Open Spaces, Solid Foundations: ‘The American Sector’ and ‘The Building’ at Open City Documentary Festival
“While ‘The American Sector’ outstays its welcome, I’m not sure if ‘The Building’ wants to be invited in to begin with.”
“While ‘The American Sector’ outstays its welcome, I’m not sure if ‘The Building’ wants to be invited in to begin with.”
“Given that documentaries are being pushed into hybrid spaces, and that many modern animators are covering morbid subject matter, these 12 short films give an example of contemporary moving image work pushing at cinema’s comfort zones.”
“It’s a fascinating experience to see ‘Aparisyon’ via Locarno’s ‘Open Doors’ strand, where it is presented as a key work in understanding contemporary Filipino cinema.”
“Local Heroes” is a Vague Visages column dedicated to movie theater memories and the theatrical experience.
“A lager-frothy comedy, ‘Yourself and Yours’ is a perfect balance of Hong’s output, an ideal entry point for new viewers while delivering variations of the filmmaker’s recurrent themes.”
“By the time ‘TFW NO GF’ lets the viewer up for air, faith in the facts will have dissipated. It may feel like time to get offline, and stay there.”
“If the point of criticism is to bring the reader closer to the artwork, then Schrader’s reviews of other films are as important as his own to understanding his perspective.”
“As a genre exercise, ‘Z’ shows promise for what Christensen might do with a higher budget.”
“The continual resistance to progressivism by French film culture at large is up to them to figure out, from Cannes’ inability to put more than four women in competition in a given year to Cahiers du cinéma being sacrificed in the name of quality French cinema…”
“‘Sweet Thing’ is creatively shot and bursting with energy, but Rockwell’s biggest ambition is seemingly to replicate a bunch of ideas from other films, to put visuals to his favourite songs and to showcase his talented family.”