David D'Arcy
As always, the festival supplied some revelations, plus films from countries now prominent in the news.
Two art exhibitions in New York should be seen multiple times. Each will deepen your appreciation of a great artist. Neither is mobbed with visitors. Each, in this wildly overpriced city, is absolutely free.
Three films that stood out at this year’s annual festival at the Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center.
In Berlin, the closest thing to a consensus on “Kontinental ’25” was that the film didn’t measure up to Romanian director Radu Jude’s customary standards. My view is that the critics didn’t look hard enough.
A review of two fine backstage (or offstage) comedies at the Berlinale — “Blue Moon” and “Koln 75”.
Two heartfelt documentaries about the Hamas attack and hostage-taking have premiered at this year’s Berlinale and have been received respectfully, even welcomed.
Films can transform the way that their subjects are seen, sometimes by just making a subject visible. That was the case with three films which were among the best that I saw at Sundance this year.
A trio of documentaries: one explores an under-recognized Black musician, while the other two focus on a leftist Israeli comedian and crusading teen journalists.
My guess is that if Sundance survives, it won’t look like the Sundance we know.
Interviews with a pillager – “Plunderer” examines Nazi art theft at DOC NYC; two other docs remember Artsakh, a country that is no more
The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters