Author: CWB News Department

The Glasgow Short Film Festival came to a close last night with its annual award ceremony. Seventeen films competed for the Scottish Short Film Award which was won by Lisa Clarkson for Paternal Advice. The jury said, ‘In this outstanding short film, absurdist elements intrude on the edge of reality, language breaks down to its most elemental functions and the city’s ancient divisions take on a timeless, dream-like quality. ‘Through the brilliant lead performance and striking sound design, the audience’s expectations are subtly undermined throughout. The final punchline is delivered with swagger, an old joke with a punchline we see coming…

The highly anticipated biographical drama Phule has just released its official trailer, and fans are eagerly waiting for the film’s theatrical release on 11 April 2025, which coincides with the birth anniversary of the legendary social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. The film stars Pratik Gandhi in the titular role of Mahatma Phule, with Patralekhaa portraying his wife, Savitribai Phule, a pioneering educator and social activist. https://youtu.be/-HfTlM6r4CU?si=gmGAEv1jFxPBSmcF Directed by the National Award-winning filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, Phule aims to shed light on the incredible contributions of Mahatma Phule, a visionary who fought for the rights of women and marginalized communities in…

Here is a strangely exhausting movie, quaintly imagining the frenzied atmosphere of a New York restaurant kitchen as a microcosm of exploited migrant workers, full of macho shouting and self-conscious acting, with every speech a drama school audition piece. The Mexican film-maker Alonso Ruizpalacios has given us some terrific work in the past, such as his debut Güeros, his drama-thriller Museum and his rather amazing docudrama A Cop Movie, but I couldn’t make friends with this strained and histrionic picture. It is in English and Spanish, shot in black-and-white, but sometimes shifting to different colour filters, and inspired by The Kitchen, the 1957 stage…

Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia is an existential drama masquerading as a comedy masquerading as a thriller. The French director, whose best-known film Stateside remains 2014’s sunny, rambling queer mystery Stranger by the Lake, specializes in these kinds of slippery genre hybrids, movies that start off as one thing and eventually become other things, all without ever betraying their essence. Misericordia was a major critical hit in France, where it was nominated for mountains of awards and was named the best film of the year by Cahiers du Cinéma. The director’s shape-shifting narratives, forever flirting with the metaphysical, are obviously a known quantity there. It’ll be interesting to…

A B.C. film focusing on Indigenous food sovereignty has received the most nominations at a social-justice film fest in Surrey. Tea Creek is a finalist for Rogers Group of Funds Best Canadian Documentary, Best Environmental Film, and Best British Columbia Feature Film at the Sundar Prize Film Festival 2025. Ryan Dickie, a Fort Nelson resident of Dene descent, directed Tea Creek. It tells the story of an agricultural-training centre for Indigenous people in northwestern B.C. Tea Creek owner Jacob Beaton, a mixed-race member of the Tsimshian Nation, offers mentorship on his family farm in Kitwanga to aspiring Indigenous food producers. “Jacob and his wife,…

The first feature-length documentary by Irish director Gar O’Rourke, Sanatorium , which is world-premiering at CPH:DOX, in the DOX:AWARD competition, is set in the imposing Kuyalnyk Sanatorium in Odesa. Over the course of one summer, it follows the lives of staff and guests as the war encroaches in the background. We chatted with O’Rourke about the film and his playful approach. Cineuropa: How did you discover this sanatorium? Gar O’Rourke: I first went to Kyiv in 2018, when I was developing the short documentary Kachalka, and since then, I’ve had a strong love of, and interest in, Ukrainian culture. But the origins of Sanatorium started during the…

For its second year, the Latin American Film Festival of Dallas will return to Spacy, a microcinema in the heart of Tyler Station. From March 21–23, LAFFD 2025 will feature 11 films that demonstrate the breadth of contemporary Latin American cinema alongside repertory screenings of classic films from the region. While these are mostly contemporary works, there are also curated repertory screenings on the schedule (including the 1949 Mexican comedy Tender Pumpkins). LAFFD remains the only film festival in DFW solely dedicated to Latin American cinema; other festivals may program these films or have a specific block acknowledging Latin American movies, but no one else…

ohn Williams is among cinema’s most known and respected composers. He has a knack for crafting brilliant arrangements that so perfectly capture the mood and tone of their respective films. His work is often thought to be timeless, carried through the years via a number of vessels, from exciting video games to blockbuster sequels. Williams has collaborated with equally prolific filmmakers, from the varied concepts brought to life by Steven Spielberg to the galaxies explored by George Lucas. With over 30 awards under his belt, including five Oscars, Williams’ accomplishments have not gone unsung, but we’d love to offer our…

Breakfast With Giraffes – A Comedy by Soroush Sehat will be screened in  Los Angeles & Orange County https://youtu.be/NTXo6NDYnt4?si=mgrYyJkPEHBuJK1- Pouya, Shahin, and Mojtaba have been invited to Reza’s wedding. Reza, the groom, has been trying for years to get the approval of the bride’s family, and he has finally succeeded in organizing the wedding tonight. The bride’s family is traditional, and Mojtaba, who is a close relative of the groom, has been advised by Reza not to drink alcohol tonight. However, his friends, seeking to have a good time, turn to drugs like cocaine and offer some to Mojtaba and…

“Flow,″ a wordless cat parable, won the Oscar for animated feature at Sunday’s 97th Academy Awards. The win gives Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis his first Academy Award. “Flow” was made with Blender, a free, open-source graphics software tool using computer generated animation. The result is a dreamy aesthetic paired with a peaceful, yet post-apocalyptic, fable about a black cat, dog, capybara, ring-tailed lemur and secretary bird trying to survive a catastrophic flood. The film has no dialogue and forces viewers to be mesmerized by the unlikely relationship and understanding between the species trying to escape the rising waters. https://youtu.be/edcULvPtKDs?si=TC11kQNWxfzUYK6V “I think you…