificent Yildiz Palace, where Sultan Abdulhamit whiles away the time listening to the finale of La Traviata as rebellions rage all over the country. Read More »