Elle (Lily Tomlin) is an academic/erstwhile poet with an acerbic tongue and a combative attitude. When Elle’s granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) arrives at her doorstep with an unwanted pregnancy and little money, they embark on a journey that involves Elle ringing up old acquaintances to collect enough money for an abortion. What ensues is a day of episodic reunions, some painful, some joyful, and most raucous and downright funny.

Måns Månsson and Hongqi Li’s STRANDED IN CANTON is a [...]

Onur Tukel’s APPLESAUCE is a mess. But the problem is that I’m almost certain that it was intended to be a mess from the very beginning. Like an Ornette Coleman record, the unity comes from the disunity and spontaneity of non-harmonious elements blended together around a central theme. In the case of APPLESAUCE, that theme is perhaps the necessity of empathy. Spurred on by a controversial radio host who encourages people

John Maclean’s SLOW WEST is foremost a showcase film. His [...]

Like a psychopomp, the conductor welcomes passengers onto Amtrak’s Empire Builder, the last great American railway route. Stretching across desolate prairies, mountains, and snowy wastes, the train carries nearly half a million passengers annually from Chicago in the east to Seattle and Portland in the northwest. There is much silence and time for contemplation during the train’s trek across the great American Nothingness.

In gutters of suburbia Jabz (Bonko Cosmo Khoza) and September [...]

This year's festival seems all about promoting sport documentaries, from Cosima Spender’s PALIO to Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt's HAVANA MOTOR CLUB, reviewed herein. More than a documentary on illegal car racing in Cuba HAVANA MOTOR CLUB is a frank attempt at illuminating car racing as a metaphor for freedom of expression and unity. It is about a nation (Cuba) coming together and standing up for