My Top Film Festivals Movies for 2015... (in list order of my choice)
In competition at Cannes, Venice and Berlin. Plenty of American Independents and the usual foreign art films that make up a creative mixture. The Palme d'Or went deservedly to DHEEPAN.
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23 titles
- DirectorCary Joji FukunagaStarsAbraham AttahEmmanuel AffadziRicky AdelayitorA drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.1. Brutal, unflinching, harrowing, powerful... (Venice)
- DirectorLászló NemesStarsGéza RöhrigLevente MolnárUrs RechnA Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.3. You know a film is powerful when you are numb and uncomfortable, but can't seem to take your eyes of the screen... (Cannes)
- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsMichael CaineHarvey KeitelRachel WeiszRetired orchestra conductor Fred Ballinger is on vacation with his daughter Lena and his film director best friend Mick Boyle in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.8. Simply mesmerizing... (Cannes)
- DirectorNanni MorettiStarsMargherita BuyJohn TurturroGiulia LazzariniMargherita, a director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother.14. Another Moretti gem with Margherita Buy stunning as a film director under pressure in a spiraling emotional breakdown due to her mother withering away slowly... (Cannes)
- DirectorMaïwennStarsVincent CasselEmmanuelle BercotLouis GarrelTony is admitted to a rehabilitation center after a serious skiing accident. Dependent on medical staff and painkillers, she takes the time to remember the tumultuous love story she lived with Georgio.23. The two leads were amazing as they play out a manic and torrid relationship the French way...(Cannes)
- DirectorJerzy SkolimowskiStarsRichard DormerPaulina ChapkoWojciech MecwaldowskiThe lives of several Varsovians are intertwined for just 11 minutes. These minutes turn out to be crucial for their ultimate fate.25. 78-year-old Skolimowski puts today's young filmmakers to shame... (Venice)
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsCate BlanchettRooney MaraSarah PaulsonAn aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York.27. The perfect drama... (Cannes)
- DirectorTom HooperStarsEddie RedmayneAlicia VikanderAmber HeardA fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.29. Eddie is stunning, Alicia superb and the story falls into place with perfection... (Venice)
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsJesuthasan AntonythasanKalieaswari SrinivasanClaudine VinasithambyDheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.30. Escaping the war into another battle of survival... (Cannes)
- DirectorPiero MessinaStarsJuliette BinocheGiorgio ColangeliLou de LaâgeA mother unexpectedly meets her son's fiancée at a villa in Sicily and gets to know her as she waits for her son to arrive.33. A mother won't release the memory of her son by not telling the visiting son's girlfriend of the death, creating a sublime and intricate story... (Venice)
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsEmily BluntJosh BrolinBenicio Del ToroAn idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.55. Dark side of the law enforcement has you always on the edge... (Cannes)
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsNicole KidmanJames FrancoRobert PattinsonA chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.60. Herzog's fascination with the desert continues with his own Lawrence of Arabia that is sentimental and campy for this day and age but somehow it seemed to work thanks to Kidman's understated performance... (Berlin)
- DirectorJustin KurzelStarsMichael FassbenderMarion CotillardJack MadiganMacbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.64. A visual stunner from Kurzel with Fassbender delving into the madness of Macbeth with intensity and perfection... (Cannes)
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsMatthew McConaugheyNaomi WattsKen WatanabeA suicidal American befriends a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji and the two search for a way out.74. Gus mellowing out in a philosophical way... (Cannes)
- DirectorMatteo GarroneStarsSalma HayekVincent CasselToby JonesFrom the bitter quest of the Queen of Longtrellis, to two mysterious sisters who provoke the passion of a king, to the King of Highhills obsessed with a giant Flea, these tales are inspired by the fairytales by Giambattista Basile.78. Fables for the grown ups... (Cannes)
- DirectorGuillaume NiclouxStarsIsabelle HuppertGérard DepardieuDan WarnerIsabelle and Gérard go to a strange appointment in Death Valley, California. They have not seen each other for years and are here to answer to an invitation from their son Michael, a photographer, which they received after his suicide, six months ago.82. Waiting for a miracle to cure their lost love and regret, with the two leads making it even more fascinating... (Cannes)
- DirectorDuke JohnsonCharlie KaufmanStarsDavid ThewlisJennifer Jason LeighTom NoonanA man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.84. The Kaufman strangeness is perfect for this surreal-neo-realist tale about a dull self-centred mid-life crises in a dull world of sameness... (Venice)
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsColin FarrellRachel WeiszJessica BardenIn a dystopian near future, according to the laws of The City, single people are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or they're transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.87. Wonderfully absurd... (Cannes)
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsChristian BaleCate BlanchettNatalie PortmanA writer indulging in all that Los Angeles and Las Vegas have to offer, undertakes a search for love and self via a series of adventures with six different women.88. Fragments of a melancholy soul loathing the L.A. vacant life... (Berlin)
- DirectorAndrew HaighStarsCharlotte RamplingTom CourtenayGeraldine JamesA married couple preparing to celebrate their wedding anniversary receives shattering news that promises to forever change the course of their lives.101. It takes its time to build up to an almost perfect drama... (Berlin)
- DirectorJayro BustamanteStarsMaría Mercedes CoroyMaría TelónManuel AntúnOn the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala, a marriage is arranged for seventeen-year-old María by her Kaqchikel parents.An emotional observational piece... (Berlin)
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHaruka AyaseMasami NagasawaKahoThree sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.Played like a high-end TV soap drama... (Cannes)
- DirectorHsiao-Hsien HouStarsShu QiChang ChenYun ZhouA female assassin receives a dangerous mission to kill a political leader in eighth-century China.Hsiao-hsien manages to even make this samurai tale a challenging piece... (Cannes)