film

openDemocracy sees films differently: pioneering the mini-essay cine-crit, we offer in-depth and lateral criticism of films and the cultures they emerge from.
Wednesday 25th January

Theo Angelopoulos: "I am standing by you"

Jane Gabriel, 25 January 2012
The award winning Greek film director, Theo Angelopoulos, died yesterday in an accident whilst working on his new film The Other Sea. He spoke to Jane Gabriel in 2009 about his film 'The Dust of Time', and in 1993 about his films 'The Suspended Step of the Stork' and 'The Travelling Players'
Saturday 29th January

Vapor Trail (Clark): wastes of history

Graeme Hobbs, 29 January 2011
A cinematic project in the Philippines that began as an exercise in political documentary and ended as excavation of the toxic legacies of the country’s early-20th century war with America is a vital counterblast to global amnesia, says Graeme Hobbs.

Wednesday 12th January

The Russian documentary: an endangered breed

Olga Sherwood, 12 January 2011
Artdocfest is a Russian documentary film festival, now in its fourth year. This year, due to falling production at home, a new category was introduced: Russian-language films made outside Russia. Lamenting the decline of documentary filmmaking in Russia, Olga Sherwood examines what it is about Russia that interests foreign directors.

Monday 25th October

Good people with cameras

Michael Dominski, 25 October 2010
A can of worms is opened at the 54th London Film Festival
Thursday 10th September

Hybridity, not District 10

10 September 2009
Globalisation should mean fostering difference, not fencing off the aliens, says Tom Nairn after seeing the film District 9
Thursday 13th August

Antichrist: the visual theology of Lars Von Trier

Tina Beattie, 13 August 2009
The Danish filmmaker uses image as a "celluloid icon" to explore the depths of the Christian unconscious
Tuesday 28th July

Ingmar Bergman and Sweden: an epoch’s end

Birgitta Steene, 28 July 2009
The great filmmaker's bond with his homeland was conflictual as well as intimate 

The tears flowed

Mumin Shakirov, 28 July 2009

The great Russian actor Oleg Yankovsky died in May this year.  Mumin Shakirov reviews the career of this outstanding actor and man

  Oleg Yankovsky as Metropolit

Oleg Yankovsky as Metropolit Philip in  Pavel Lungin's film "Tsar".

Tuesday 16th June

Propaganda or just good business?

Dmitri Travin, 16 June 2009
Vladimir Bortko's blockbuster "Taras Bulba" reveals Hollywood's inroads into Russian film
Tuesday 2nd June

Russian anti-Nazi film v Kremlin bulldogs

Mumin Shakirov, 2 June 2009

Pavel Bardin's film Russia 88, about Russian Nazis, has incurred official displeasure even before its release. Bardin says he wants to help government fight Russian fascism. Critics say the film's good. So what's the problem?The blogosphere is buzzing with answers

Rossiya 88 film

(Photo: Rossiya 88 film)

Friday 3rd April

The ‘vertical of power’ grabs Russian cinema

Danil Dondurey, 3 April 2009
 Russia has been gripped by the spectacle of a public battle for the heart of the film industry, says the cultural sociologist, Danil Dondurey.
Thursday 15th January

Dissenting blockbusters

Mumin Shakirov, 15 January 2009
In an era of growing Kremlin control over media, two big new Russian films remain defiant
Wednesday 22nd October

Roberto Saviano: an Italian dissident

Geoff Andrews, 22 October 2008
"Gomorrah", a fearless anatomy of Napoli's mafia, also exposes the new face of global crime    
Thursday 21st August

The dark (k)night of a postmodern world

Tina Beattie, 21 August 2008
The Dark Knight offers - via Slavoj Zizek - a bleak insight into democracy's post-9/11 moral void
Tuesday 29th July

Youssef Chahine, the life-world of film

Tarek Osman, 29 July 2008
The passing of a great filmmaker of Alexandria and Egypt casts light on his country’s journey (archive)
Thursday 13th March

Clowning glories: Hollywood's screwball women

Kasia Boddy, 13 March 2008
Kasia Boddy celebrates the brief reign of screwball's madcap women

One day of life: a Romanian odyssey

Grace Davies, 13 March 2008

Cristian Mungiu makes humane, engaging art from the bleakness of a young woman's illegal abortion

Wednesday 16th January

Calle Santa Fé: between Chile and freedom

Patrice de Beer, 16 January 2008

The homecoming of an exiled militant is the beginning of a new journey

Saturday 4th August

Ingmar Bergman: the sense of the world

Roger Scruton, 4 August 2007

The great Swedish filmmaker made art that speaks profoundly to the truth of ourselves

Wednesday 21st March

The Lives of Others: beyond good and evil

Steve Crawshaw, 21 March 2007
"The Lives of Others" depicts a world of paranoia and foreboding, but this is no ordinary cold war thriller. The compelling exploration of the "dark side" of Communist East Germany sets this film apart, says Steve Crawshaw.
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