Berlinale 2022 review: Charlotte Gainsbourg shines in ‘The Passengers of the Night’ from Mikhaël Hers [Grade B-]
The Passengers of the Night opens with a title card announcing the date: May 10th, 1981. In recent French history, that day marks the election... Read More
Savina Petkova
Berlinale 2022 review: Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche are bursting with love-drenched lust in Claire Denis’ love triangle drama ‘Fire’ (aka ‘Both Sides of the Blade’) [Grade A]
A chance encounter, a glance in the right direction while flicking your hair, and it cannot be unseen: it is your former lover who you... Read More
Berlinale 2022 review: In ‘Taurus’, Machine Gun Kelly exorcizes his stardom [Grade B+]
Almost a decade after Memphis (2013) depicted the spiritual journey of musician Willis Earl Beal, filmmaker Tim Sutton returns to the sombre world of music... Read More
Berlinale 2022 review: François Ozon’s ‘Peter von Kant’ plays out as an ambitious but flat homage to Fassbinder [Grade C-]
It’s been 50 years since Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant premiered at Berlinale and to mark this anniversary, prolific French... Read More
Venice Review: David Gordon Green expands the limits of trauma with ‘Halloween Kills’ [Grade: B]
‘Evil dies tonight’, or tomorrow – that’s the motto uttered at some point by every single character in Halloween Kills, David Gordon Green’s follow-up to... Read More
Venice Review: Audrey Diwan’s abortion drama ‘Happening (L’Événement)’ bares all but leaves its lead an empty vessel [Grade C-]
The initial idea for Audrey Diwan’s Happening (L’Événement) came from a famous French autobiographical novel, written by Annie Ernaux in 2000 about her own illegal... Read More
Venice Review: Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg seethe in the Mexican heat of Michel Franco’s ‘Sundown’ [Grade: B]
Michel Franco returns to the Lido just one year after his New Order won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize, premiering his latest which also... Read More
Venice review: ‘True Things’ cements Harry Wootliff as the master of new British drama [Grade: A-]
Three years after premiering her BAFTA-nominated debut feature, Only You, British filmmaker Harry Wootliff returns to the festival circuit with True Things, a mature and... Read More
Venice Review: With ‘The Lost Daughter,’ Maggie Gyllenhaal exposes mother-daughter relations in their vile, discomforting essence [Grade: B]
Leda, a middle-aged comp-lit professor, arrives at a lavish Greek island accompanied solely by her books. Played by an overwrought Olivia Colman, she frets and... Read More
Venice review: The road to redemption is a long and rocky one in Paul Schrader’s ‘The Card Counter’ [Grade: A]
“If not for the money, why play?” – “It passes the time,” says professional gambler William Tell (Oscar Isaac) when prompted to justify his string... Read More
2024 North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) Nominations 
2024 Philadelphia Film Critics Circle (PFCC) Winners: ‘Anora’ Named Best Film Among its Six Awards 
2024 Utah Film Critics Association (UFCA) Nominations 
2024 Black Reel Awards Nominations: ‘Nickel Boys,’ ‘The Piano Lesson’ Lead