Selects FEBRUARY 17-27 2014 PUBLIC SCREENINGSMARCH 19-30 2014 PUBLIC SCREENINGS Rating New Directors/New Films 2014; comments on Film Comment SelectsThough New Directors features some provocative and radical new work, some of the films, the best, were straightforward dramas that had resonance with our times of worry, paranoia, and economic and environmental crisis. Top marks to the two Romanian features,
The Japanese Dog (Jurgiu ), the story of a father devastated by flood reunited with his expatriate son, and
Quod Erat Demonstrandum (Gruzsnetczki ), a tale of Eighties intellectual repression, which are not groundbreaking in technique but simply well-made and relevant films. A sparkling Chinese debut was
Trap Street (Qu), a romance with a nod to government oppression. The Israeli
Youth (Shoval) is a kidnapping thriller full of economic and job desperation. The Italian
Salvo (Grassadonia, Piazza), with impressive performances and virtuoso technique rings changes on the mafia thriller, blending in a doomed romance and exalted spaghetti western style, another strong debut. There were a couple of powerful documentaries:
Return to Homs (Derki), following young Syrian rebels up so close the filmmaker risked his life constantly, is an absolute must-see;
We Come As Friends is another important statement about the exploitation of Africa, South Sudan this time, but not as coherent as Hubert Sauper's earlier
Darwin's Nightmare.
Other New Directors films were certainly worth seeking out, such as
Ayoade's The Double, a polished
Brazil knockoff, but not as great and warm as
Submarine;
Obvious Child (Robbespierre) is a successful US female comedy;
Salvation Army (Taïa) is a beautifully stark, pioneering gay film from Morocco. And there are many other more radical titles of interest for various reasons that are what give the series its depth and character.
This is still a great series and it was a great pleasure and an honor to be able to watch every one of the feature-length selections. Special thanks to
John Wildman FSLC Senior Publicist and
David Ninh Publicist for all their help in covering the series and keeping it running so smoothly; to all the staff at the Film Society and MoMA; to
Glenn Raucher of the Film Society, Theater Manager, who keeps the theaters providing world class screening quality.
I liked the
Film Comment Selects titles I chose,
Felony (Saville), Me & You (Bertolucci), Cherchez Hortense (Bonitzer), Our Sunhi (Hong), but can't list "best of" this series because as before, it was impossible to sample a large enough chunk of the more eclectic and chronologically free-ranging series.
Links to my ND/NF and FCS reviews on FILMLEAF: 20,000 Days on Earth (Ian Forsyth, Jane Pollard 2013)--ND/NFBadadook, The (Jennifer Kent 2014)--ND/NFBuzzard (Joel Potrykus 2013)--ND/NFCherchez Hortense (Pascal Bonitzer 2012)--FCSDear White People (Justin Simien 2014)--ND/NFDouble, The (Richard Ayoade 2013)--ND/NFFelony (Matthew Saville 2013)--FCSFish & Cat (Shahram Mokri 2013)--ND/NFGirl Walks Home Alone at Night, A (Ana Lily Anirpour 2013)--ND/NFJapanese Dog, The (Tudor Cristian Jurgiu 2014)--ND/NFMe and You/Io e te (Bernardo Bertolucci 2013)--FCSMouton/Sheep (Gilles Deroo, Mariane Pistone 2013)--ND/NFObvious Child (Gillian Robbespierre 2013)--ND/NFOf Horses and Men (Benedickt Erlingsson 2013)--ND/NFOur Sunhi (Hong Sang-soo 2013)--FCSQuod Erat Demonstrandum (Andrei Gruzsnetczki 2014)--ND/NFReturn to Homs (Talal Derki 2013)--ND/NFSalvation Army/L'Armée du salut (Abdellah Taïa 2013)--ND/NFSalvo (Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza 2013)--ND/NFShe's Lost Control (Anja Marquardt 2014)--ND/NFSpell to Ward Off the Darkness, A (Ben Rivers, Ben Russell 2013)Stop the Pounding Heart (Robert Minervini 2013)--ND/NFStory of Fear/Historia del miedo (2013)--ND/NFStory of My Death/Historia de meva mort (Albert Serra 2013)--ND/NF
Strange Little Cat, The/Merkwürdige Kätzchen, Das (Ramon Zürcher 2013)--ND/NFTo Kill a Man (Alejandro Fernándo Almendras 2013)--ND/NFTrap Street/Shuiyin jie (Vivian Qu 2013)--ND/NFVanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, The (Jessica Orneck 2014)--ND/NFWe Come As Friends (Hupert Sauper 2014)--ND/NFYouth (Tom Shoval 2013)--ND/NF