A transcendental tribute to the possibilities of sound and music, this deeply-felt and highly symbolic film hails from Mohsen Makhmalbaf, a major figure in Iranian cinema who, like Abbas Kiarostami, emerged following the 1979 Revolution. Profound and poetic, The Silence is a stirring tour de force.
A cornucopia of ambitiously grotesque and sublime imagery invades Jodorowsky’s second autobiographical film. Covering the period in which the young man leaves home in search of bohemian self-expression, this Felliniesque escapade explores the mythic struggles of the artist to find their voice.
French director Sophie Letourneur strikes again with her refreshingly madcap outlook on couple dynamics and the misconceptions surrounding maternalism. With uproarious humor and documentary segments shot in hospitals, this irreverent comedy subverts gender roles and breaks taboos around pregnancy.
In Justine Triet’s Sibyl—starring Gaspard Ulliel, Virginie Efira and Sandra Hüller—chaos equates to delight and the ethically wrong is exhilarating. Psychoanalysis and cinema come together in a thrillingly erotic and perilous game blurring fiction and reality, dizzyingly escaping any classification.
An inventive mapping of art historian Dr. B N Goswamy’s life and his work on Pahari paintings, The Museum of Imagination generates a mesmerising visual account of how creations outlast their creators. This film subtly sheds light on Amit Dutta’s own ingenious exploration of Pahari artist Nainsukh.
Relying not only on soju to complicate rifts between romantic interests, this tender comedy from Hong Sang-soo is the director’s most daringly constructed. Led by Japanese star Ryo Kase (Silence), Hill of Freedom is a multilingual and wonderfully jumbled story that is delightfully surprising.
Rohmer’s debut feature lucidly conjures Parisian ’50s bohemia, uncovering the trials that buffet an artist in the face of an often-cruel world. Produced by Chabrol (and with a cheeky cameo from Godard!), this New Wave drama may not have been a commercial success yet it won the hearts of cinephiles.
A wonderful cast of suburban teens face a rite of passage—fraught with anxiety and desire—that starts in the world of Richard Linklater and ends in that of David Lynch. Tyler Taormina’s sly but surprisingly touching debut plays with and then upends the clichés of American end-of-school comedies.
After 23 years away, Alejandro Jodorowsky returned to filmmaking with this surreal journey into autobiography. Utterly personal and deeply idiosyncratic, this magical realist wartime musical follows a vivid, hallucinatory dream logic. A family affair spanning generations and starring his own family.
Influencing filmmakers from the Wachowskis to James Cameron, Mamoru Oshii’s cyberpunk classic is one of the defining animes of its generation. Striking visuals, formed through unparalleled detail and flair, bring life to the dystopian world that houses the film’s action and vast philosophical scope.
Dancing between international fame and the arthouse, Marion Cotillard blended both star personas in James Gray’s hushed and heartbreaking period melodrama. With fierce determination and touching luminosity, Cotillard profoundly embodies the sorrow and the hope of the New York immigrant experience.
While Ken Loach is the best-known British auteur when it comes to portraying working-class lives, don’t forget this moving masterwork by Terence Davies. Drawing on his upbringing and paced to the rhythms of 1940s popular songs, Davies’ first feature length drama is a family story flush with passion.
Prior to making some of the biggest sci-fi blockbusters of the 21st century, Denis Villeneuve directed this French New Wave-influenced drama. Premiering at Cannes, August 32nd on Earth highlights the striking visuals that would become Villeneuve’s trademark, here presented in a gorgeous restoration.
With her I Was at Home, But… helmed as one of last year’s best arthouse movies, we look back at German auteur Angela Schanelec’s first leap into feature filmmaking. An unusual take on desire and its ambiguous nature, this ethereal drama is filled with powerful, skilfully-crafted observation.
This stunning exploration of the life of a rural family marks Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s highly personal debut feature. Shot in poignant black-and-white cinematography, and starring members of his own family, The Small Town is a low-budget, minimalist ode to the slow rhythms of life in the countryside.
Prior to his success in Hollywood, Bennett Miller pioneered the digital revolution in documentary with the unforgettable The Cruise. Shooting on an affordable Mini DV handheld camera, Miller captured stripped-down yet wonderfully expressive images of one of cinema’s most electrifying subjects.
A socialist trailblazer, Lina Wertmüller began her career as assistant to Fellini, whose influence permeates her neorealist debut. Scored by Ennio Morricone and shot by the DP of 8½ , this mesmerizing drama delves into the trials of small-town Italian life. Bask in the glory of this new restoration.
Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó’s latest feature, Pieces of a Woman, premiered at Venice 2020 to great fanfare. His previous film, Jupiter’s Moon, is a bold and provocative sci-fi spectacle that stunned audiences at Cannes with its thrilling blend of political allegory and visual wonder.
Another comedic affair from Jacques Becker, this Arabian Nights musical adaptation features stunning on-location footage of Morocco and a plethora of lively characters. Its atmosphere of Orientalist exoticism may be of its time, but the charisma of French comic legend Fernandel reigns supreme.
“Once the assistant to Jean Renoir, the great but underseen Jacques Becker serves as a generational bridge to the French New Wave. The jazzy vitality, sharp insight, and comic aplomb of this 1951 portrait of a young relationship leads directly to Breathless, Rohmer, and Truffaut. A delightful gem.
One of Poland’s most talented directors, Małgorzata Szumowska won her first Silver Bear for this quirky study on the side effects of human grief. Intertwining elements of mystery drama, afterlife enquiry, and dark comedy, Body also serves as a sharp, uncommon observation of modern-day ethics.
If you thought De Palma and Rivette would never mix well, you need to see this. Deliciously playful about art and money, Jon Jost’s film oozes with ‘80s charm as its nonchalant protagonists try to fall in love. We’re proud to present this seminal American indie in a gorgeous, brand new restoration.
Shot entirely during the Cannes Film Festival, this quirky comedy is one of Hong Sang-soo’s lightest and most delightful efforts. A self-mocking take on the film industry, it stars Kim Min-hee and an irresistible Isabelle Huppert as the ultimate Frenchie, who believes that polaroids change lives!
Financed by John and Yoko (!), The Holy Mountain is an incendiary, surrealist, sacrilegious satire that outraged Cannes in 1973. Infused with tarot imagery, alchemical mysticism, and countercultural freakery, it’s a lucid dream that lodges itself directly in the subconscious—and there it stays.
A triumph of color animation, this is a delightful fable for both children and adults. With Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki (The Wind Rises, Spirited Away) citing it as a major influence, and co-scripted by French poet Jacques Prévert, The King and the Mockingbird is a work of pure poetry.
Continuing our retrospective dedicated to the hilarious, anti-romantic ingenious that is Hong Sang-soo, here is yet another wise introspection of relationships and the fragility of men. Made ecstatic with a twist of surreal ambiguity— Yourself and Yours is a delightful, cinematic jigsaw puzzle.
Directed by Palme d’Or winner Ermanno Olmi (The Tree of Wooden Clogs), this rousing character study is a pacifist declaration against the human suffering of war. Quickly moving through historical details and battles, the film uses its meticulous visual design to focus on the soul of its protagonist.
Craving a little spice in your life? Then you might try immersion in this riotous “pink musical,” directed by legendary pinku eiga director Shinji Imaoka and shot by none other than Wong Kar-wai’s fabled DP Christopher Doyle. Get ready for sex, sea creatures, reincarnation, and European synth-pop!
Georgian auteur Otar Iosseliani’s idiosyncratic ensemble films depict normal life, but blossom with an absorbing sense of absurdism. Winter Song is no exception, uniting people through the skull of a beheaded aristocrat to form a satire of revolution that is dynamic, surreal, and outright hilarious.
Winner of an Independent Spirit Award, Kirill Mikhanovsky’s second film is a freewheeling and compassionate story about those at the margins of the American dream. An unpredictable and lovingly composed comedy, Give Me Liberty shines through its wonderful cast of mostly nonprofessional actors.
