A disaster film as it really happened set during the 2018 Kerala Floods where people from all walks of life were taken by surprise and forced to face the catastrophic consequences of climate change. Their collective efforts to survive the calamity take the audience by storm and rivet them to their seats. — The director Jude Anthany Joseph actually lived through the floods. What he told us was that he was at home with his parents when they heard the water rising. They said they would stay but he went to his sister’s. When he returned home, it was flooded. His car was…

Classic epic of a renegade settler in 18th century Denmark who makes the land grow in spite of everyone’s lack of faith in him. The masterful sweep of the pioneer Danish on the heath, the interactions of the stoic outsider and his aristocratic neighbors and how he creates a family against all odds, classic in style and subject: It delivers 100%. —

Into a deeply religious mining community, an angel comes. Well, not an angel exactly, more of a saint. And the saint is more of a Christ figure. Even a townsman confuse their only saint with Jesus Christ. — In this stark and beautiful film, the statue of the saint upon a cross has disappeared. Shortly after a mute man appears who seems able to perform miracles and is accepted as the saint come-to-life. This leads to conflicts not to peace. Filmed in the still-operating oppressive Chiatura mine complex…

Bangladesh, the sound of sobbing. A desperate people in need of aid. — Submerging, dying, rotten. Its people must go abroad to work on lousy construction sites, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai from which they fall from 22 floors and rot before their families are even notified. This world is depicted in all its misery while the people deal with their daily bread…

Theatrical opening in NYC at DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema on Friday, November 24. — ‘Against the Tide’ directed by Sarvnik Kaur and executive produced by Mira Nair, had its World Premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in World Cinema Documentary Competition where it won a Special Jury Award for vérité filmmaking. This lyrical and beautifully observed portrait of two Bombay fishermen navigating the effects of modernization on their friendship and livelihoods was recently nominated for the Gotham Award for Best Documentary and is shortlisted for the IDA Award for Best Feature Documentary.

This documentary film by Bridget Murnane is notable because Bella Lewitsky successfully waged a one-woman campaign for recognition as the West Coast Innovator of Modern Dance and stood up for freedom of expression as an integral part of her art. — You can see the documentary at Laemmle Royal Theatre in Santa Monica from Friday November 10 to November 16. Tickets cost $16 and more details can be found online.

To mark November anniversary of Nuremberg Trial, Sandra Schulberg presents FILMMAKERS FOR THE PROSECUTION at Catholic University Law School in Washington DC and University of Minnesota / Duluth — November marks the anniversary of Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938) and the start of the first Nuremberg trial (November 20, 1945). November marks the anniversary of Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938) and the start of the first Nuremberg trial (November 20, 1945). The persecution of Jews in Germany didn’t begin with the looting and burning of synagogues and shops on Kristallnacht, but they marked a deadly turning point that led ultimately to…

Shortly after returning from the Toronto International Film Festival, I went to Costa Rica. Six days beginning on September 25 were to consist of three days at Costa Rica’s MAUCC (Mercado Audio Visual Centro America & Caribe), consisting of meetings with filmmakers about their projects followed by three days of touring — our choice of one of six regions: Chorotega, North Huetar, Caribbean Huetar, South Caribbean, Brunca and Central Pacific. This event, designed and executed by the Costa Rican Film Commissioner, José Chacon — who, BTW, lives in L.A. — was a great way to get to better know “old” friends in the business as well as to meet new friends.

It was, inevitably, quiet this year in Toronto due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes. That left more films with open seating although several seances were packed. It is still the launchpad for the Oscars though it does coincide with Telluride, Venice, London, and New York. — Of all the press and industry screenings I attended, only one was too full to accommodate me. American Fiction was the winner of the People’s Choice Award for Best Film, and alas, I will have to wait to see it when MGM releases it December 15. The debut feature from…