DMovies' editor Victor Fraga attended one of the largest film festivals of the Balkans and Eastern Europe for the first time; just as he unearthed multiple dirty gems, he explains why this visit was close to his heart in more ways than one [Read More...]
A man's life goes from stasis to quick collapse, in a shining debut feature boasting measured direction and gripping performances - Serbian co-production premieres at the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Light-hearted, mystical and playful ghost story from Germany examines irrational desires and the quest for imagined autonomy - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Rural tradition and TikTok sensibilities clash to explosive results, in this very clever and uplifting comedy from North Macedonia - from the Tallinn Black Nights [Read More...]
In an almost Orwellian statement, elderly patients overcome adversity and take the nursing home in their own hands - filthy genius, dark comedy opened the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Orphaned teen seeks to reconnect with his hesitant half-brother and cousins, in this thoughtful and heartwarming social realist drama from Ireland - on various VoD platforms on Monday, October 27th (also showing at the Tallinn Black Nights) [Read More...]
Football coach is determined to assemble and train a women's team, in this well-meaning yet contrived Azerbaijani documentary - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Swiss-Bosnian director returns to his native Srebrenica, where a local man narrates his survival ordeal in horrifying detail - sobering genocide do premieres at the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Three tomboys find comfort and inspiration with an extravagant trans woman, in this lame tale of LGBT+ liberation from Slovenia - in the Official Competition of the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Young Serbian filmmaker and his family seek to overcome grief during a countryhouse house reunion, in this quiet and dispassionate piece of autofiction - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Elderly couple who survived the Sebrenica massacre gradually lose hope in reviving their moribund city, where the largest genocide of Europe since WW2 took place - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Music-loving students grapples with earthquakes, xenophobia, surveillance and authoritarianism, in Neo Sora's (Ryuichi Sakamoto's son) clumsy allegory of "near-future" Japan - in cinemas on Friday, September 19th [Read More...]
Teenage girl juggles love, lakes and death in this effective and charming indie drama from Montenegro - from the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Two unlikely Belarusian lovers bond over their otherworldly appearance and lifestyle, in this heartwarming piece of autofiction - from the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival [Read More...]
Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason explores a family’s break-up with stoical patience, enticing imagery and a quirky sense of humour - from various festivals [Read More...]
Russian aggression defaces Ukrainian landscape and wildlife, in his non-narrative, sensory and hypnotic doc - from the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival [Read More...]
Iranian documentarist captures her video interactions with young photographer trapped in Gaza, in a historical register that's both heartwarming and harrowing - from various festivals [Read More...]
Fabrice du Welz’s police thriller offers a gritty, fictionalised account of Belgian serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester Marc Dutroux's case - from the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
A miscast Josh O'Connor plays Mooney, a novice criminal who tries to pull off the perfect art heist...and fails miserably at it - on Mubi in December [Read More...]
Eighteen-year-old Marina retraces the footsteps of her biological parents in Galicia (Northwestern Spain) - Carla Simon's heartbreakingly honest, semi-autobiographical new film shows in various festivals [Read More...]
GRAND PRIX WINNER AT CANNES: Seventy-year-old filmmaker is hellbent on finishing his first movie in a decade, as Joachim's Trier comments on the complex relationship between artistry and humanity - in cinemas on Friday, December 26th [Read More...]
In this Middle Eastern Tarantino-esque thriller, an actor swears vengeance for a pal cruelly gunned down (while prophesising an end to the genocide) - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
PALME d'OR WINNER - Torture survivors accidentally kidnap their apparent tormentor of yore, in Panahi’s meditation on the ethics and the dynamics of revenge (with a message for Iranian censors and thugs) - in cinemas on Friday, November 5th [Read More...]
A recovering alcoholic and former poet is charmed by a student's writings, but finds himself in hot water when she too takes to wine - from Tallinn [Read More...]
Soulful Sérgio Coragem stars in an overlong piece about an aid worker walking in the steps of his white privilege - Brazilian drama shows at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Japanese blend of murder mystery and child imagination allegory is cryptic and bizarre, dogged by elementary cinematography and wooden acting - showing in various festivals [Read More...]
Richard Linklater transports viewers back to the Paris and the Cannes of 1960, in his charming tribute to Jean-Luc Godard (mind: he occasionally betrays the spirit of the late French filmmaker) - in cinemas on Friday, January 30th [Read More...]
European whims are shattered into pieces, in Oliver Laxe's hauntingly beautiful and disturbing allegory of life on the edge - showing at various film festivals [Read More...]
Independent police investigator deep-dives into a police brutality case, in this thoughtful study of repression and impunity - from the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Young and dignified lawyer confronts Stalin's corrupt establishment, in Sergei Loznitsa's profound and sombre new film - from the 29th Tallinn Black Nights [Read More...]
Aesthetically astounding German drama seamlessly blends the visual and the tactile, just as it weaves together three families from different eras - from various festivals [Read More...]
Georgian filmmaker paints an ugly picture of surrogacy in her country, while leaving many questions unanswered - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
While retaining his anti-cinema aesthetic, Radu Jude turns away from the absurd into the sad and profound - political drama about guilt and comfort is in cinemas on Friday, October 31st [Read More...]
Teen fugitive runs seeks shelter in a film studio, in Lucile Hadžihalilović's ice-cold, cryptic and laborious new creation - on VoD on Tuesday, January 20th [Read More...]
Clever granny evades old-age "colony" established by Brazil's authoritarian government, in this gently dystopian drama set in a terrifyingly near future - from various festivals [Read More...]
Michel Franco's new creation, about an illegal Mexican immigrant in the US, is less violent, more mature and rounded than New Order - showing at various film festivals [Read More...]
Slovakian artist and dissident deals with love, motherhood and freedom when pulled back by an old love to the country she fled - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Filthy old ghost haunts three women on various video devices - clever teen scream horror is a refreshing addition to the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Farming villagers of Scotland grapple with meddling outsiders, in Athina Rachel Tsangari's rich new drama - from various festivals/ on VoD on Friday, August 8th [Read More...]
Paolo Sorrentino's new drama is an ambitious tribute to his native Naples and to gorgeous nymphets: a pompous, verbose and superficial comment on "beauty" - now on VoD [Read More...]
Football legend Diego Maradona inadvertently changes the life of a young Neapolitan man, in Paolo Sorrentino's messy new film - showing at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, as the director receives the honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award [Read More...]
Canteen worker of a secret Soviet research institute wrestles (both literally and metaphorically) with her coworkers, in this highly claustrophobic, violent and sexually graphic Russian flick - from the Sarajevo Film Festival [Read More...]
Paolo Sorrentino's political satire drama is a kick in the balls to populist governments. It makes Michael Moore look like a pussy cat - from the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, where the director received the honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award [Read More...]
