‘I’ll Be Gone in June’ Review: Wispy but Atmospheric Drama Follows a German Student to New Mexico in 2001

‘I’ll Be Gone in June’ Review: Wispy but Atmospheric Drama Follows a German Student to New Mexico in 2001

German teenager Franny (newcomer Naomi Cosma) arrives in New Mexico to spend the 2001-02 academic year at a high school in Las Cruces, living with a local family, just before the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in writer-director Katharina Rivilis’ wispy but engaging debut feature. Even if you didn’t know that this was inspired by Rivilis’…

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‘The Samurai and the Prisoner’ Review: The Verb is Mightier Than the Sword in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Dialogue-Laden Historical Mystery   

‘The Samurai and the Prisoner’ Review: The Verb is Mightier Than the Sword in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Dialogue-Laden Historical Mystery   

Japanese genre maven Kiyoshi Kurosawa is mostly known outside his homeland for eerie, visually inventive films like Cure, Pulse and Loft that brought the J-horror trend into the arthouse. But he’s also made psychological thrillers (Creepy), serial killer flicks (Serpent’s Path), science-fiction movies (Before We Vanish), a darkly comic anti-capitalist actioner (last year’s Cloud) and…

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‘The Birthday Party’ Review: Hafsia Herzi, Benoît Magimel and Monica Bellucci in Léa Mysius’ Gripping if Uneven Home-Invasion Thriller

‘The Birthday Party’ Review: Hafsia Herzi, Benoît Magimel and Monica Bellucci in Léa Mysius’ Gripping if Uneven Home-Invasion Thriller

Lean, mean and frequently terrifying, The Birthday Party (Histoires de la nuit) is a home-invasion thriller in the vein of films like Funny Games and Speak No Evil, even if it stops well short of the sadistic shocks of either of them. Adapted from a French bestseller by Laurent Mauvignier, writer-director Léa Mysius’ third feature shares its remote setting and appetite…

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Canal+ Head Says He Will Blacklist Talents Who Petitioned Against Right-Wing Billionaire Owner

Canal+ Head Says He Will Blacklist Talents Who Petitioned Against Right-Wing Billionaire Owner

The head of Canal+, France’s largest film producer, has said the studio will no longer work with hundreds of cinema professionals, who signed a petition voicing concern over the growing influence of the studio’s rightwing billionaire owner Vincent Bolloré. More than 600 French industry figures, including actors Juliette Binoche, Adèle Haenel and Swann Arlaud, and…

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My Cannes Moment: Anaïs Demoustier

My Cannes Moment: Anaïs Demoustier

I’ve been back to Cannes something like 15 times. I was there with Valérie Donzelli’s film [Marguerite & Julien in 2015] in Competition and with the closing film [2012’s Thérèse] from Claude Miller. I’ve had films in Critics’ Week and Un Certain Regard. I was President of the Jury that awarded the Camera d’Or [to…

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“Cinema Needs Europe, Europe Needs Cinema”: 4,700 Film Professionals Call for EU to Protect Film Funding

“Cinema Needs Europe, Europe Needs Cinema”: 4,700 Film Professionals Call for EU to Protect Film Funding

Francis Ford Coppola, Juliette Binoche, Sandra Hüller, Stellan Skarsgård, Joachim Trier, and Vicky Krieps are among the more than 4,700 film professionals who have signed an open letter calling for the European Union to protect film funding on the continent. The letter, titled “Europe needs cinema, Cinema needs Europe,” calls on the EU to “future-proof”…

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