2014 World Poll – Part 4

Entries in part 4:

JOSH B. MABE

PROGRAM DIRECTOR, CHICAGO FILMMAKERS, AND FILMMAKER.

1. a new favourite filmmaker:
After Hours (Karen Yasinsky, 2013)
&
The Lonely Life of Debby Adams (Karen Yasinsky, 2013)

2. action & process collapse onscreen & within:
Transformers: The Premake (Kevin B Lee, 2014)

3. craft & emotion:
Another Song About The Sea (Jeremy Bessoff, 2013)

4. warmhearted Warhol:
The Mystery of Life (Stephen Cone, 2014)

5. smile and a wink:
Nine Gates (Pawel Wojtasik, 2012)

6. tiny moments:
What Are You Doing? (Courtney Prokopas, 2014)
&
Abductive Object #4 (Kera MacKenzie, 2013)
&
All Things (Ryan Murray, 2013)

7. sixteen:
A Study in Natural Magic (Charlotte Pryce, 2013)
&
Conservatory (Stephen Broomer, 2013)
&
Photooxidation (Pablo Mazzolo, 2013)
&
Shades of Grey (Robert Todd, 2014)

8. building a more infuriating mousetrap:
Control (Chris Bravo & Lindsey Schneider, 2014)

9. Chicago underground:
Bus Stop Angel (Kenny Reed, 2014)
&
Theatre of Cruelty (Devin Cain, 2013)

10. details:
Auf dem Boden der Tatsachen (A Matter of Fact, Roshanak Zangeneh, 2013)
&
Homeostatic (John Rash, 2013)

MIGUEL MARÍAS

ECONOMIST; FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE SPANISH FILM ARCHIVE (1986-88). AUTHOR OF BOOKS ON MANUEL MUR OTI AND LEO MCCAREY. HAS WRITTEN FOR MOST SPANISH FILM MAGAZINES, NOW MAINLY WRITING FOR FOREIGN ONLINE MAGAZINES.

A) Great films seen for the first time, made since 2009

Sorg og Glæde (Sorrow and Joy, Nils Malmros, 2013), J’enrage de son absence (Maddened by His Absence, Sandrine Bonnaire, 2012), The Immigrant (James Gray, 2013), Sosialismi (Socialism, Peter von Bagh, 2014), Ondine (Neil Jordan, 2009), Pas son genre (Not My Type, Lucas Belvaux, 2014), Futatsume no mado (Still the Water, Naomi Kawase, 2014), Aimer, boire et chanter (Life of Riley, Alain Resnais, 2014), Nuits blanches sur la jetée (White Nights on the Pier, Paul Vecchiali, 2014), Se eu fosse ladrão …roubava (If I Was a Thief, I’d Steal, Paulo Rocha, 2011), Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan (Norte, the End of History, Lav Diaz, 2013), Michael Kohlhaas (Age of Uprising, Arnaud Des Pallières, 2013), Cavalo Dinheiro (Horse Money, Pedro Costa, 2014), Au fil d’Ariane (Ariane’s Thread, Robert Guédiguian, 2013), La Jalousie (Jealousy, Philippe Garrel, 2013), Les trois désastres, part of 3x3D; Jean-Luc Godard, 2013).

B) Great films seen for the first time, made before 2009

Barbara (Nils Malmros, 1997), Amore mio (My Love, Raffaello Matarazzo, 1964), Guai ai vinti (Vae victis) (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1954), Buon Natale Buon Anno (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Luigi Comencini, 1989), Private Lives (Sidney A. Franklin, 1931), Utage (Banquet/Rebellion in Japan, Goshō Heinosukē, 1966/7), Mata au hi made (Till We Meet Again, Imai Tadashi, 1950), Jun’ai Monogatari (The Story of Pure Love, Imai Tadashi, 1957), Shunkinsho: Okoto to Sasuke (Otoko and Sasuke; Shimazu Yasujirō, 1935), Gan (The Mistress/Wild Geese, Toyoda Shirō, 1953), Yukiguni (Land of Snow, Toyoda Shirō, 1957), Smilin’ Through (Sidney A. Franklin, 1932), Ma l’amor mio non muore! (Love Everlasting, Mario Caserini, 1913), Leonora dos Sete Mares/Leonora de los Siete Mares (Leonora of the Seven Seas, Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1955), Jirō monogatari (Tale of Jirō, Shimizu Hiroshi, 1955), Shōnenki (Boyhood/A Record of Youth, Kinoshita Keisukē, 1951), Il sole negli occhi (Empty Eyes, Antonio Pietrangeli, 1953), Broken Marriage (Ishmael Bernal, 1983), Byl mesiats maí (It Was in May, Marlen Khutsiiev, 1970), Craig’s Wife (Dorothy Arzner, 1936), Internes Can’t Take Money (Alfred Santell, 1937), The Bride Wore Red (Dorothy Arzner, 1937), Prestige (Tay Garnett, 1932), Das Mädchen ohne Vaterland (Ein Drama aus Balkanländern) (The Girl Without Fatherland, Urban Gad, 1912), Framed/Paula (Richard Wallace, 1947), Backfire (Vincent Sherman, 1950), This Is My Love (Stuart R. Heisler, 1954), The Trap (Norman Panama, 1959), Cry Vengeance (Mark Stevens, 1954), Whiplash (Lewis B. Seiler, 1948), Roma città libera (La notte porta consiglio)(Rome: Free City, Marcello Pagliero, 1946), So Evil My Love (Lewis Allen, 1948), The Mating Call/Rex Beach’s ‘The Mating Call’ (James Cruze, 1928), (Maruhi) Shikijō mesu ichiba (Confidential: She Beast Market/ Secret: Sex Market, Tanaka Noboru, 1974), Tenshi no Harawata: Nami (Angel Guts: Nami, Tanaka Noboru, 1979), (Maruhi) Jorō seme jigoku (Prostitute Torture Hell/The Hell-Fated Courtesan, Tanaka Noboru, 1973), Point de depart (Starting Place / Point de départ, Robert Kramer, 1994), Chi to Suna (Fort Graveyard; Okamoto Kihachi, 1965), Edogawa Ranpo ryōki-kan: Yaneura no sanposha (Watcher in the Attic; Tanaka Noboru,1976)

C) Very good films seen for the first time, made since 2009

Tian zhu ding (A Touch of Sin, Jia Zhang-ke, 2013), Feng ai (‘Till Madness Do Us Part, Wang Bing, 2013), Cold in July (Jim Mickle, 2014), La Venus à la fourrure (Venus in Furs,Roman Polanski, 2013), San zimei (Three Sisters, longer version of Gudu, Wang Bing, 2013), Dabba/The Lunchbox (Ritesh Batra, 2013), Prologo sa ‘Ang Dakilang Desaparecido’ (Prologue to ‘The Great Desaparecido’, Lav Diaz, 2014), Mula sa kung ano ang noon (From What Is Before, Lav Diaz, 2014),

Biette (Pierre Léon, 2010), Gudu (Wang Bing, 2012), Nebraska (Alexander Payne, 2013), Mes séances de lutte (Love Battles, Jacques Doillon, 2013), L’Amour est un crime parfait (Love Is the Perfect Crime; Arnaud & Jean-Marie Larrieu, 2013), Miele (Honey, Valeria Golino, 2013), Arrête ou je continue (If You Don’t, I Will, Sophie Fillières, 2014), País de todo A 100 (The Palace Without Stairs, Pablo Llorca, 2014), Deux jours, une nuit (Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2014), La isla mínima (Alberto Rodríguez, 2014), La Sirga (The Towrope, William Vega, 2012), Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, 2014), E Agora?Lembra-me (What Now?Remind Me, Joaquim Pinto, 2013), La Chambre bleue (The Blue Room, Mathieu Amalric, 2014), Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014), Jersey Boys (Clint Eastwood, 2014), Phantom Power (Pierre Léon, 2014), The Monuments Men (George Clooney, 2014), El Gran salto adelante (The Great Leap Forward, Pablo Llorca, 2014), Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (David Lowery, 2013)

D) Interesting failures
O velho do restelo (The Old Man of Belém, Manoel de Oliveira, 2014), La Fille et le Fleuve (The Girl and the River, Aurélia Georges, 2014), Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)

E) Very good films seen for the first time, made before 2009

Flight to Mars (Lesley Selander, 1951), Slava nam, smért vragam (The Last Raid, Ievgenií Bauer, 1914), Cerasella (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1959), Trädgårdsmästaren (The Broken Spring Rose/The Cruelty of the World, Victor Sjöström, 1912), Mát (Mother, Mark Donskoí, 1955), Neotpravliennoie písmo (Letter Never Sent, Mikhail Kalatozov, 1959), Who Is The Black Dahlia? (Joseph Pevney, 1975), 5 Steps to Danger (Henry S. Kesler, 1957), I sogni mouiono all’alba (Dreams Die at Dawn, Indro Montanelli, Mario Creveri & Enrico Gras, 1961), Goodbye, My Fancy (Vincent Sherman, 1951), La cieca di Sorrento (Giacomo Gentilomo, 1952), Shopworn (Nicholas Grinde/Nick Grindé, 1932), Jitsuroku Sada Abe (A Woman Called Abe Sada,Tanaka Noboru,1975), If I Were Free (Elliott Nugent, 1933), The Hoodlum (Sidney A. Franklin, 1919), “The Lonely” (S1,Ep.7 of The Twilight Zone, Jack Smight, 1959), “Time Enough at Last”(S1, Ep.8 of The Twilight Zone, John Brahm, 1959), Nigorie (Muddy Water/An Inlet of Muddy Water; Imai Tadashi, 1953), Hakkinbon bijin ranbu yori:semeru! (Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture, Tanaka Noboru, 1977), Mogliamante (Wife, Lover, Marco Vicario, 1977), The Growler Story (John Ford, 1957), Aïe (Ouch, Sophie Fillières, 2000), Rommanzo d’Amore (All for Love, Duilio Coletti, 1950), Walk the Proud Land (Jesse Hibbs, 1956), The Saga of Hemp Brown/Hemp Brown (Richard Carlson, 1958), Night Unto Night (Donald Siegel, 1949), Right Cross (John Sturges, 1950), Wild Orchids (Sidney A. Franklin, 1929), Nacht fiel über Gotenhafen (Darkness Fell in Gotenhafen, Frank Wisbar, 1960), Bogdan Khmélnitskií (Igór Savchenko, 1941), The Secret Bride (William Dieterle, 1934), Melodie immortali (Mascagni) (Giacomo Gentilomo, 1952), La Carne e L’Anima (Flesh and Soul, Wladimir Strichewsky, 1945), Adauchi (Revenge, Imai Tadashi, 1964), Traktoristi (Tractorists, Ivan Pyríiev, 1939), La Bugiarda (La mentirosa/Le Partage de Catherine) (Six Days A Week, Luigi Comencini, 1965), La città calda (Raffaele Andreassi, 1962), Menzogna (Falsehood, Ubaldo Del Colle, 1952), Gentille (Good Girl, Sophie Fillières, 2005), “Nightmare as a Child” (S1, Ep.29 of The Twilight Zone, Alvin Ganzer, 1960), The Gun Woman (Frank Borzage, 1918), Noi peccatori (Guido Brignone, 1953), Love Letters/Passion Play (Amy Holden Jones, 1983), Zona Roja (Red Zone/Pink Zone, Emilio “Indio” Fernández, 1976), Valerie (Gerd Oswald, 1957), Highways by Night (Peter Godfrey, 1942), Ushimitsu no Mura (Village of Doom, Tanaka Noboru, 1983), The True Story of Lynn Stuart (Lewis B. Seiler, 1958), I giorni contati (Counted Days, Elio Petri, 1962), During This Time (Wolfram Brackhahn, Ben Webster & Oscar Peterson concert at the 84th NDR Jazzworkshop in Studio II, Hannover, December 14, 1972), The Age of Innocence (Philip Moeller, cl .Jane Loring, 1934), The House of the Seven Gables (Joe May, 1940), V bolshom gorodé (In the Big City, Mikhail Averbakh & Mark Donskoí, 1928), Those Endearing Young Charms (Lewis Allen, 1945), Singapore Sling: O anthropos pou agapise ena ptoma (Nikos Nikolaidis, 1990), Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (J.D. Athens, 1989)

F) Great films rediscovered or re-evaluated by a new vision 

Chibusa yo eien nare (Eternal Breasts, Tanaka Kinuyō, 1955), Tsuki wa noborinu (The Moon Has Risen, Tanaka Kinuyō, 1955), The Sun Shines Bright (John Ford, 1953), Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur, 1946), Rio Grande (John Ford, 1950), Donovan’s Reef (John Ford, 1963), Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, 1964), La Marseillaise (Jean Renoir, 1938), The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (Vincente Minnelli, 1962), Bonne chance! (Lucky Partners, Sacha Guitry & Fernand Rivers, 1935), Mne dvadtsat let (I Am 20, Marlen Khutsiiev, 1964), The Man I Love (Raoul Walsh, 1947), Scaramouche (George Sidney, 1952), Our Daily Bread (Hell’s Crossroads, King Vidor, 1934), The Miniver Story (H.C. Potter, collab. Victor Saville, 1950), Delitto d’amore (Somewhere Beyond Love, Luigi Comencini, 1974), Bird of Paradise (King Vidor, 1932), Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937), The Proud Ones (Robert D. Webb, 1956), Il Boia di Lilla (La vita avventurosa di Milady) (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1952), Torna! (Come Back!, Raffaello Matarazzo, 1954), The World Moves On (John Ford, 1934), The Horse Soldiers (John Ford, 1959), Peter Pan (Hamilton Luske, Clyde A. Geronimi & Wilfred Jackson; s.Ben Sharpsteen; p.Walt Disney), The Sicilian (Michael Cimino, 1987), The Two-Headed Spy (Andre de Toth, 1958), Ten North Frederick (Philip Dunne, 1958), La ragazza di Bube (Bube’s Girl, Luigi Comencini, 1963), Pane amore e gelosia (Bread, Love and Jealousy, Luigi Comencini, 1954), La Punition ou Les Mauvaises Rencontres (The Punishment; Jean Rouch, 1962), The Unfaithful (Vincent Sherman, 1947), Vénus aveugle (Tragédie des temps modernes) (Blind Venus, Abel Gance, 1941), Backlash (John Sturges, 1956), The Rawhide Years (Rudolph Maté, 1955), Who’s Minding the Store? (Frank Tashlin, with,prod. Jerry Lewis, 1963), The Money Trap (Burt Kennedy, 1965), Cabezas cortadas/Cabeças Cortadas (Cutting Heads, Glauber Rocha, 1970), Esther and the King/Ester e il Re (Raoul Walsh; cl. Mario Bava, 1960), La valigia dei sogni (Luigi Comencini, 1953), Ruthless (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1948), Nana (Lady of the Boulevards, Dorothy Arzner, 1934)

G) Very good pictures rediscovered or re-evaluated (not always for the best) by a new vision 

Stranded (Frank Borzage, 1935), Je l’ai été 3 fois! (Sacha Guitry, 1952), My Favorite Wife (Garson Kanin, story, prod. Leo McCarey, 1940), L’Ange Noir (Jean-Claude Brisseau, 1994), Rock-A-Bye Baby (Frank Tashlin, 1958), Pane amore e fantasia (Bread, Love and Fantasy, Luigi Comencini, 1953), Back to God’s Country (Joseph Pevney, 1953), The Wild North (Andrew Marton, 1952), The Best of Everything (Jean Nagulesco, 1959), Historias extraordinarias (Extraordinary Tales, Mariano Llinás, 2008), The Good Fairy (William Wyler, 1935), The Abyss (James Cameron, 1989), Le Fond de l’air est rouge (A Grin Without A Cat, Chris Marker, 1977/93), The Beast with Five Fingers (Robert Florey, 1947), Cinq et la peau (Five and the Skin; Pierre Rissient, 1982), The Man From Colorado (Henry Levin, 1948), Night Passage (James Neilson; prep. Anthony Mann, 1957), The Human Factor (Otto Preminger, 1979), John O’Hara’s ‘From the Terrace’/From the Terrace (Mark Robson, 1960), Crepúsculo (Twilight, Julio Bracho, 1945), No Room for the Groom (Douglas Sirk, 1952), La Commune (Paris 1871) (Peter Watkins, 2000), China Gate (Samuel Fuller, 1957), The Silent Partner (Daryl Duke, 1978), The Crooked Way (Robert Florey, 1949), The Battle at Apache Pass (George Sherman, 1952), Tension at Table Rock (Charles Marquis Warren, 1956), Smoke Signal (Jerry Hopper, 1955), The House of the Seven Hawks (Richard Thorpe, 1959), Five Star Final (Mervyn Leroy, 1931), Kon-Tiki (Thor Heyerdahl, 1950)

PS1: Breaking my usual behaviour, I must say that, despite very heavy competition, the worst, dumbest, ugliest, most unfunny and most despicable thing I have suffered this year is Bruno Dumont’s four-part TV miniseries P’tit Quinquin (2014), which curiously nobody else seems to find objectionable.

PS2: To top such sorry disappointments as were already, among other more serious things in a time of crisis like this, the latest three David Cronenberg films and the latest three Abel Ferrara movies, for the first time ever in his long and fruitful career I have been bitterly disappointed by the latest film of Jean-Luc Godard, the filmmaker which I consider the greatest and most original to have surged since 1959. But I have seen five times (both on unnecessary/useless 3D and on 2D, my eyes would rather endure the “flat” version) Adieu au langage (2014) and cannot believe he actually directed such a collection of bits and pieces plagiarised from most of his films made since 1979 or so. The credits remaining characteristically cryptic on the film itself, and unusually vague and incomplete elsewhere, I’m tempted to believe, after listening to his presentation of the film at Locarno, that its failure should be at least partly credited to Fabrice Aragno, who I’m sure did much more than merely “photograph” it. Moreover, you can hear Godard’s voice, but I did not catch his other usual signature, which he could not refrain even on anonymous militant shorts like Cinétracts (1968): while Marker or Resnais respected that title, Godard rebaptised his own segments as Filmtracts and all of them were full of his very recognisable handwriting… Nevertheless, I must confess that I still find Adieu au langage, despite being very minor Godard, much more interesting than most highly praised and awarded films of the year, from Dolan to Von Trier, from Wes Anderson to Scorsese, from Glazer to Pawlikowski, from Sachs to Korine, from Nolan to Leigh, from Loach to Dupieux, from Wiseman to Ferran, from Schrader to Hue, from Gondry to Reichardt…

Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan (Norte, the End of History, Lav Diaz, 2013)

DUNCAN MCLEAN

FILM STUDIES LECTURER AND MOVIE REVIEWER

The ten best in alphabetical order:

Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
Incredibly ambitious and effectively executed. A truly unique cinematic experience. 

Calvary (John Michael McDonagh, 2014)
A poignant, powerful yet still funny film that cements McDonagh and Gleeson as a director/actor combination to watch.

Chef (John Favreau, 2014)
An endearing celebration of food, cooking, creativity, passion and family. A joyous film. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
This 1930s style caper film is the most complete realisation yet of Wes Anderson’s aesthetic. 

Guardians of the Galaxy (James Gunn, 2014)
What seemed like a questionable step for Marvel Studios turned into the most exciting, fun and fresh blockbuster in decades.

Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2013)
A beautifully shot character study of a flawed but undeniably talented folk singer. Best soundtrack of the year.

Locke (Steven Knight, 2013)
A brave rethinking of how to tell a story on screen, reimagining the very nature of what is cinematic. 

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
A most peculiar film. When you get to the end you don’t quite know what you have seen but you know that you have seen something.

What We Do in the Shadows (Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi, 2014)
Took a subject (vampires) and a form (mockumentary) that both seemed tired and combined them to make a vibrant, original and downright funny film. 

Whiplash (Damien Chazelle, 2014)
An emotionally and psychologically brutal debut feature with some amazing performances. 

Other Notable Films

The Dark Horse (James Napier Robertson, 2014)
The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reeves, 2014)
Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, 2013)
The Lego Movie (Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, 2014)
Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)

DAVID MELVILLE

LECTURER IN HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR AND GOTHIC EXCESS, EDINBURGH, UK.

Should I perhaps disqualify myself from compiling such lists? My passion is for old movies and much contemporary cinema has no appeal to me at all. Still, here are five films that caught my eye in the past 12 months…

Grace of Monaco (Olivier Dahan, 2014)

Why has this film been so vilified? In past decades, a glamorous star suffering grandly in opulent surroundings was the essence of what movies were about. Nicole Kidman (a far better actress than the original) gives a heartbreaking performance as an intelligent woman who makes a bad decision and feels trapped – but has to make her life work anyway. Wait till you’re alone with the curtains closed…and have a good old-fashioned sob.

Aimer, boire et chanter (Life of Riley, Alain Resnais, 2014)

The swansong of the late, great Alain Resnais explores a world as exotic, rarefied and downright peculiar as the rambling corridors of that hotel in Marienbad – the acid-tinged picture postcard world of Alan Ayckbourn’s English middle class. As immediate and sharply observed as a fly-on-the-wall documentary, as enchanting and diaphanous as a dream, a deceptively lighthearted end to a monumental career.

Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)

The perfect antidote to Twilight and its bloodless ilk, here is a film to redefine vampires for the new millennium. Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston excel as the world-weary-Boho-chic sophisticates next door. The hypnotic locations will have you checking flights to Tangier and (yes!) Detroit. It’s one small sip for the Undead but one giant gulp for contemporary horror…

La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast, Christophe Gans, 2014)

Who would be brave enough (or stupid enough) to remake Jean Cocteau? The director of Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) turns in a dazzling rococo fairytale, dedicated to the age-old motto that too much is never enough. Léa Seydoux shows a flair for interspecies (as well as same-sex) love and Vincent Cassel is the monster you want to take home to Mum.

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)

The number of times I have watched Girl on a Motorcycle and thought, “Ah, if only this were a good film!” Now, all of a sudden, it is. A sexy outsider in black leather drives around on a series of fatal erotic encounters. The men involved may wind up dead…but you can’t say they don’t enjoy the experience. A film that makes Michel Faber accessible and Scarlett Johansson interesting. Which is the greater achievement? 

I would say that Noah (Darren Aronofsky, 2014) was the worst film made this year, but then I’d have to admit I’d seen it.

Aimer, Boire et Chanter (Life of Riley, Alain Resnais, 2014)

ADRIAN D. MENDIZABAL

FILM BLOGGER AT AUDITOIRE, CONTRIBUTOR TO NEW DURIAN CINEMA, TRANSIT JOURNAL, SINEKULTURA FILM JOURNAL, GRADUATE STUDENT AT THE UP FILM INSTITUTE.

1. Alipin ng Sining (Art Slave, Joyce Rochelle Montañano, 2013)
2. Kış uykusu (Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014)
3. Mula sa kung ano ang noon (From What is Before, Lav Diaz, 2014)
4. Deux jours, une nuit (Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2014)
5. Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, 2014)
6. Dagitab (Sparks, Giancarlo Abrahan, 2014)
7. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)
8. Violator (Eduardo Dayao, 2014)
9. Lucy (Luc Besson, 2014)
10. Dancing Decay (Bill Morrison, 2014)
11. Droga! (Miko Revereza, 2013)

NINA MENKES

INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER AND FACULTY MEMBER AT CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS.

I am not able to list ten films that I deeply loved from 2014. These three, all by women, stunned me with their beauty, powerful cinematic form and many levels of radiant truth.

Le meraviglie (The Wonders, Alice Rohrwacher, 2014)
An amazing work that reveals the magical within the ordinary.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, 2014)
Immaculately crafted film about the horrific sexism in Israeli law.

Citizenfour (Laura Poitras, 2014)
Stunning, important documentary, radical in form and in the depth of its integrity.

PETER MEREDITH

LONG TIME FILM LOVER FROM SYDNEY.

Still Life (Uberto Pasolini, 2013)
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Felix van Groeningen, 2012)
Nebraska (Alexander Payne, 2013)
Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross, Dietrich Brüggemann, 2014)
Short Term 12 (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2013)
Hemma (Home, Maximilian Hult, 2013)
Vi är bäst! (We Are the Best!, Lukas Moodysson, 2013)
Philomena (Stephen Frears, 2013)
Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013)
Tim’s Vermeer (Teller, 2013)

Vi är bäst! (We Are the Best!, Lukas Moodysson, 2013)

MADS B. MIKKELSEN

PROGRAMMER, CPH:DOX.

The real film is the one that lives in your memory. Besides being among my personal highlights of 2014 (and beyond), the 10 films below have a thing in common. If you can figure out what it is, send me a mail and I will send you a handmade diploma and a little gift. It’s something you would really want. In no particular order:

End of Summer (Jóhann Jóhannson, 2014)
æ ofaní æ (Time and Time and Again, Ragnheiður Gestsdóttir & Markús Þór Andrésson, 2014)
Episode of the Sea (Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan, 2014)
Reduit (John Skoog, 2014)
The Dent (Basim Magdy, 2014)
Subconscious Society (Rosa Barba, 2014)
Xi You (Journey to the West, Tsai Ming-Liang, 2014)
Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, 2014)
Szenario (Scenario, Philip Widmann & Karsten Krause, 2014)
Remainder (Omer Fast, coming soon)
An avant-première. Fast’s adaptation of Tom McCarthy’s brilliant novel will be the ideal film to see again… and again…

DAVID MILLER

PROGRAMMER, KESWICK FILM CLUB AND FESTIVAL.

Razredni sovraznik (Class Enemy, Roc Bicek, 2013)
A masterpiece that brilliantly depicts the impact of a suicide on those supposedly closest to the victim and what the system does to protect itself.

Plemya (The Tribe, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, 2014)
An astonishing film that, whilst by no means comfortable viewing, is riveting and quite unlike anything else seen in 2014.

Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
To see a person grow up before your eyes is quite amazing in its achievement.

Mr. Turner (Mike Leigh, 2014)
A superb central performance by Timothy Spall and a tremendous evocation of a bygone era make this a wonderfully enjoyable piece of cinema even if Mr Turner himself is hardly a pleasant character.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
Pure enjoyment from start to finish.

Vi är bäst! (We Are the Best!, Lukas Moodysson, 2013)
Thoroughly entertaining with great central performances that effortlessly transport you back to days of carefree youth and friendship.

La jaula de oro (The Golden Dream, Diego Quemada-Díez, 2013)
Much of its power lies in what you do not see, but what you do see is very powerful.

Under The Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
A masterpiece or total rubbish? Brilliant or pretentious twaddle? Whatever your opinion, this is a film that gets you talking and that is what makes it an essential contribution.

Dabba (The Lunchbox, Ritesh Batra, 2013)
Bitter-sweet and beautifully played. A masterclass in acting by Irrfan Khan.

Relatos salvajes (Wild Tales, Damián Szifrón, 2014)
Six self-contained stories linked by the theme of vengeance make for some laugh-out-loud moments amid the darkest of black comedies.

OLAF MÖLLER

CINEPHILE, WRITER, TRANSLATOR AND CURATOR, COLOGNE.

Olaf Möller’s Eleven Friends

Team Manager Team (Films of the Year) 

Die geliebten Schwestern (The Beloved Sisters, Dominik Graf, 2014)
Huángjīn shídài (The Golden Era, Ann Hui, 2014)

First Team (Line-up in strictly alphabetical order)

The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, 2014)
L’Étrange couleur des larmes de ton corps (The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears, Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, 2013)
Kaguya-hime no monogatari (The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Takahata Isao, 2014)
Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg, 2014)
Ničije dete (No One’s Child, Vuk Ršumović, 2014)
Qessehā (Tales, Raḫšān Banī-Etemād, 2014)
Songs From the North (Yu Sunmi, 2014)
Sosialismi (Socialism, Peter von Bagh, 2014)
Spectrum Reverse Spectrum (Margaret Honda, 2014)
Torneranno i prati (Greenery Will Bloom Again; Ermanno Olmi, 2014)
Tsili (Amos Gitai, 2014)
 
Substitutes

The Airstrip – Aufbruch der Moderne, Teil III (The Airstrip – Decampment of Modernism, Part III; Heinz Emigholz, 2014), Angely revolucii (Angels of Revolution; Aleksej Fedorčenko, 2014), Dólares de arena (Sand Dollars; Laura Amelia Guzmán & Israel Cárdenas, 2014), Epistrofī́ stīn odó Aiólou (Éxi laïkés zōgrafiés) (Return to Aeolus Street (Six popular paintings), María Kourkoúta, 2013), Ich seh Ich seh (Goodnight Mommy, Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala, 2014), Kommunisten (Jean-Marie Straub, 2014), Maʾa l-fiḍḍā (Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait; UsāmaMuḥammad& Wi’ām Sīmāf Badraḫan, 2014), Mula sa kung ano ang noon (From What Is Before, Lav Diaz, 2014), Non-fiction diary (Chǒng Yunsǒk, 2014),Ōnāyum Āṭṭukkuṭṭiyum (The Wolf and the Lamb, Miṣkiṉ, 2013), Russische Nationalbibliothek – Sankt Petersburg, Russland [contribution to Kathedralen der Kultur] (Cathedrals of Culture – National Library, St. Petersburg, Russia; Michael Glawogger, 2014), Studien zu Monet (Aus dem Imaginären Museum) (Studies on Monet (From the Imaginary Museum), Klaus Wyborny, 2014)
+Polizeiruf 110 – Smoke on the Water (Dominik Graf, 2014)

Extended Team

3 Histoires d’Indiens (3 Indian Tales; Robert Morin, 2014), Aimer, boire et chanter(Life of Riley, Alain Resnais, 2014), Bacanal do Diabo! e Outras Fitas Proibidas de Ivan Cardoso (Orgy of the Devil, Ivan Cardoso, 2013), Belluscone. Una storia siciliana (Belluscone. A Sicilian History; Franco Maresco, 2014), Burying the Ex (Joe Dante, 2014), Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assyas, 2014), Ḏīb(Theeb, Naǧī Abū Nuwār), Al doilea joc (The Second Game; Corneliu Porumboiu, 2014), Do svidanija, mama (Goodbye, Mom, Svetlana Proskurina, 2013), Fury (David Ayer, 2014), Gompen og andre beretninger om overvåking i Norge 1948-1989 (Gompen and Other Tales of Surveillance in Norway 1948-89; Lene Berg, 2014), Jersey Boys (Clint Eastwood, 2014), Os Maias – cenas da vida romântica (The Maias, Story of a Portuguese Family, João Botelho, 2014), Maidan (Sergei Loznitsa, 2014), To Mikró Psári (Stratos, Giánnīs Oikonomídīs, 2014), Nobi (Fires on the Plain; Tsukamoto Shin’ya, 2014), Pasolini (Abel Ferrara, 2014), Stella Cadente (Falling Star, Lluís Miñarro, 2014), Sturm und Drang (Yamada Isao, 2013), Taṅka Mīṉkaḷ (Golden Fish, Rām, 2013), Threnody for the Victims of Marikana (Aryan Kaganof, 2014), Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014), Welcome to New York (Abel Ferrara, 2014), Zerrumpelt Herz (The Council of Birds; Timm Kröger, 2014)
+ Die Frau mit einem Schuh (Michael Glawogger, 2014),Die reichen Leichen. Ein Starnbergkrimi (Dominik Graf, 2014)

Medical Staff

(film/video-based/related installations, film/video art projects, films seen in exhibitions, theatrical creations by filmmakers, and other creations and happenings such as these)

Afsan’s Long Day (The Young Man Was, Part 2) (Na ͑ îm Mohaiyemen), “Blink Comparator: Her Luminous Distance” (slideshow performance; Aura Satz), “By any means necessary” (film installation; Wolfgang Plöger, 2013), “Komm in meinen Wigwam” (theatrical production; Wenzel Storch), Model Workers (William E. Jones), “Nosferatu lebt!” (theatrical production; Jörg Buttgereit), Spiral of Time Documentary Film (16mm negative strobe-light double and triple exposed – painted with brine shrimp – dripped, splattered and sprayed with salted liquids: balsamic and red wine vinegar, lemon and limejuice, temporary flourescent hair dyes – photos from friends Mark Titchner, Karen Russo, Aaron Moulton and Ignacio Uriarte and some google maps – texts by Jwest and Chris Markers’ Sans Soleil script – shot by Peter West, strobed by Jwest, hands by Ariel West, telecine by Tom Sartori) (Jennifer West, 2013), “SSEENNSSEESS” (multi-media installation; Mika Taanila, 2013), V~ (Manuel Knapp), “Vanitas Vanity” (video installation; Norbert Pfaffenbichler) // “Le Voleur des miroirs” (Overhead projector-performance; Daniel Barrow, 2013)

Olaf Möller’s Eleven Veterans 2014

Team Manager Team (Revelations of the Year)

Oidhche sheanchais (A Night of Storytelling, Robert Flaherty, 1935)
Les Tambours d’avant (Tourou et Bitti) (Jean Rouch, 1971)

First Team (Line-Up in strictly alphabetical order)

Amore mio (My Love, Raffaello Matarazzo, 1964)
Bitoku no yoromeki (But the Flesh Is Weak, Nakahira Kō, 1957)
Celles qui s’en font (Germaine Dulac, 1930)
Dance of the Moods (Claude Friese-Greene?, 1923)
[Festa pirotecnica nel cielo di Londra] (1904; Charles Urban Trading Company?)
German Concentration Camps Factual Survey (Ministry of Information, 1945/2014)
El grito (Leobardo López Aretche, 1968)
Ned med vaabnene (Lay Down Your Arms!, Holger-Madsen, 1914)
No pincha! (Tobias Engel & Gilbert Igel & René Lefort, 1970)
Rasskaz o prostom slučae (A Simple Case, Vsevolod Pudovkin & Michail Doller, 1932)
Retour d’un repère (Rose Lowder, 1979)

Substitutes

Black Devil Doll from Hell (Chester Novell Turner, 1984), Das Blumenwunder (Max Reichmann?, 1925), Ché pha wa daw nu nu (Tender Are the Feet, Maung Wunna, 1972), Conchita und der Ingenieur (Macumba, Franz Eichhorn & Hans Hinrich, 1954), Danse serpentine (Henry Joly?, 1896), Documents officiels de la Section Cinématographique de l’Armée Française. Les Annales de la Guerre no. 8 (Luca Comerio, 1916), [Enema Medley] (~ 1960-62) // Die Flakschießlehre(Filmgruppe des Chefs Ausbildungswesen iA. Reichsminister der Luftfahrt und Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe, 1940s), Forma Otwarta – Gra na twarzy aktorki (Open Form – Game on the Actress’s Face, Zofia Kulik & Przemysław Kwiek & Jan S. Wojciechowski & Bartłomiej Zdrojewski & Paweł Kwiek &Tatiana Dębska & Jacek Zalewski & Ewa Lemańska, 1971), K3 ili Čisto nebo bez oblaka (Mihovil Pansini, 1963), Les Kiriki, acrobates japonais (Kiri-kis, Segundo de Chomón, 1907), Nakinureta haru no onna yo (A Woman Crying in Spring, Shimizu Hiroshi, 1933), Nāves ēnā (In the Shadow of Death, Gunārs Piesis, 1971), Nous ne sommes plus des enfants (We Are Not Children, Augusto Genina, 1935), Peppy Graceful Dance (Irving Klaw, ~1950s), Perawan Di Sarang Sindikat (Lethal Hunter, Arizal, 1990), Pitāmakaṉ (Pālā, 2003), Sissignora (Yes, Madam, Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1942), Soviel nackte Zärtlichkeit (So Much Naked Tenderness, Günter Hendel, 1968), Troppo tardi t’ho conosciuta! (I Met You Too Late, Emanuele Caracciolo [& Carmine Gallone?], 1939), Tusalava (Len Lye, 1929), Yes, We Have No ——- ! (Adrian Brunel?, 1924), Yūwaku (Temptation, Nakahira Kō, 1957), Žurnal politsatiry no 2 (Ivan Ivanov-Vano [Čto Gitler chočet i čto on polučit / What Hitler Wants and What He Will Get], Ol’ga Chodataeva [Bej fašistkich piratov / Beat the Fascist Pirates], Valentina & Zinaida Brumberg (Bej vraga na fronte i v tylu! / Beat the Enemy on the Front and Rear!], Aleksandr Ivanov (Krepkoe rukopožatie / A Firm Handshake], 1941)
+ La palla è rotonda. 1^a puntata: Il più bel gioco del mondo (Raffaele Andreassi, 1973)

Extended Team

1,2,3… Ćwiczenie operatorskie (1,2,3… Cinematographer’s Exercise, Paweł Kwiek, 1972), 2 Everything 2 Terrible II – Tokyo Drift (Everything Is Terrible!, 2010), Abnormal: Ingyaku (Celluloid Nightmare, Satō Hisayasu, 1988), Abunai koto nara zeni ni naru (Danger`s Where the Money Is!, Nakahira Kō, 1962), Addio giovinezza! (Good-bye, Youth, Augusto Genina, 1918), Addio giovinezza! (Augusto Genina, 1927), Addio giovinezza! (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1940), Añcātē (Do Not Fear, Miṣkiṉ, 2008), Ani. La città dalle mille chiese (Società Anonima Ambrosio, 1911), Un anno di scuola (A Year of School, Franco Giraldi, 1977), Apache Rifles (William Witney, 1964), Après Mein Kampf, mes crimes! (My Crimes After Mein Kampf, Alexandre Ryder, 1939), L’arroseur arrosé (Henri Joly?, 1896), Assaut de boxe entre deux champions de Joinville (Henri Joly?, 1896), De bedienden van de familie Sanders (Hendricus Johan Andries Sanders, 1937), Bili, bem, i budem bit’ (Have Beaten, Are Beating, Will Beat, Dmitrij Babičenko, 1941), Camera Thrills of the War! (Eugene Castle [ed.], ~1940s), Chatrapati (Kōḍūri Śrīśaila Śrī Rājamuḷi, 2005), Children’s Magical Death (Timothy Asch & Napoleon Chagnon, 1974), Chizu no nai machi (A Town Not on the Map, Nakahira Kō, 1960), Čolpon – Utrennjaja zvezda (Čolpon – The Morning Star, Roman Tichomirov, 1959), Constantine (Éclair Scientia, 1913), Corazon: Ang Unang Aswang (Richard Villarosa Somes, 2012), Le Coucher de la mariée (Albert Kirchner, 1896), The Counterfeit Traitor (George Seaton, 1962), Dānav (Makrand Dēśpāṇḍē, 2003), Le Déjeuner de Pierrot (Albert Kirchner?, 1896/1897), Dodatkowe wole trawienne magistra Kiziołła (Magister Kiziołł’s Additional Digestive Goitre, Julian Józef Antonisz, 1983), Dracula (Dario Argento, 2012), Un Drame dans les airs (Gaston Velle, 1904), Egypt and Her Defenders (Kineto Limited, 1914), EMS Nr.1 (Ralph Lundsten, 1966), Enfants au bois (Henri Joly?, 1896), Eros-Center Hamburg (Erotic Center, Günter Hendel, 1969), Eye For Eye [fragment] (Albert Capellani & Alla Nazimova, 1918), [Famille stéphanoise au Bois-Noir] (Pierre Petit?, 1897), I fantasmi del fallo (Rony Daopoulo & Maria Grazia Belmonti & Annabella Miscuglio, 1981), Der Favorit der Königin (Franz Seitz, 1922), La Fille de Delft (A Tragedy in the Clouds, Alfred Machin, 1914), Finnland im Kampf (Erwin Oscar Stauffer, 1941), Il focolare domestico (Nino Oxilia, 1914), Gelin (Bride, Ömer Lütfi Akad, 1973), Gendaikko (Modern Children, Nakahira Kō, 1963), Il giorno più corto (The Shortest Day, Sergio Corbucci, 1963), Graf Porno und seine Mädchen… (Günter Hendel, 1968), La guerra d’Italia a 3000 metri sull’Adamello (Luca Comerio, 1916), Gyūnyūya Frankie (Milkman Frankie, Nakahira Kō, 1956), Hate (Sami van Ingen, 2012), [Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming] (~1942-45), Hikaru umi (Bright Sea, Nakahira Kō, 1963), Hitler’s Reign of Terror (Cornelius Vanderbildt & Mike Mindlin, 1933/39?), [Home 2] (Joanna Hogg, 1980), Honra à Índia Portuguesa (Tobis Portuguesa, 1963), Hunting Deer and (1953), Huǒshān qíng xuè (Loving Blood of the Volcano, Sūn Yú, 1932), In a Japanese Garden (Karl Freund, 1928), Ishmael (Richard Villarosa Somes, 2010), I Was an American Spy (Lesley Selander, 1951), Jìngxióng nǚxiá · Qiū Jǐn (The Knight Woman of Mirror Lake, Herman Yau, 2011), Kinjirareta Technique (Forbidden Techniques: Fancy Footwork, Mukai Kan, 1966),Kinocirk: Mul’t-satira v 3-ch attrakcionach (Kino-Circus: A Cartoon Satire in 3 Acts, Leonid Amal’rik & Olga Chodataeva, 1942), Klątwa Doliny Węży (Curse of Snakes’ Valley, Marek Piestrak, 1987), Kuroi tobakushi: Akuma no hidarite (The Black Gambler: Devil`s Left Hand, Nakahira Kō, 1966), Living London [fragment] (Charles Urban Trading Company, 1904), The Love Rebellion (Joe Sarno, 1967), Ma l’amore mio non muore! (Love Everlasting, Mario Caserini, 1913), The Man I Love (William Wellman, 1929), Le mani ignote (By Unseen Hands, Enrique Santos, 1914), Mennyt manner (The Lost Land, Antti Kari, 1982), Mermaid’s Boudoir (~1950s), The Mikado (Fred Watts?, 1926), Mikkai (A Secret Rendezvous, Nakahira Kō, 1959), Milenky starého kriminálníka (The Lovers of an Old Criminal, Svatopluk Innemann, 1927), Mocny człowiek (Strong Man, Henryk Szaro, 1929), [Monson Collection: Vienna 1938] (Lafayette P. Monson, 1938), Multiple SIDosis (Sid Laverents, 1970), Nantā (Pālā, 2001), Natsu no arashi (Summer Storm, Nakahira Kō, 1956), Ne toptat’ fašistskomu sapogu našej rodiny (Fascist Boots Shall not Trample Our Homeland, Aleksandr Ivanov & Ivan Ivanov-Vano, 1941), The Nightingale’s Courtship (Robert J. Cullen, 1926-27), Notizie per tutti ([Guilio Questi,] Michelangelo Antonioni, 1956), Onna no uzu to fuchi to nagare (Whirlpool of Flesh, Nakahira Kō, 1964), Other Men’s Women (William Wellman, 1931), Pain à la campagne (Société Pathé Frères, 1907), Pān Sinh Tōmar (Tigmānśu Dhūliyā, 2012), Parada (The Parade, Jerzy Kucia, 1986), Perchance to Scream (Harrison Marks, 1967), Place de l’Opéra (Ernest Normandin?, 1896), Pollātavaṉ (Ruthless Man, Veṟṟimāṟaṉ, 2007), Prater (Friedrich Kuplent, 1929), Przygoda z piosenką (Adventure with a Song, Stanisław Bareja, 1968), Quarry (Richard P. Rogers, 1970), A Question of People (Roberto Rossellini [& Giuseppe Cino?], 1974), Ridi pagliaccio! (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1941), Romolo e Remo (Duel of the Titans, Sergio Corbucci, 1961), Ryōjin nikki (The Hunter`s Diary, Nakahira Kō, 1964), Der schwarze Panther (Bruno Sukrow, 2011), Sister Mary Jane’s Top Note (Lewin Fitzhamon, 1907), Sretanje (Vladimir Petek, 1963), Storie sulla sabbia (Stories in the Sand, Riccardo Fellini, 1963), The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler (James Hogan, 1943), Suna no ue no shokubutsugun (Flora on the Sand, Nakahira Kō, 1964), Szpital przemienienia (Hospital of Transfiguration, Edward Żebrowski, 1979), Das Tagebuch des Verführers (Michael Hild, 1978), Tales From the Quadead Zone (Chester Novell Turner, 1987), Tanja die Nackte von der Teufelsinsel (Julius Hofherr, 1967), Tausend Takte Übermut (Ernst Hofbauer, 1965), Tavamāy Tavamiruntu (Cēraṉ, 2005), I terribili 7 (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1963), THC Films [excerpts] (Oskar Dawicki, 1996), Le Théâtre populaire arabe (Films Éclair, 1911), These Are the Men (Alan Osbiston & Dylan Thomas, 1943), Through the Looking Glass (Jonas Middleton, 1976), Tiger Morse (Reel 14 of ****) (Andy Warhol, 1967), Tomahawk Trail (Lesley Selander, 1957), Trooper Hook (Charles Marquis Warren, 1957), [Untitled Stag Film] (~1950s), Vainqueurs et vaincus (Société des établissements Gaumont, 1912), La vie cosmopolite au Caire (Alfred Machin, 1913), [Vues Lumière: no. 409 – no. 416: Bethléem – Beyrouth – Damas – Constantinople] (Alexandre Promio?, 1897), W47 Stormy (~1958), W szponach seksu (In the Grips of Sex, Julian Józef Antonisz, 1969), Wessen Aurach, dessen Traun. (Arnold Schicker, 1984), The Wishing Ring, an Idyll of Old England (Maurice Tourneur, 1914)
+ Derrick – Tote Vögel singen nicht (Alfred Vohrer, 1976), EastEnders – Dot’s Story (Joanna Hogg, 2003)

Medical Staff

(film/video-based/related installations, film/video art projects, films seen in exhibitions, and other creations and happenings such as these)
“2’45”” (film performance; William Raban, 1973), “3rd Light” (installation with digital video projection; Paul Chan, 2006), 10 Meest (10 Men, Mark Raidpere, 2003), A-Z (Manfred Kuttner, 1963), “Demi pas” (laterna magica performance; Julien Maire, 2004), End Credits(Chang Yŏnghye & Marc Voge, 2007), My Best Thing (Frances Stark, 2011), “On/Off” (performance; Sandra Gibson & Luis Recoder, 2004), “Point Source” (performance; Tony Hill, 1973), Une Seconde d’Eternité (D’après une idée de Charles Baudelaire) (Marcel Broodthares, 1970), United Red Army. The Young Man Was: Part 1 (Na ͑ îm Mohaiyemen, 2012), Volker Bradke (Gerhard Richter, 1966), “Wavelength” (installation; Michael Baers, 2006/14), “Weekend” (audio piece for cinema; Walther Ruttmann, 1930), White Calligraphy, Re-Read (1967/2010) (Iimura Takahiko)

BRENT MORROW

CINEPHILE AND INFREQUENT KEEPER OF THE BLOG TECHNICOLOR RED, MELBOURNE.

Deux jours, une nuit (Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2014)
Godzilla (Gareth Edwards, 2014)
Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
It Follows (David Robert Mitchell, 2014)
Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, 2014)
Kış uykusu (Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014)
The Knick Season 1 (Steven Soderbergh, 2014)
P’tit Quinquin (Li’l Quinquin, Bruno Dumont, 2014)
Listen Up Philip (Alex Ross Perry, 2014)
Please Like Me Season 2 (Matthew Saville, 2014)
Turist (Force Majeure, Ruben Östlund, 2014)
Xi You (Journey to the West, Tsai Ming-Liang, 2014)

All men. Burn it down. Feels okay to put TV with films when one director makes the lot. Equally excellent or better shows this year: Hannibal, Transparent, Mad Men, Broad City, Girls.

Just missed out: Everything but the last act of Non-Stop (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2014), which does wonders with shallow/rack focus and its onscreen text messages. A great pleasure watching this unsung craftsman.

Deux Jours, Une Nuit (Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2014)

OONA MOSNA      

PROGRAM DIRECTOR MEDIA CITY FILM FESTIVAL; FOUNDING DIRECTOR MOBILE FRAMES.

Gradual Speed (Els van Riel, 2013)
Intensities (Helga Fanderl, 2014)
Poetry for Sale (Friedl vom Gröller, 2013)
THE PARIS POETRY CIRCLE (Friedl vom Gröller, 2013)
Not Far At All (Peter Gidal, 2014)
vis à vis (Abigail Child, USA, 2013)
Sous un ceil changeant (Under a Changing Sky, Jean Claude Rousseau, 2014)
Fe26 (Kevin Jerome Everson, 2014)
Sun Song (Joel Wanek, 2013)
Gente Perra (Anja Dornieden, Juan David Gonzalez Monroy, 2014)
Wayward Fronds (Fern Silva, 2014)
Maidan (Sergei Loznitsa, 2014)
Atlantis (Ben Russell, 2014)

REVOLUTIONS IN 16MM FILM – Curated by Haden Guest and Katja Wiederspahn /2014 edition of the Viennale (including films by the following individuals):

Ben Norman / Mark LaPore / Luke Fowler / António Campos / Matthias Müller
/ Marjorie Keller / Margaret Tait / Chick Strand / Kurt Kren / Irving
Klaw / Aldo Tambellini / Shirley Clarke / Timothy Asch / Napoleon A.
Chagnon / Ben Rivers / Matthew Buckingham / Nathaniel Dorsky / Larry
Gottheim / Richard Tuohy / Els van Riel / Tacita Dean / Leobardo López
Aretche / Richard Serra / Michel Brault / Marcel Carrière / Claude
Fournier / Claude Jutra / Gaëlle Rouard / Sid Laverents / Tobias Engel /
René Lefort / Gilbert Igel / Marie Menken / Leslie Thornton / Gary
Beydler / Robert Nelson / Carolee Schneemann / Richard P. Rogers / Bruce
Baillie / Paul Sharits / Jodie Mack / Deryck Calderwood / Rose Lowder /
Gunvor Nelson / Dorothy Wiley / Ernie Gehr / Nathaniel Dorsky / Storm De
Hirsch / Runa Islam / Jean Rouch / Matsumoto Toshio.

JORGE MOURINHA

LIVES IN LISBON AND WRITES ABOUT FILM IN NEWSPAPER PÚBLICO AND AT HIS PERSONAL BLOG, THE FLICKERING WALL.

One film to rule them all:
Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)

One that almost ruled them all:
Love Is Strange (Ira Sachs, 2014)

20 runners-up, in alphabetical order:

20,000 Days on Earth (Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, 2014)
L’Abri (The Shelter, Fernand Melgar, 2014)
Angelii Revolyutsii (Angels of Revolution, Aleksei Fedorchenko, 2014)
Branco sai, Preto fica (White In, Black Out, Adirley Queirós, 2014)
Cavalo Dinheiro (Horse Money, Pedro Costa, 2014)
Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, 2014)
Concerning Violence (Göran Hugo Olsson, 2014)
The Congress (Ari Folman, 2013)
Ma’a al-Fidda (Silvered Water, a Syria Self-Portrait, Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxian, 2014)
Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
L’image manquante (The Missing Picture, Rithy Panh, 2013)
The Immigrant (James Gray, 2013)
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014)
Lettres à Max (Letters to Max, Eric Baudelaire, 2014)
Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
Quand je serai dictateur (Yaël André, 2013)
Snakeskin (Daniel Hui, 2014)
Snowpiercer (Joon-ho Bong, 2013)
Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)

V.A. MUSETTO

LONGTIME NEW YORK CRITIC; CONTRIBUTES TO INDIEWIRE, FILM COMMENT.

Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013)
Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, 2013)
It Felt Like Love (Eliza Hittman, 2013)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)
The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
Flesh of My Flesh (Denis Dercourt, 2014)
Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, 2013)
Big Bad Wolves (Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado, 2013)

Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, 2013)

PETER NAGELS

CINEPHILE, LIBRARIAN AND DREAM RESEARCHER, MELBOURNE.

Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 2014)
Film language has never been so smooth. Let’s hope there are more Kickstarter projects like this one.
Exhibition (Joanna Hogg, 2013)
Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
Transcendence (Wally Pfister, 2014)
Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean Luc Godard, 2014)
Finally 3D has graduated from the blockbuster and become intellectualised.
La Jalousie (Jealousy, Philippe Garrel, 2013)
The Infinite Man (Hugh Sullivan, 2014)
Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman, 2014)
Mr. Turner (Mike Leigh, 2014)
Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg, 2014)

Wonders found on DVD:

Pasažieri (Passengers, Jurģis Tūbelis, 2009)
Post-Soviet Latvian cinema has thrown up quite a few gems.
The Girl from Nowhere (La fille de nulle part, Jean-Claude Brisseau, 2012)

JAMES NAREMORE

AUTHOR OF AN INVENTION WITHOUT A FUTURE: ESSAYS ON CINEMA (2014).

1. Ida (Panel Pantikowski, 2014)
2. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
3. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2014)
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
5. Adieu au language (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
6. Turist (Force Majeure, Ruben Östlund, 2014)
7. Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, 2013)
8. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2014)
9. Locke (Steven Knight, 2013)
10. Citizenfour (Laura Poitras, 2014)

Most over-rated movie of the year: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Ned Benson, 2014).

BORIS NELEPO

FILM CRITIC AND PROGRAMMER; CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TO SÉANCE MAGAZINE AND CORRESPONDENT FOR FESTIVAL DEL FILM LOCARNO.

20. Kommunisten (Jean-Marie Straub, 2014)
19. Le Paradis (Paradise, Alain Cavalier, 2014)
18. Jersey Boys (Clint Eastwood, 2014)
17. Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg, 2014)
16. Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley, 2014)
15. João Bénard da Costa – Outros amarão as Coisas que eu amei (João Bénard da Costa – Others Will Love the Things I Loved, Manuel Mozos, 2014)
14. Snakeskin (Daniel Hui, 2014)
13. Phantom Power (Pierre Léon, 2014)
12. Pasolini (Abel Ferrara, 2014)
11. Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
10. Nuits blanches sur la jetée (White Nights on the Pier, Paul Vecchiali, 2014)
9. She’s Funny That Way (Peter Bogdanovich, 2014)
8. Mula sa kung ano ang noon (From What Is Before, Lav Diaz, 2014)
7. Cavalo Dinheiro (Horse Money, Pedro Costa, 2014)
6. Aimer, boire et chanter (Life of Riley, Alain Resnais, 2014)
5. Al doilea joc (The Second Game, Corneliu Porumboiu, 2014)
4. Die geliebten Schwestern (Beloved Sisters, Dominik Graf, 2014)
3. Saint Laurent (Bertrand Bonello, 2014)
2. Die andere Heimat – Chronik einer Sehnsucht (Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision, Edgar Reitz, 2013)
1. Sosialismi (Socialism, Peter von Bagh, 2014)

Pasolini (Abel Ferrara, 2014)

BEN R. NICHOLSON

FREELANCE FILM CRITIC IN THE UK, AND EDITOR AT CINEVUE.

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
Plemya (The Tribe, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, 2014)
Kış uykusu (Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014)
Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan (Norte, the End of History, Lav Diaz, 2013)
Cavalo Dinheiro (Horse Money, Pedro Costa, 2014)
The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, 2014)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2014)
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (Terence Nance, 2012)
Hross í oss (Of Horses and Men, Benedikt Erlingsson, 2013)

SVENERIK OLSEN

ARTIST RESIDING IN MINNEAPOLIS.

1. Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013)
2. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
3. Vi Är Bäst! (We Are the Best!, Lukas Moodysson, 2013)
4. Mr. Turner (Mike Leigh, 2014)
5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
6. Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
7. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
8. Abus de Faiblesse (Abuse of Weakness, Catherine Breillat, 2013)
9. Jeune & jolie (Young & Beautiful, François Ozon, 2013)
10. Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, 2014)

DARRAGH O’DONOGHUE

Darragh O’Donoghue works as an archivist.

Top five

Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
The Enclave (Richard Mosse, 2012-13)
Inside Llewyn Davies (Ethel & Joel Coen, 2013)
Main tera hero (David Dhawan, 2014)
Kış uykusu (Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014)

With respect to

Nymph()maniac vols. 1 & 2 (Lars von Trier, 2013)

Revival of the year

Deutschland bleiche Mutter (Germany, Pale Mother, Helma Sanders-Brahms, 1980)

Duds and disappointments

Deux jours, une nuit (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2014)
The Double (Richard Ayoade, 2013)
Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster, Wong Kar-wai, 2013)
The Monuments Men (George Clooney, 2014)
Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
Kaze tachinu (The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki, 2013)

Never go back?

Veronica Mars (Rob Thomas, 2014)

You can keep your Wires and Breaking Bads; for some of us Veronica Mars is the defining TV show of the millennium, funny, smart, complex, poignant, political, inventive, and an invaluable snapshot of noughties America. Like so much great TV, Veronica was cut off in her prime, so the urge to revisit an old friend was irresistible, and the Kickstarter campaign a rare and winning example of positive online energy. Surely a Serenity-style masterpiece promised. Alas, the result fizzled like the average home movie, essential and emotional viewing for relatives, baffling and boring to everyone else.

Warning note

As auteurist filmmakers rise in arthouse visibility and critical approbation, some succumb to “Bono-it is”. They believe their hagiographers and make big, hollow “statement” films to meet expectations. “Meaningful”, committed content smothers form and style, resulting in the cinematic equivalent of stadium rock.

Both Jia Zhangke (Tian zhu ding [A Touch of Sin], 2013]) and Hugo Blick (The Honourable Woman, 2014) skirted with but just about avoided this danger. They may not be so lucky next time.

Actor of the year

Ralph Fiennes’ stiff-upper-lipped beauty left me cold until the revelatory black comedy of In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008). The Invisible Woman (Fiennes, 2013) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) are his triumphant, tragic-comic fulfilment of that promise (and in both cases he makes the films seem much better than they are).

A rube’s progress

Most of my film-going life in dear, dirty Dublin was spent scowling as I read the news pages and adverts of Sight and Sound promoting imaginative film events in the UK I’d never get to see. The recession meant emigration, and my move to London this year proved that the grass is always greener on the other side. Rare African films by Delarou and Moumen Smihi! The entire history of Chinese cinema at the BFI! Silent movies at the Barbican! Films in their original format! Sometimes!

But for me the biggest epiphanies were:

> Multiple iterations of the auteurist diary film or home movie, screened at various venues, by the likes of Moyra Davey, Godard (Reportage amateur Maquette expo, with Anne-Marie Miéville, 2006), David Perlov, Sigmar Polke, Carolee Schneeman (Kitch’s Last Meal, 1978), and, in particular, the devastating work of Anne Charlotte Robertson; and

> the continuing, heroic, addictive retrospective of everything ever made by Chantal Akerman, mounted by the A nos amours collective at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The inevitable highlight was hilarious and scatty Akerman herself introducing my own favourite of her films, ‘Un jour Pina m’a demandé…’ (1983). I can now die happy.

MICHAEL PATTISON

UK FILM CRITIC.

Of the 362 features and 378 shorts/mid-lengths I’ve seen so far this year – and after trimming away new-to-me home-viewings and all re-watches – 13 were what I’d call great. In the second brackets is where I saw each film:

Deseret (James Benning, 1995) (Bradford Int’l Film Festival)
casting a glance (James Benning, 2007) (Bradford Int’l Film Festival)
Karpopotnik/ Karpotrotter (Matjaž Ivanišin, 2013) (Rotterdam/IndieLisboa/Dokufest)
Die andere Heimat – Chronik einer Sehnsucht (Home From Home: Chronicle of a Vision, Edgar Reitz, 2013) (Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival)
Border Warfare (John McGrath, 1989) (Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival)
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil (John McGrath, 1990) (Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival)
The Reckoning (Jack Gold, 1969) (Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival)
Leviathan (Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2014) (New Horizons)
Kış uykusu (Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014) (New Horizons)
Hearts and Minds (Peter Davis, 1974) (Dokufest)
American Dream (Barbara Kopple, 1990) (Dokufest)
Harlan County USA (Barbara Kopple, 1976) (Dokufest)
Plemya (The Tribe, Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, 2014) (Locarno/Warsaw/Ljubljana)

Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)

YOANA PAVLOVA

FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE PLAY-FORM FOR INDEPENDENT FILM CRITICISM FESTIVALISTS.COM; BULGARIAN JOURNALIST AND RESEARCHER BASED IN PARIS.

My personal 10 cinematic highlights of 2014, focusing on festival premieres and special events: 

* Every once in a while, Cannes’ Palme d’Or lands in the hands of someone who truly deserves it, and 2014 was one of these happy exceptions. Seven months later, I am still overwhelmed with delight that the award went to Kış uykusu (Winter Sleep) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who has merited this type of recognition long ago. As today’s Turkish cinema is largely involved in local political and social processes, I also enjoyed the fact that the filmmaker and his cast did not miss the opportunity to direct international attention to current affairs in Turkey.

* Speaking of Cannes, which this year hosted two stunts by Jean-Luc Godard, it is amazing as to what degree his films keep provoking the same reaction of adoration, for nearly six decades. The same old tricks up the sleeve, and casting a dog cannot make things anew, sorry.

* With carefully engineered products like Haganenent (The Kindergarten Teacher, Nadav Lapid, 2014) or Plemya (The Tribe, Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, 2014), Cannes’ Critics Week still plays very safe. At this point, in my opinion, the programme of ACID (a section of whose existence many fellow colleagues are not even aware) remains the last resort for true discoveries in the field of independent production, especially when it comes to French cinema.

* Last but not least about Cannes, I am excited to see Lav Diaz put into the limelight of big festivals, yet this attitude of the West suddenly “discovering” his cinema, places the historical traumas his films explore on a whole new level. I wonder what Alexis Tioseco would have said.

* Being a Bulgarian, I cannot skip the triumphant festival tour of two new features from my home country, respectively – of two strong female protagonists. Viktoria (Maya Vitkova, 2014) and Urok (The Lesson, Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, 2014) are clearly among the best European films of the year, with their brave narrative approach and amazing visual style (both were shot by one and the same DOP – Krum Rodriguez).

* Zooming further on the Balkans, it is mandatory to mention Romanian cinema and its newly re-discovered soft spot for employing archival materials, in the tradition of Andrei Ujică. Three new films mark this trend, all of them amazingly accomplished: București, unde ești? (Where Are You Bucharest?, Vlad Petri, 2014), Padurea (The Forest, Sinisa Dragin, 2014) and my favorite Al doilea joc (The Second Game, Corneliu Porumboiu, 2014).

* Re documentary cinema in 2014, now when “fact vs fiction” has been relativised seemingly enough, it appears that there is a new shift towards playing around the thin line between private and public, a method that works very well in films like Actress (Robert Greene, 2014) or Songs from the North (Soon-Mi Yoo, 2014). And then there is also Citizenfour (Laura Poitras, 2014), a documentary that prompts us to consider how much we would like to see and to know, of a reality where there is nothing intimate left.

* As for the film I personally found the most memorable, funny, clever, and brave in 2014, this is Fort Buchanan (Benjamin Crotty, 2014). A “small” film from Locarno’s line-up, which I first discovered thanks to the recommendation of James Lattimer in our daily Pardo co-vlog with kino-zeit.de. I could not recommend this debut and its dark humour enough, mostly when it comes to puns with LGBTQ culture clichés and the way French society can be perceived by a young American filmmaker.

* In terms of retrospectives, my coup de cœur goes to the extensive Tsai Ming-liang celebration in France this spring plus the Eastern Promises showcase at the San Sebastián IFF in the autumn.

* At the end, I would like to highlight the Henri Langlois exhibition at the Cinémathèque Française: it offers an intriguing insight to the whole (Western) cinema culture of 20th century, as well as the origins and the practice of cinephilia.

ANTONI PERIS

FILM REVIEWER FOR DIGITAL MEDIA: MIRADIS DE CINE, TRANSIT, CULTURACA; BASED IN BARCELONA.

Another really good year for cinema and moviegoers. Unfortunately in Spain many great films still wait to be commercially released. Nevertheless some mainstream movies offered more than fun, great cinema. Also it has been a really interesting year for TV series and True Detective (Nic Pizzolatto – writer; Cary Joji Fukunaga – director, 2014) has been a hit both for script, rhythm, acting and mise en scène.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
2. Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014)
3. Cold in July (Jim Mickle, 2014)
4. What We Do in the Shadows (Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi, 2014)
5. Magical Girl (Carlos Vermut, 2014)
6. Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, 2014)
7. Boyhood (Richard. Linklater, 2014)
8. El futuro (Luis López Carrasco, 2013)
9. Costa da morte (Coast of Death, Lois Patiño, 2013)
10. La fille du 14 juillet (Antonin Peretjatko, 2013)
11. L’image manquante (The Missing Picture, Rithy Panh, 2013)
12. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin. Scorsese, 2013)
13. Nebraska (Alexander Payne, 2013)
14. Inside Llewyn Davies (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2013)
15. Oslo, 31 august (Olso, August 31^st, Joachim Trier, 2011)
16. Mahi va gorbeh (Fish & Cat, Shahram Mokri, 2013)
17. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)
18. Redemption (Miguel Gomes, 2013)
19. Exhibition (Joanna Hoggs, 2013)
20. Child of God (James Franco, 2013)
21. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
22. The Selfish Giant (Clio Barnard, 2013)
23. Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-Ho, 2013)
24. The Canyons (Paul Schrader, 2013)
25. La pirogue (Moussa Touré, 2012)

ALEX ROSS PERRY

FILMMAKER, USA.

1. Història de la meva mort (Story of My Death, Albert Serra, 2013)
2. The Immigrant (James Gray, 2014)
3. Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
4. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
5. Eden (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2014)
6. Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)
7. River of Fundament (Matthew Barney, 2014)
8. Heaven Knows What (Josh & Benny Safdie, 2014)
9. Godzilla (Gareth Edwards, 2014)
10. Happy Christmas (Joe Swanberg, 2014)

Història de la meva mort (Story of My Death, Albert Serra, 2013)

ANDRÉA PICARD

FILM WRITER AND CURATOR, WAVELENGTHS, TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.

1. P’tit Quinquin (Li’l Quinquin, Bruno Dumont, 2014)
2. Cavalo Dinheiro (Horse Money, Pedro Costa, 2014)
3. Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
4. Nathalie Granger (Marguerite Duras, 1972, re-released in 2014)
5. Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, 2014)
6. Das Spektrum Europas (Cristi Puiu, from Bridges of Sarajevo, 2014)
7. Amour Fou (Jessica Hausner, 2014)
8. Kommunisten (Jean-Marie Straub, 2014)
9. Ja-yu-eui eon-deok (Hill Of Freedom, Hong Sang-Soo, 2014)
10. The Innocents (Jean-Paul Kelly, 2014) & brouillard – passage #14 (Alexandre Larose, 2014) & The Dragon is the Frame (Mary Helena Clark, 2014)

Best opening scenes: La princesa de Francia (The Princess of France, Matías Piñeiro, 2014) & Ventos de Agosto (Winds of August, Gabriel Mascaro, 2014)

Best retrospective: Marguerite Duras at the Centre Pompidou

Best moving image installation: Christoph Schlingensief at the Malmö Konsthall

MEHDI PILEHVARIAN

FILM SCHOLAR AND CINEPHILE.

1. Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013)
2. Kış uykusu (Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014)
3. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)
4. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
5. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2014)
6. Turist (Force Majeure, Ruben Östlund, 2014)
7. Mommy (Xavier Dolan, 2014)
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
Adieu au Langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
10. En Duva Satt på en Gren Och Funderade på Tillvaron (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Roy Andersson, 2014)
Deux jours, une nuit (Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2014)
12. Mr. Turner (Mike Leigh, 2014)
13. Anime Nere (Black Souls, Francesco Munzi, 2014)
14. Relatos salvajes (Wild Tales, Damián Szifrón, 2014)
15. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
16. Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, 2014)
17. Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller, 2014)

JIT PHOKAEW

CINEPHILE, BANGKOK, THAILAND.

Favourite foreign films

1. Adieu au langage (Goodbye to Language, Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
2. Dreileben – Etwas Besseres als den Tod (Dreileben – Beats Being Dead, Christian Petzold, 2011)
3. La fièvre monte à El Pao (Fever Mounts at El Pao, Luis Buñuel, 1959)
4. My Sister’s Quinceañera (Aaron Douglas Johnston, 2013)
5. The Congress (Ari Folman, 2013)
6. Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan (Norte, the End of History, Lav Diaz, 2013)
7. A Corte do Norte (True and Tender Is the North, João Botelho, 2008)
8. Kristy (Oliver Blackburn, 2014)
The Other Side of the Underneath (Jane Arden, 1972)
10. All Is Lost (J.C. Chandor, 2013)
11. Deu tae-ro ra-i-beu (The Terror Live, Kim Byeong-woo, 2013)
12. Return of Suspicion (Dean Kavanagh, 2014)
La fille du 14 juillet (The Rendez-vous of déjà-vu, Antonin Peretjatko, 2013)
14. Nerven (Robert Reinert, 1919)
15. Working Girls (Ishmael Bernal, 1984)
16. Enemy (Denis Villeneuve, 2013)
17. Avalon (Axel Petersén, 2011)
18. Taki no shiraito (The Water Magician, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1933)
19. Ke tu qiu hen (Song of the Exile, Ann Hui, 1990)
20. Xi you (Journey to the West, Tsai Ming-liang, 2014)
21. God Help the Girl (Stuart Murdoch, 2014)
22. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)
23. Savage Witches (Daniel Fawcett and Clara Pais, 2012)
24. Kebun binatang (Postcards from the Zoo, Edwin, 2012)
25. Sing gei cha low (The Teahouse, Kuei Chih-hung, 1974)
26. L’illusion comique (The Screen Illusion, Mathieu Amalric, 2010)
27. The Look of Love (Michael Winterbottom, 2013)
Dreileben – Komm mir nicht nach (Dreileben ­– Don’t Follow Me Around, Dominik Graf, 2011)
29. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
30. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
31. Haider (Vishal Bhardwaj, 2014)
32. Verdun, visions d’histoire (Léon Poirier, 1928)
33. The Rocket (Kim Mordaunt, 2013)
34. Pouta (Walking Too Fast, Radim Spacek, 2009)
35. The Shootist (Don Siegel, 1976)

Favourite Thai films
 
1. Wang pikul (Village of Hope, Boonsong Nakphoo, 2013)
2. Mam anna hua nom macaron ponyangkam lae garnsuksa kan puentarn (Madame Anna, Nipples, Macaron, Ponyangkam, and Basic Education, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, 2014)
3. Pavang rak (Concrete Clouds, Lee Chatametikool, 2013)
4. Nang pee san sanook, nang pee san sanook? (I’m Sin, Pissanupong Rattana, 2014)
5. Sming (Pan Visitsak, 2014)
6. Tone (Piak Poster, 1970)
7. Poo bao thai barn e-san indy (PBTB E-San Indy, Uhten Sririwi, 2014)
8. Niras kao wonggot (The Mazes Trilogy, Prap Boonpan, 2014, 268 minutes)
9. Tookae ruk pang mak (Chiang Khan Story, Yuthlert Sippapak, 2014)
10. Peen gleaw (Oranuch, 1994)
11. Dek gae dad (Goodbye, Nakorn Chaisri, 2014)
12. The Eyes Diary (Chookiat Sakveerakul, 2014)
12. Pop naa pluak (Ugly Ghost, Baa-Ram-Ewe Team, 2014)
14. Rak pasa arai (Myanmar in Love in Bangkok, Nichaya Boonsiripan, 2014)
15. Rew thalu rew (Vengeance of an Assassin, Panna Rittikrai, 2014)
16. Jong-arng payong (Noi Kamolwatin, 1971)
17. Dog kaew (Padej Pakdeevijit, 1980)
18. Fak wai nai gai thoe (The Swimmers, Sopon Sukdapisit, 2014)
19. We Try, We Tried (Preechaya Sukkasem and Ittisak Treesanga, 2014)
20. Kru lae nak rian (Teacher and Student, Sarawut Intaraprom, 2014)

Favourite foreign short films

1. Taprobana (Gabriel Abrantes, 2014)
2. The Karman Line (Oscar Sharp, 2014)
3. WARS (Josef Dabernig, 2001)
4. Listón de plástico negro de 120 mts. de largo x 4 mts. de ancho colgado sobre el puente del Incienso (Black Ribbon of 120 mts. Long x 4 mts. Wide Hanged Over the “Incienso” Bridge, Aníbal López, 2003)
5. Pequeño bloque de cemento con pelo alborotado conteniendo el mar (Little Block of Cement with Disheveled Hair Containing the Sea, Jorge López Navarrete, 2014)
6. Pantomina sa mga anyong ikinubli ng alon (Pantomimes for Figures Shrouded by Waves, Jon Lazam, 2013)
7. Pacífico (Jonathas de Andrade, 2010)
8. Anaïs (Julie Benegmos, 2013)
9. Violin Phase (Eric Pauwels, 1985)
10. Insein Rhythm (Soe Moe Aung, 2013)
11. Één, twee, drie, piano! (Nienke Deutz, 2013)
12. I’ve Heard 3 Stories (Marwa Arsanios, 2009)
13. A Few Crumbs for the Birds (Annemarie Jacir, 2005)
14. On Such and Such a Day, At Such and Such a Time (Natalie Khoo, 2013)
15. Cabezón (Big Head, Jairo Boisier, 2013)
16. Isósceles (Michelle Garza, 2013)
17. Misterio (Chema García Ibarra, 2013)
18. T’étais où quand Michael Jackson est mort? (Where Were You When Michael Jackson Died?, Jean-Baptiste Pouilloux, 2014)
19. Wir sind wieder da (We’re Here Again, Annika Eriksson, 2010)
20. In Diverse Estimations Little Moscow (Asli Çavuşoğlu, 2011)
21. Birds (Ulu Braun, 2014)
22. Home & Key (Shwan Attoof, 2014)
23. Bishtar az do saat (More Than Two Hours, Ali Asgari, 2013)
24. Strach (Little Secret, Martin Krejcí, 2013)
25. Z1 (Gabriel Gauchet, 2013)
26. Nightless – ver.5 (Tamura Yuichiro, 2010)
27. Spring Equinox (Wang Yinuo, 2013)
28. The Bohemian Rhapsody Project (Ho Tzu Nyen, 2006)
29. The Weather Report (Paul Murphy, 2014)
30. Sepatu baru (New Shoes, Aditya Ahmad, 2013)

Favourite Thai short films
 
1. Pasa tee ter mai kaojai (Awareness, Wachara Kanha, 2014)
2. Olds (Watcharapon Seangarunroj, 2014)
3. Kor hai namkang lalai (Long For, Phawinee Sattawatsakul, 2014)
4. Talod pai (Endlessly, Sivaroj Kongsakul, 2013)
5. Myth of Modernity (Chulayarnnon Siriphol, 2014)
6. Pramual pap lae siang kong kwam pid wang (A Compilation of Images and Sound of Disappointment, Nattawoot Nimitchaikosol, 2014)
7. Endless, Nameless (Pathompon Tesprateep, 2014)
8. Drink Sky on Rabbit’s Field (Lost Control) (Arnont Nongyao, 2014)
9. Wan nan kong duen (Menstrual Synchrony, Jirassaya Wongsutin, 2014)
10. La gun tee! loke nee he krong (Ending Straight World, Tanaset Siriwattanadirek, 2014)
11. Menu prod kong nong nam (Favorite Meal of Nong-Nam, Piyamon Khasom, 2014)
12. Pa lung barn kong meow (Carnivore Eater, Thanatpond Nakprom, 2014)
13. Gal wayla buddol (Pigpot-theory, Parnwart Charenyost, 2013)
14. Tongfar nai wantee 1 pruedsajigayon puttasaggarat 2556 (1112013, Theeraphat Ngathong, 2013)
15. Ta mee krai songsai nai prajao lao rueng nee hai kao fung (Talk to You Later, Suwanun Pohgudsai, 2014)
16. Mano kana (Moment in Mind, Eakalak Anantasomboon, 2014)
17. Puen pang (Teeranit Siangsanoh, 2014)
18. Kong khmer (Khmer Talisman, Pissamai Duangnoi, 2013)
19. Where Is My Shorts? (Anuwat Amnajkasem, 2013)
20. Jeb paud (Agony, Akara Pacchakkhaphati, 2013)
21. Mong yam tee ngam tee sood (The Most Beautiful Time, Teeraphan Ngowjeenanan, 2014)
22. The Fucking Life (Karan Wongprakarnsanti, 2014)
23. A Secret to My Mom (Siriluck Sangnam, 2014)
24. Siao nueng kong kwam penpaidai tangmod nai garn hai tae ja rub rue mai rub kor laew tae pijarana (A Fragment of All the Possibilities of the Action of Giving, But Whether You will Take the Gift or Not Depends on Your Decision, Nattawoot Nimitchaikosol, 2014)
25. Forest (Satayu Nanan, 2014)
26. Ka-nong kruan (Namfon Udomlertlak, 2014)
27. Rot mail (A Bus, Pongsakorn Ruedeekunrungsi, 2014)
28. Jer gun (See You, Nuttapol Pawangthut, 2014)
29. Susan wayla (Grandma, Kasiti Sangkul, 2014)
30. /’spel,baund/ (Nath Eimkhanthongsug, 2014)
31. Prayoke bog lao (Present Simple Tense, Adisak Chanchaipoom, 2014)
32. Kon rayam (Scumbag, Sompong Soda, 2014)
33. Teerak rao rak gun mai dai (Darling, We Can’t Love Each Other, Nok Paksnavin, 2014) (music video)
34. Wai deg (The Youth, Ukrit Sa-nguanhai and Chayajee Krittayapongsakorn, 2014)
35. Plastic (Sakulphet Phetsang, 2013)
36. A River Runs Through It (Wittaya Kanthapan, 2014)
37. Yellow Summer (Nattagarn Tamsamsoo, 2013)
38. Friendship lem 2 (The Second Friendship Book, Phakchayot Charrunchon, 2014)
39. Billboard (Ratchanon Ketramrit, 2014)
40. Hag wa fun pai (Kid-Nap, Natchanol Vatanakuljaras, 2014)
41. Stranger (Nitaz Sinwattanakul, 2013)
42. That XXXX (Seriphab Sutthisri, 2014)
43. Sushi nue kon (Shokunin, Nuttachai Jiraanont, 2014)
44. Rukkachart (Arboretum of Dystopia, Suparach Jaraspetch, 2013)
45. Like Teacher, Like Fan (Patitta Jitthanon, 2013)

Favourite documentaries
 
1. Dieses Jahr in Czernowitz (This Year in Czernowitz, Volker Koepp, 2004)
2. Bilder der Welt und Inschrift des Krieges (Images of the World and the Inscription of War, Harun Farocki, 1989)
3. L’image manquante (The Missing Picture, Rithy Panh, 2013)
4. As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (Jonas Mekas, 2000)
5. A Wang (So Be It, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, 2014)
6. Barn (Home, Patiparn Amornthipparat, 2014)
7. Life in a Foreign Land: Burmese in Japan (Toshikuni Doi, 2012)
8. Arbeiter verlassen die Fabrik (Workers Leaving the Factory, Harun Farocki, 1995)
9. Personas (BK Lim, 2012)
10. Rough Aunties (Kim Longinotto, 2008)
11. Une étrange cathédral dans la graisse des ténèbres (A Strange Cathedral in the Thick of Darkness, Charles Najman, 2011)
12. To Singapore, with Love (Tan Pin Pin, 2013)
13. At Berkeley (Frederick Wiseman, 2013)
14. Respite (Harun Farocki, 2007)
15. The Master (Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, 2014)
16. Nang pluey (Nude Documentary Film, Pimploy Sudla, 2014)
17. Kampuchea (Cambodia, Narodom Sihanouk, 1965)
18. Plia (Lice in the Wonderland, Boonyarit Wiangnon, 2014)
19. Autofocus (Boris Poljak, 2013)
20. Kon kom kwan (Wiroon Kingpaiboon, 2013)
21. Pleng khong kao (The Songs of Rice, Uruphong Raksasad, 2014)
22. Finding Vivian Maier (John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, 2013)
23. Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line (Muffie Dunn and Tom Piper, 2012)
24. Mama (Lidia Sheinin, 2013)
25. Advanced Style (Lina Plioplyte, 2014)
26. Muen nangsue bot sumpart bang bang lem nueng (Talking Heads Spoke Out, Namfon Udomlertlak and Supannee Sa-nguanpong, 2013)
27. Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present (Matthew Akers and Jeff Dupre, 2012)
28. Laddaland Playground (Angsana Pintharat, 2013)
29. Pa-O (Ice in Wonderland, Sarut Ratanavijit, 2014)
30. E sao transistor (Transistor Girls, Santi Taepanich, 2014)

Favourite animations

1. Die Verwitterte Melodie (Weatherbeaten Melody, Hans Fischerkoesen, 1943)
2. Sieben Mal am Tag beklagen wir unser Los und nachts stehen wir auf, um nicht zu träumen (Seven Times a Day We Bemoan Our Lot and at Night We Get Up to Avoid Our Dreams, Susann-Maria Hempel, 2013)
3. Maman (Ugo Bienvenu and Kevin Manach, 2013)
4. Plo play (Neither Lit Nor Dark, Chanon Treenet, 2013)
5. Hoshi o ou kodomo (Children Who Chase Lost Voices, Makoto Shinkai, 2011)
6. Symphony No.42 (Reka Bucsi, 2014)
7. Les contes de la nuit (Tales of the Night, Michel Ocelot, 2011)
8. Die sieben Raben (The Seven Ravens, Ferdinand Diehl, 1937)
9. The Bird and the Fish (Kanitharin Thailamtong, 2013)
10. Poo pitak (Guardian, Thitichon Juicharoen, 2014)
11. 21KE (21 Grams, Sun Xun, 2010)
12. Nyuszi és Öz (Rabbit and Deer, Péter Vácz, 2013)
13. Gamma Scape (George Johnson and Tom Norman, 2013)
14. Tacky, Sticky & Glutinous (David Maingault, 2013)
15. Le tableau (The Painting, Jean-François Laguionie, 2011)
16. Kaze tachinu (The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki, 2013)
17. Meitantai Conan: Ijigen no sunaipâ (Detective Conan: Dimensional Sniper, Kôbun Shizuno, 2014)
18. Kaguyahime no monogatari (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Isao Takahata, 2013)
19. Goat in a Sketchbook (Worawut Wattanatham and Chaiya Takviriyanan, 2014)
20. Schwarz-Weiβ-Rot (Black-White-Red, Helmut Herbst, 1964)

Favourite video installations

1. TNT (Robert Vater, 2006)
2. Ich tank (David Larcher, 2003)
3. You Would Come Back There to See Me Again Tomorrow (Tsuda Michiko, 2013)
4. Crude Carrier (Pascal Fendrich and Bernd Härpfer, 2009)
5. Monday 2 Monday (Varsha Nair and Lena Eriksson, 2011-2014)
6. The Chopped Arm (Jihye Park, 2008)
7. Golden Teardrop (Arin Rungjang, 2013)
8. Vestige of Life (Maki Satake, 2008-2009)
9. Quartet (Otomo Yoshihide, 2013)
10. Cris (Wuttigorn Kongkha, 2014)
11. Vertigo Rush (Johann Lurf, 2007)
12. Around 11.00-12.00 hrs. (Nut Sawasdee, 2012/2014)
13. You Come (Oliver Stotz, 2007)
14. Schauer (Doris Schmid, 2004)
15. Para/Noise (Matthias Neuenhofer, 2010)
16. Hear/Her (Akenaree Jainam, 2014)
17. Beach (Julius Redillas, 2014)
18. Hong kon uen (The Room of the Other, Surachai Petsangrot, 2014)
19. I am Still Running (Sutthamon Worapong, 2014)
20. Sweeper (Crys Cole, 2009)