THE HYPERBOREANS review: "Much like their disturbing first feature THE WOLF HOUSE, which similarly examines the ripple effects of Nazism in Chile after WWII, Cociña and León have found a perverse alchemy for cinema as a tool both delightful and disquieting." bit.ly/4bFBH2F

Here is my sit down with 🇮🇹 Carolina Cavalli for the offbeat THE KIDNAPPING of ARABELLA -- produced by Elsinore (Antonio Celsi), The Apartment Pictures (Annamaria Morelli), PiperFilm (Massimiliano Orfei, Luisa Borella, Davide Novelli) bit.ly/4mVnuni

A HOUSE of DYNAMITE 🧨 on the Lido "Resembling something like a mixture between her previous films Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Bigelow proves to be in top form when it comes to tension building & pacing whilst utilizing real-world anxieties.." @netflix bit.ly/4lQ0eXj

🇨🇱 Felipe Galvez, 🇨🇦 Graham Foy, 🇵🇹 Cristele Alves Meira, 🇫🇮 Mikko Myllylahti & 🇺🇿 Michael Borodin will workshop their sophomore features at the 2025 Critics’ Week Next Step II Programme! bit.ly/3INmbJk

2025 Prix IRIS (aka the Quebec Oscars) nominations are out - Rankin's 'Universal Language' Leads with 17 while Lesage's 'Comme le feu' landed 8 - ceremony takes place early December bit.ly/4nDkAES

🇦🇷 Federico Luis (Simon of the Mountain) and 🇺🇦 Maksym Nakonechnyi (Butterfly Vision) are among the six young filmmakers chosen for the Festival de Cannes Residency in Paris! It's a big deal for the new talents! bit.ly/4pSc0Ux

During the Berlinale our Nicholas Bell reviewed THE ICE TOWER "depicts a cruel, unhappy realm and successfully elicits a corresponding emotional response." Out today via Yellow Veil Pictures bit.ly/4gIJ1MX

Nine projects have been announced for Poland's @AmericanFilmFestival - US in Progress: we find the likes of Talia Lugacy, Dash Shaw, Suzi Yoonessi, Julia Baylis and Sam Guest! bit.ly/3VQG9Wq

THE SMASHING MACHINE "A well-performed, empathetic portrait of a man on his own personal precipice, this is an examination of sacrifice and disappointment brought to life mostly through the gravitas of Dwayne Johnson.." Via @A24 bit.ly/41y5bwL

@Searchlight putting Mona Fastvold's The Testament of Ann Lee on the Fast Track. The distrib grabbed the rights yesterday and plan a 2025 release for awardage contention. bit.ly/3KOeT8A

Honestly Rami Malek might be best served in American indie cinema (e.g: Buster's Mal Heart) - so this is good news. Rebecca Hall also (re)joins Ira Sachs venturing into his first musical with THE MAN I LOVE - producer Saïd Ben Saïd is back for a 3rd time! bit.ly/3KusXnB

MUITO LEGAL! While on his long The Secret Agent promotion/film fest tour 🇧🇷 Kleber Mendonça Filho told Vulture that he will dig into 1930s Recife for his next feature film. Time to rewatch his guilty pleasure 2023 docu Pictures of Ghosts. bit.ly/4ntYS6h

She just won the Silver Lion in Venice for The Voice of Hind Rajab and 🇹🇳 Kaouther Ben Hania is already shooting her next project. MIMESIS is produced by Tanit Films' Nadim Cheikhrouha - Juan Sarmiento G. returns as the dp. bit.ly/3KwXTnc

Quentin Dupieux has landed the likes of Kristen Stewart, Woody Harrelson, Emma Mackey, Charlotte Le Bon + Tim & Eric for the English language ensemble FULL PHIL - production begins today. Hugo Sélignac produces! bit.ly/4gO2eyC

Unsure if this is a Cannes Palme d'Or competition lock but 🇯🇵 Hirokazu Kore-eda is currently on production for SHEEP in the BOX with Ayase Haruka (Our Little Sister) toplining bit.ly/48FNYWt

🇨🇳 Jia Zhang-ke will being production on a new contemporary set feature (the travelogue project?) this December! Could this be ready for Venice in 2026? We sure hope so! bit.ly/48zF90o

Welcome to our regular Saturday feature. Pack your bags, get your boarding pass ready ..... here is Everything We Know So Far... for 🇮🇸 Hlynur Pálmason's ON LAND and SEA bit.ly/42dCpC3

🇹🇭 Apichatpong Weerasethakul will shoot Jengira’s Magnificent Dream in February (in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰) with Uncle Boonmee alumni Jenjira Pongpas and Sakda Kaewbuadee, with Memoria muse Tilda Swinton and Canuck actor/director Connor Jessup. bit.ly/4nMian3

2nd consecutive day of RT Features' Rodrigo Teixeira news. He will produce 🇦🇷 Benjamín Naishtat's GLAXO - singer Lali Espósito stars in the tale of revenge and desire. Production is scheduled to begin this year in Brazil and Argentina. bit.ly/46I0cvh

We got some hired wheels in David Jonsson & Cooper Hoffman for India Donaldson's highy anticipated sophomore feature The Chaperones - plus check out the crazy backers: @A24, Plan B and Icki Eneo Arlo! bit.ly/3Vypvuw

We can lasso 2026 for some new cinema by 🇨🇱 Dominga Sotomayor - she moves into production on La Perra with thesps Manuela Oyarzún & Selton Mello - produced by RT Features' Rodrigo Teixeira and Berta Marchiori with Planta's Fernando Bascuñán - bit.ly/4mvD09l

After a week of rest we are returning to Venice and TIFF coverage - more interviews and reviews! First up: 🇪🇸 Spanish filmmaker Lucía Aleñar Iglesias for Forastera - among our top feature debuts for 2025! and TIFF winner of the @Fipresci prize. bit.ly/47Rjxwc

Léa Seydoux & Catherine Deneuve have joined 🇦🇹 Marie Kreutzer's GENTLE MONSTER - we're curious to see if this could be finished on time for Cannes - but our money is on Venice. bit.ly/3KbUeLs

We got a pair of exclusive clips for Emilie Thalund's Weightless (Vægtløs) – selected for 2025 San Sebastián Intl. Film Festival and the BFI London directly after. bit.ly/4nfaOJ8

A this point in the Best Intl. Feature Film Oscars / Foreign Film Golden Globes races .... we gotta think that it's a Panahi vs. Ben Hania showdown....with Kleber Mendonça Filho, Park Chan Wook, Joachim Trier in the grudge match as well. bit.ly/47PZu1e

Critic Darling 🇪🇸 Sirāt is NEON's Dark Horse Contender in Best Intl. Feature Film Category at the 2026 Oscars bit.ly/4n4iSfv

🇨🇦 Denis Côté's has completed the first portion of filming on his 17th feature Violence du corps de l’autre. They'll return for one week in January. This will premiere at a major fest in 2026. bit.ly/4ncZHAu

2026 Oscars: NEON Has Lock on Best Intl. Feature Film Category with Filho's 'The Secret Agent' Repping Brazil 🇧🇷 bit.ly/4pn2iJq

To be released this weekend - our Nicholas Bell reviewed Piero Messina's ANOTHER END "feels like Reminiscence (2021) with Hugh Jackman. In other words, a short form concept stretched to ridiculousness." bit.ly/3wt0E1M

2025 TIFF: Chloé Zhao’s 'Hamnet' Wins TIFF People’s Choice Award Paving the Way to Oscar Gold - bit.ly/3Kluz2R

Chloé Zhao's HAMNET will likely win the TIFF Audience Award but you should definitely seek out Paul Mescal in THE HISTORY of SOUND - out this weekend via the Mubi folks. bit.ly/3H37bG5

Our Kevin Jagernauth reviewed Pete Ohs' ERUPCJA “...there is something distinctly beautiful that Ohs captures about the quotidian messiness of just trying to figure everything out.” bit.ly/3I5Tp6l

Our Kevin Jagernauth tries to hit a 9 with BALLAD of a SMALL PLAYER “it does firmly establish the filmmaker as perhaps the finest purveyor of reliably high gloss pulp. But even as far as low stakes bets go, the film only offers a very modest payout.” bit.ly/4gjieZb

Hedda is an unfortunate flop - our Kevin Jagernauth notes that “Thompson is unfortunately the weakest link. The actress struggles with an over enunciated, overly sharpened British accent that sounds more like a cartoon than a lived-in character.” bit.ly/3I4M6Mc

Our Kevin Jagernauth reviews the new Claire Denis pic - The Fence (aka Le Cri des Gardes). “Boiling with homoeroticism and wounded with the scars of post-colonialism, the director’s sensibilities still manage to shine through an overly talky picture.” @TIFF #TIFF50 bit.ly/4mTIP1j

We are in the middle of TIFF madness, but this coming Friday is the release of Berlinale title by Dag Johan Haugerud -- DREAMS (part II of the SEX LOVE trilogy) comes out via the STRAND RELEASING folks! bit.ly/42YAwKF

BRAVO BENE! “it’s a documentary about a depressed artist’s failed film project, a portrait in which he also recused himself from as we learn about the impressions he’s left and an industry which has turned their back on auteurs who prize artistry over economy.” ★★★★ bit.ly/4m3PmW8

SILENT FRIEND “examines progress through our ability to communicate not only with each other but the environment around us, suggesting self-actualization is achieved through our sometimes brief moments whereby harmony is reached by mutual grasping of our interconnectedness.” ★★★★ bit.ly/4mNBIax

IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic Nicholas Bell and editor-in-chief Eric Lavallée look back at the 2025 Venice Film Festival - Who Should Win? Who Will Win! bit.ly/3I8XAOE

IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic Nicholas Bell and editor-in-chief Eric Lavallée look back at the 2025 Venice Film Festival - Who Should Win? Who Will Win! bit.ly/3I8XAOE

Nicholas Bell on The Sun Rises on Us All “Painstakingly paced with a 2hr plus running time, a languorous marination with a pair of reunited ex-lovers forced to confront the tragic circumstances surrounding the dissolution of their relationship often seems unnecessarily agonizing.” bit.ly/4phamvp

Our Nicholas Bell reviews the latest 🇮🇹 Leonardo Di Costanzo “Ultimately, ELISA features compelling (if familiar) ideas and subject matter about murder and women who kill, but it shuffles along listlessly as an exercise of somnolent resolve.” bit.ly/4p8rpj4

Our Nicholas Bell finds a 🇲🇽 gem in David Pablos’ ON the ROAD (aka En El Camino) “As violent as it is intensely intimate, Pablos explores the burgeoning relationship between two drifters brought together by circumstance.” bit.ly/466pK4O

Shu Qi's GIRL (Nühai) “A constant state of miserabilism pervades the interiority of these characters, with fractured flashbacks depicting how the abused becomes the abuser. Unfortunately, a lack of subtlety with its characterizations allows for a sense of overkill...” bit.ly/3I6UmLw

Our Nicholas Bell reviews Pietro Marcello's DUSE “as portrayed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, it's a strangely demure depiction of extravagance and disillusionment by a woman desiring to live excessively or not at all.” @La Biennale di Venezia #BiennaleCinema2025 #Venezia82 bit.ly/45XO0pO

Our Nicholas Bell reviews THE VOICE of HIND RAJAB “The immediacy of the title’s importance is speaking directly to the present, utilizing cinema as the tool to break through the apathy of the news cycle and the cynical desensitization....” bit.ly/4p1AkTz

Our Nicholas Bell reviews 🧨 this Netflix item “With the doomsday clock adjusted to eighty-nine seconds to midnight at the dawn of 2025, something like Kathryn Bigelow’s latest film, A HOUSE of DYNAMITE, has a queasy aftertaste despite styled as a meaty popcorn flick.” bit.ly/4lQ0eXj

Our Nicholas Bell reviews François Ozon's L'étranger (aka The Stranger) “Shot in black and white by cinematographer Manu Dacosse, its elegant starkness blends into a near-constant dread enhanced by Kuwaiti musician Fatima Al Qadiri’s sinister score” bit.ly/41A2vyK

Our Nicholas Bell reviews STRAIGHT CIRCLE “As could be predicted, the film builds to an expected, and ultimate irony. But much like the title suggests, it feels as if we get right back to where we started from.” bit.ly/3VqJGdM

Our Nicholas Bell reviews THE SMASHING MACHINE “The emotional payoff of the film isn’t so much about triumph, but resilience. And the reality of never knowing how being yourself inspires others, even long after it might seem the opportunity to do so has passed.” @A24 bit.ly/41y5bwL