I’m 22, I’ve grown into liking a specific form of film above all others – that of the minimalist/contemplative modern cinema ala Hou, Tsai, Diaz, Dumont, Serra, Alonso etc… For me this total abandonment of conventional storytelling, with a lack of emphasis on plot and instead on feeling, time, emotions, nature, rituals; is absolutely pure….. watching these films is like some sort of overwhelming meditation… connecting you to places you’ve never been and complete strangers you normally wouldn’t care about.

I think cinema is the ultimate artform, and what makes it special is this ability to capture reality, life, the world – all with movement and sound unlike still photography.

I’m a student at an art college studying film directing about to enter my final year and am trying to convince my teachers that this form of filmmaking – with minimal/no crew; non actors; little/no script etc is something beautiful.

Anyway, this year onwards I will be making the type of films I love so much, bringing this form of filmmaking to the UK for the first time… may I never sell out on myself and be swayed by the temptations of a Tilda Swinton or Juliette Binoche.

My Top 25 would look something like (not in order)

1. Un Chant D’Amour (Genet)
2. Millennium Mambo (Hou)
3. Le Maman et la Putain (Eustache)
4. Japanese Summer : Double Suicide (Oshima)
5. Street of Shame (Mizoguchi)
6. Butterflies Have no Memories (Diaz)
7. Voyage to Italy (Rossellini)
8. Paisa (Rossellini)
9. Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone)
10. Tokyo Twilight (Ozu)
11. Blissfully Yours (Weerasethakul)
12. The Young Girls of Rochefort (Demy)
13. Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
14. Death by Hanging (Oshima)
15. Liverpool (Alonso)
16. La Vie de Jesus (Dumont)
17. Shame (Bergman)
18. Celine and Julie go Boating (Rivette)
19. Vendredi Soir (Denis)
20. Colossal Youth (Costa)
21. Stalker (Tarkovsky)
22. La Dolce Vita (Fellini)
23. The Wind Will Carry Us (Kiarostami)
24. Power of Kangwon Province (Hong)
25. The Long Voyage Home (Ford)