And so ends one of the most unusual MIFF experiences so far. Initially planned to be one week of in-cinema screenings and one week online, the ever-changing border restrictions and stay-at-home rules kept me guessing right up until the eleventh hour. Here’s a final wrap up with the details of how, what, when and where and the statistics of the 33 films I watched.
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Reminiscent of an early Asghar Farhadi film, this tense and elegant drama by partners Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam explores the complexities of sacrifice and atonement in contemporary Iran.
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Natalie Morales transcends the all-too-familiar (thanks COVID-19) movie-made-on-screens gimmick to bring us an intensely moving story of human connection.
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Yngvild Sve Flikke’s gorgeous, feminist drama snuck up on me like a ninja, baby.
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Based on the real experiences of a woman seeking justice after her daughter is abducted by a Mexican cartel, Teodora Mihai’s first feature is not so much a revenge thriller as a portrait of indomitable strength amidst unimaginable tragedy.
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You will leave this exquisite documentary about Tokyo ramen master Masamoto Ueda with a full heart and a hankering for chashu ramen.
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A lushly-beautiful documentary with a story that perfectly encapsulates the plight and humanity of refugees.
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This stunning first feature by Ángeles Cruz interweaves the stories of three indigenous women across one festival day in a small village in the Cerro Nudo Mixteco mountainous region between Puebla and Oaxaca in Mexico.
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Mariana Di Girolamo is in the centre of every frame in Leonardo Medel’s stylish, unsettling and completely absorbing look at artifice and narcissism.
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The Hill Where Lionesses Roar is a remarkable achievement by 20-year old actor Luàna Bajrami (seen recently as Sophie in Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)), who is writer, director and star of this languidly beautiful story that captures the frustrations of youth, poverty and gender in rural Kosovo.
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