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From ‘No Time to Die’ to 5 films about grief
It’s been two months since ‘No Time to Die’, the twenty-fifth in the James Bond series, was released. Filming locations included some of my favourite places in the world, such as Italy (Matera), the Caribbean (Jamaica), Norway, the Faroe Islands and London. As much as I enjoyed following the fictional British MI6 agent around the world (SPOILER ALERT FOLLOWS), I was shocked by the ending, where Bond dies. A few weeks later, I attended the Leeds International Film Festival, which took place from 3 to 18 November. Interestingly, five of the six films I watched (chosen either by myself or my friend Jini) were films about grief. Drive My Car…
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Best International Feature Film goes to…
The Oscars are due in just two days, on 26 April. Last year, a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe and the Americas, the South Korean film ‘Parasite’, directed by Bong Joon-ho, won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, but also the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. This was a historical moment: ‘Parasite’ was the first South Korean film to have been nominated in these categories, as well as the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. This year, there will be a total of 23 Academy Awards. Of those, the one I’m most excited about…
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25 French films worth watching
Oscars are due in just over two weeks, on 26 April. This year, there will be a total of 23 Academy Awards. Of those, the one I’m most excited about is the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (previously known as Best Foreign Language Film). So far, the most awarded foreign country is Italy (with 14 Oscars won), while France is the second most awarded one (12 Oscars), as well as the foreign country with the most nominations (37). Today, I’d like to take the opportunity to discuss some of my favourite French films. Portrait de la jeune fille en feu ‘Portrait de la jeune fille en feu’ (‘Portrait…
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A cinematic journey to France
Inspired by the BFI London Film Festival I attended in October (it took place from the 2nd to the 13th of October 2019), I embarked on a cinematic journey around Europe. My first stop was the Nordic countries (‘A cinematic journey to the Nordic Countries’). I then continued my journey to East (Estonia, Russia, Poland), Central (Germany, Austria, Belgium) and South Europe (Spain, Italy, Greece). I now continue my cinematic journey to France, a country with a rich cinematic tradition. As both a cinephile and Francophile, I have always been interested in the French cinema, and naturally the French Film Festival UK (due to take place nationwide from 1st November…
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A cinematic journey around Europe
Inspired by the BFI London Film Festival I attended earlier this month (it took place between the 2nd and the 13th of October 2019), I embarked on a cinematic journey around Europe. My first stop was the Nordic countries (‘A cinematic journey to the Nordic Countries’). As well as attending mainstream film festivals, such as the BFI London Film Festival, and the Leeds International Film Festival (due to take place from 6th to 20th November 2019), I also attend lesser-known ones, such as the European Psychoanalytic Film Festival (EPFF). EPFF takes place in London every two years and is due to take place from 31st October to 3rd November 2019. Every…
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A cinematic journey to the Nordic countries
A keen traveler, I am also a music lover, and I particularly enjoy discovering and listening to music from different countries, often in languages I don’t understand. A few months ago, I published the post ‘Beyond Eurovision: A musical journey around Europe’, where I ‘visited’ 22 European countries, listening to some of my favorite musicians from each of these countries. This musical journey was followed by similar ones to Greece, Norway, Iceland, and California. But, I am also a film enthusiast, and as such I enjoy watching films from other countries, not always in English (as long as they have subtitles). To marry my love for cinema with my passion for…