• “Aquarela” takes the viewer through visual imagery using the attaching beauty of water. It stands as reminder that humans are no match for the brute force and whimsy of earth’s most precious element. From the frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angel Falls, water is “Aquarela’s main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky capturing its many f

  • I must divulge two important facts. The first one is that the Western is my favorite film genre, and the second, my favorite Western (and third favorite film ever made) is Sam Peckinpah’s “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson (1973). I am of the opinion that Peckinpah’s work on that film is profound and special, and impossible to match. To this, I admit that any film based on the story and legend of Billy

  • The official program of the 72nd edition of the Locarno Film Festival was announced at a press conference today, Wednesday 17th of July. Also announced were the Leopard Club Award to Hilary Swank, the Vision Award Ticinomoda to Claire Atherton, the Premio Utopia to Enrico Ghezzi and the Premio Cinema Ticino to Fulvio Bernasconi. The 72nd edition was presented by Locarno’s new artistic director Lili Hinstin.Explanation: The Leopard Club Award pays tribute

  • In this male-dominated business women filmmakers have always been too small a minority. There is progress being made but women’s voices deserve better recognition.

    Chantal Akerman was a founder of the art-of-turning-traditional-narrative-on-its-head school of filmmaking. This is evident in one of her finest works, 1975’s “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Qai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.” This notable

  • 1986’s Chernobyl accident was the result of a flawed reactor design operated by inadequately-trained personnel. The disaster was the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power in which radiation-related fatalities occurred. It’s estimated that the incident resulted in as many as 93,000 fatalities.

    The HBO miniseries “Chernobyl” examines the domino

  • In the male-dominated film business women filmmakers have always been too small a minority. There is progress being made but women’s voices deserve to be heard more often.

    My look at Women filmmakers continues with Dee Rees, film director and screenwriter. Rees is an alumna of New York University's graduate film program and a Sundance

  • Bong Joon-Ho has directed "Parasite," a comedy about an elaborate con that glistens with irony. The material ambitions of the poor are pitted against the dull indulgence of the wealthy in a manichean fight for supremacy. Will the world one day see an all-out war between the classes? Occupy Wall Street, the Yellow Vest movement, were those harbingers? They’ve all come and gone but what’s next? Will there be something else