New Directors/New Films and Film Comment Selects 2014 General Forum thread

[Chris Knipp]

RETURN TO HOMS (Talal Derki 2013)--ND/NF

Winner of the world jury doc prize at Sundance, this is the most visceral, intimate portrait of urban rebel warfare you're likely to see. It also tenaciously follows a charismatic young leader, Abdel-Basset Al-Sarout, a 19-year-old star soccer player and blacksmith when it begins. He leads singing chants in the peaceful rebel demonstrations at first, and when armed conflict begins, becomes a leader ready to die a martyr. Filming is so risky and up-front we see rebels wounded and killed on camera. A remarkable film, a vivid snapshot, a poetic memoir, an impassioned plea -- a concentrated essence of all the hope, passion, and despair of the Arab Spring.

THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT/DAS MERKWÜRDIGE KÄTSCHEN (Ramon Zürcher 2013)--ND/NF

I've reported on this before, but am reprinting my review from the SFIFF of last year. An experimental work by a young Swiss-German filmmaker that focuses on the mechanics and oddities of life examining objects as closely as humans, as observed from a family kitchen where people come and go in the course of a day. You may not get it, but let's say it's like Jacques Tati without the humor. It has been shown at no less than three dozen film festivals since its debut at the Berlinale early last year.