Archive for the 'Europe & Russia' Category

The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (Светът е голям и спасение дебне отвсякъде) Review

Together with Kamen Kalev’s more recent but equally outstanding production Eastern Plays (2009), Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev’s The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner puts the country on the cinematic roadmap of Europe.read more

How I Ended This Summer (Как я провёл этим летом) Review

Beautifully photographed and uniquely atmospheric, Aleksei Popogrebsky’s new film How I Ended This Summer is the latest entry in an emerging Russian art house trend.read more

Eastern Plays (Източни пиеси) Review

Part of the nascent renaissance in Bulgarian cinema, exemplified most prominently by Stephan Komandarev’s Oscar contender The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008), Kamen Kalev’s new film Eastern Plays offers a much-needed fresh take on the modern Eastern European experience.read more

Strayed (Заблудившийся) Review

From Boratland comes Akan Satayev’s bold new supernatural thriller Strayed (Zabludivshijsya), an eerie, atmospherically rich effort of unprecedented quality for Central Asian productions in the genre.read more

Johnny Mad Dog Review

Raw, bold and frenetically charged, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s French drama Johnny Mad Dog is a film about child soldiers fighting a civil war in an unnamed African country one would likely have high hopes for.read more

Soul Kitchen Review

Vibrant, kinetic and beautifully shot, Soul Kitchen is the newest offering from award-winning Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, a dynamic picture that hits the ground running and never slows down, with life relentlessly throwing punch after punch at its central characters.read more

Troubled Water (DeUsynlige) Review

Following in the footsteps of Philippe Claudel’s recent French drama about an ex-convict’s readjustment to civil life I’ve Loved You So Long (2008) and Lee Chang-dong’s South Korean take on the tragic aftermath of a kidnapping Secret Sunshine (2007), Troubled Water (DeUsynlige) is a challenging and deeply humanist work that deals with many themes comprising the essential foundations of the modern psyche.read more




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