Category Archives: Arts and Culture

Berlin Silver Bear Winner Living the Land Opens at Film Forum April 3

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living-the-landThe Berlin International Film Festival award-winning drama Living the Land will have its U.S. theatrical premiere at Film Forum on April 3.

Directed by Huo Meng, the film earned the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and marks the filmmaker’s second feature. The coming-of-age story unfolds in rural China during the early 1990s, a period of rapid industrial change.

The film follows Chuang, a sensitive 10-year-old boy whose parents leave their wheat-farming village to seek work in the city. Left in the care of his extended family, Chuang witnesses the rhythms of rural life through the guidance of his outspoken great-grandmother and independent-minded aunt.

Told from the child’s perspective, Living the Land captures a community at the edge of transformation as traditional village life begins to disappear.

Following its Berlin premiere, the film has also screened at international festivals including Vancouver, Valladolid, and the International Film Festival of India. The film is distributed in the United States by Film Movement.

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Mistress Dispeller Streams on Criterion Channel, Unpacking China’s Infidelity Industry

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Mistress-DispellerElizabeth Lo’s documentary Mistress Dispeller is now streaming exclusively on the Criterion Channel.

The film follows Wang Zhenxi, a professional “mistress dispeller” hired to preserve marriages by breaking up extramarital affairs — a growing industry in China. With rare, intimate access, the documentary observes a real marital crisis unfold as Wang works to steer a couple back from collapse.

As loyalties shift between husband, wife, and mistress, Mistress Dispeller explores how emotion, pragmatism, and cultural expectations shape modern relationships. Critics have described the film as both haunting and unexpectedly tender.

Mistress Dispeller is available now on the Criterion Channel.

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Radu Jude’s Kontinental ‘25 Opens March 27 at Film Forum

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kontinentalRadu Jude’s latest feature, Kontinental ‘25, opens March 27 at Film Forum in New York.

The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival, where Jude won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay.

Set in the Romanian city of Cluj, the story follows Orsolya, a Hungarian immigrant and municipal employee whose routine eviction of an elderly man sets off a personal reckoning after he takes his own life. As she revisits the event through conversations with friends, family, and clergy, the film examines questions of responsibility, guilt, and the systems that shape individual choices.

Jude, known for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn and Don’t Expect Too Much From the End of the World, continues his sharp, often uncomfortable look at contemporary European life.

Kontinental ‘25 begins its U.S. theatrical run at Film Forum on March 27.

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Franco Nero to Present Silent Life Final Cut in Hollywood

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franco-neroFranco Nero will present a special Hollywood preview of Silent Life: The Rudolph Valentino Centennial Final Cut on Monday, February 16 at the Hollywood Forever Masonic Lodge.

The screening will be followed by a Q and A moderated by film critic Leonard Maltin. The event comes days after Nero receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 12.

Directed by Vladislav Alex Kozlov, Silent Life revisits the life and legacy of silent film star Rudolph Valentino on the centennial of his death. Nero, who portrayed Valentino in 1975’s The Legend of Valentino, lends his voice to the role in the new film. The cast also includes Terry Moore, Isabella Rossellini, Sherilyn Fenn, Paul Rodriguez, and Monte Markham.

The 2026 version is described as a newly completed director’s cut. The film has previously screened at festivals including Sedona, WorldFest Houston, and Rhode Island International Film Festival. A limited number of tickets are available for the February 16 event.

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Jimmy Eat World Announce 25th Anniversary Bleed American Tour

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jimmy-eat-worldJimmy Eat World are taking Bleed American back on the road.

The band announced a North American and U.K. tour celebrating the album’s 25th anniversary, kicking off June 9 at Red Rocks in Colorado and running through November, with a stop at Vans Warped Tour in Orlando. It marks their return to Warped after 25 years.

The run includes headline dates across the U.S. and Canada, plus three U.K. shows in August, culminating in what’s being billed as their biggest U.K. headlining gig yet at London’s Gunnersbury Park.

On this tour, the band plans to play Bleed American in full, along with additional material. Released in 2001, the album became their breakthrough, driven by “The Middle,” which has since crossed a billion streams on Spotify. The record helped define early-2000s alternative rock and has remained a touchstone for bands that followed.

Select dates will feature support from Rise Against, Sunny Day Real Estate, Thrice, Motion City Soundtrack, The Get Up Kids, PUP, and others.

Presales begin February 11, with general tickets on sale February 13.

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SFFILM Will Close Its 69th Festival With The Empire Strikes Back at the Castro

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luke-skywalker-and-darth-vaderSFFILM already has its Closing Night set, and it lands right on May the Fourth.

The 69th San Francisco International Film Festival will wrap on Monday, May 4 with a screening of Star Wars: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back at the newly renovated Castro Theatre. The event is being presented with Lucasfilm and Another Planet Entertainment, and it doubles as a high-profile moment for the Castro as it reopens its doors to major public screenings.

After the film, Anthony Daniels, best known as C-3PO, will take the stage for a conversation with longtime Lucasfilm executive Howard Roffman, who spent decades helping shape the franchise’s reach well beyond the movies themselves.

It’s an on-the-nose choice in the best way. Empire remains the most emotionally grounded film in the series, and San Francisco’s connection to Star Wars runs deeper than most cities, with Lucasfilm’s history rooted just across the bay. Putting it in the Castro, freshly restored and unapologetically theatrical, feels right.

Closing Night begins at 7:00 pm, with tickets available first to SFFILM members on February 4, followed by a general onsale on February 6. The full festival lineup will be announced April 1.

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Brandy, Kirk Franklin, and Pharrell Williams Honored at Recording Academy Honors

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Brandy, Kirk Franklin, and Pharrell Williams were honored Thursday night at the fourth annual Recording Academy Honors presented by the Black Music Collective, held January 29 in Santa Monica ahead of the Grammy Awards.Brandy and Franklin each received the Black Music Icon Award, recognizing their lasting artistic influence and cultural impact, while Williams was presented with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his contributions to music, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.

The ceremony featured tribute performances from Coco Jones, Kehlani, FLO, John Legend, Lecrae, PJ Morton, Tamela Mann, and others, with appearances by Dr. Dre, Tyler the Creator, and Justin Timberlake. Both Brandy and Franklin also performed during the evening. In a notable moment, Eve was formally awarded a Grammy for her performance on The Roots’ “You Got Me,” correcting a long-standing credit oversight from the song’s original win in 2000.

The Black Music Collective event continues to spotlight Black artists and industry leaders while supporting future generations through scholarship initiatives and mentorship.

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Time and Water Premieres January 27 at Sundance in Park City

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Time and Water premiered on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at the Park City Library Theater as part of the Premieres section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

The screening was preceded by a press line attended by director Sara Dosa and Icelandic writer and subject Andri Snær Magnason, along with producers Shane Boris, Jameka Autry, and Elijah Stevens.

The documentary centers on Magnason as he confronts parallel forms of loss, the disappearance of Iceland’s glaciers and the fading presence of family memory. Using personal archives, photographs, writing, and folklore, the film approaches climate change through intimacy rather than scale, grounding global urgency in lived experience. The atmosphere surrounding the premiere reflected that tone, measured, quiet, and reflective rather than overtly ceremonial.

The Sundance screening marked the film’s first public presentation. Time and Water continues its festival run with additional in-person and online screenings through February 1.

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One Battle After Another Leads Online Film Critics Society Awards

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onebattle-after-anotherPaul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another emerged as a major winner at the 2025 Online Film Critics Society Awards, taking Best Picture and Best Director among five total wins. The film’s strong showing places it firmly among the most critically embraced releases of the year.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners ultimately led the awards overall, collecting 10 wins across major categories including acting, writing, cinematography, score, and multiple technical honors. With more than 38 films recognized across 22 categories, this year’s OFCS awards reflected an unusually broad spread of genres, from studio releases to international and independent titles.

One notable takeaway from this year’s results is how concentrated the wins were at the top: just two films accounted for nearly half of all awards handed out, underscoring a rare level of consensus among the Society’s nearly 300 voting critics worldwide.

The organization also presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to Colleen Atwood, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Vittorio Storaro, and Walter Murch, alongside Special Achievement Awards recognizing sustainability efforts in filmmaking and advocacy within the industry.

Here’s the complete list of Online Film Critics Society Award winners and nominations for 2025.

Continue reading →

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Broken English Brings Marianne Faithfull Tribute to Sundance Spotlight Premiere

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Broken English co-directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard

Broken English co-directors Iain Forsyth and Jane PollardBroken English made its Sundance Film Festival debut on Sunday, January 25, with a Spotlight screening at Eccles Theatre in Park City. The North American premiere was preceded by a red carpet press line, where filmmakers, producers, and performers gathered ahead of the evening’s screening.

Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Broken English is a documentary portrait of singer, songwriter, and cultural icon Marianne Faithfull. The film blends archival material, staged sequences, and performance, presenting Faithfull’s life and career through a stylized and unconventional lens rather than a traditional retrospective format.

Forsyth and Pollard attended the red carpet alongside producer Beth Earl and executive producers Victoria Steventon, Julia Xu, Julia Stier, and Miranda Bailey. Performers Norah Jones and Rufus Wainwright were also present ahead of their post-screening tribute performances, which followed the film’s premiere and added a live element to the evening’s celebration.

The Sundance appearance follows the film’s earlier world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. At Sundance, Broken English screened as part of the festival’s Spotlight section and was presented in person only, drawing a full house and a noticeably attentive crowd.

The night felt less like a standard documentary premiere and more like a shared moment of remembrance, fitting for a film centered on legacy, memory, and artistic refusal to conform.

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