On Film
May Books
This month we’re reading about David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Hong Sangsoo, and Werner Herzog.
Fits and Starts
It wasn’t always smooth going for Max Ophuls, Mike Hodges, or Irrfan Khan.
Reality Breaks in Irma Vep
The director of We’re All Going to the World’s Fair reflects on the transformative power of a Sonic Youth needle drop in Olivier Assayas’s 1996 film.
The Inventive Versatility of James Wong Howe
New York’s Museum of the Moving Image presents a series of nineteen films shot by the accomplished cinematographer.
Qiu Jiongjiong and A New Old Play
Before Qiu’s award-winning feature opens in theaters, the National Museum of Asian Art will present an online retrospective.
The Eyes That Fascinate
Louis Feuillade’s influential serial Les Vampires reflected the French national subconscious at the time by depicting a madcap world of anarchy and violent spectacle.
Mr. Klein: It’s All in the Name
Joseph Losey’s sumptuous portrait of Nazi-occupied Paris sees an icy Alain Delon as an art dealer on a Kafkaesque quest for identity.
Alex Garland’s Men
The director of Ex Machina and Annihilation returns, and many critics have questions.
John Waters and Cookie Mueller
Waters has written his first novel, and a collection of Mueller’s writing has just been reissued.
“I’ll Die of Love”
This week: Tarkovsky’s answer to Kubrick, the Otolith Group, Brooklyn filmmakers, German scenes, and Béatrice Dalle.
Women Filming for Their Lives
A coincidental set of screenings and openings almost seems to be responding to the impending reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Memories of a Vibrant Moment in Asian American Cinema
Five pioneering filmmakers look back on the communities and institutions that helped them flourish in the 1990s, an era in Asian American moving-image culture that has since gone underappreciated.
San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2022
The twenty-fifth edition offers lavish decadence, experimental poetry, and timely poignance.
The Fatal Vision of Fritz Lang
A Melbourne Cinémathèque series of double bills spotlights Lang’s penchant for drilling into the darkest recesses of human nature.
Forgotten Filmmakers of the French New Wave
MoMA and the Harvard Film Archive present a program of more than forty overlooked features.
They’ve Got the Look—and the Beat
This week swerves from the slick cinéma du look to the harshest punk noise.
Hot Docs Salutes Anand Patwardhan
For half a century, the Indian documentarian has won accolades abroad while fighting censorship at home.
The Latest from Cannes and Beyond
Cannes sets its juries, Directors’ Fortnight selects its shorts, Locarno honors Laurie Anderson, and Sundance lines up a big London edition.
Kazuo Hara’s Dedicated Lives
In his uncompromising chronicles of modern Japanese society, the celebrated filmmaker shows a deep understanding of both larger-than-life individuals and collectives of ordinary citizens.
Eyimofe (This Is My Desire): Floating Currencies
In their ambitious debut feature, brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri capture the vibrancy of contemporary Lagos while also showing the desperation with which its two protagonists seek to leave it.
’Round Midnight: Return from Exile
A longtime lover of jazz, Bertrand Tavernier honors its legacy by throwing the spotlight on real musicians—including legendary tenor sax player Dexter Gordon—improvising on-screen.
Cinema Reborn 2022
The Sydney-based festival of new restorations offers a rich set of globally accessible program notes.
Scorsese’s Film Foundation Presents Free Screenings
The monthly program will feature introductions, interviews, and more supplements.
Documentary’s Newest Forms: A Conversation with Inney Prakash
The founder of the experimental documentary festival Prismatic Ground discusses his vision for rethinking the bounds of nonfiction cinema.