Dear friends,
FilmFest Hamburg is in my view one of the most underrated events in the film calendar. The program is excellent, the tickets are cheap, really easy to get, and, even during non-crisis years, rarely sell out.
My summary for this year’s rendition is in the newsflash section.
THE TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
I’m Leaving Now
📺 New on Netflix this week; 🍅 rating: 73%
This concise 75-minute documentary is about an illegal immigrant who, after 16 years in Brooklyn, decides to return home to Mexico.
It is a complicated decision; giving up the 16 years of work towards a legal status and losing the income that supports his family. An income mainly from fastidiously collecting cans, but which allowed him over the years to build a house in Mexico.
By going back, Felipe Hernandez might be a rare case; but his wanting to go back is a feeling shared by most (if not all) immigrants. This is especially true for undocumented immigrants, who often go years without seeing their loved ones.
THE TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
Wentworth
📺 Season 8 is new on Netflix U.S. and other geographies this week; 🍅 rating: no consensus yet
This show might have the same set-up as Orange is the New Black — following a recently incarcerated woman as she discovers a new world — but the two series couldn’t be more different. Wentworth is more Breaking Bad than Orange is the New Black. Also, it’s Australian.
Another difference: it doesn’t follow people who are wronged by the system or who are misunderstood, but women that have actually done violent things, and continue being violent in prison.
It appeals to everyone’s dark side: It seems impossible for any character to achieve redemption.
Readers’ top picks
I Am Jonas on Netflix, last week’s top pick from France is our readers’ favorite movie.
River also on Amazon Prime gets our readers’ TV award for the third week in a row.
New titles worth your time
Gran Torino, Her, Basic Instinct, and Will Ferrell's excellent 2006 comedy Stranger Than Fiction have been added to Netflix.
Also new on Netflix is Hunt for Wilderpeople, an excellent comedy from Taika Waititi, who would go on to direct Jojo Rabbit last year.
Raging Bull, The Pianist, and Scorsese’s The Departed have been added to Amazon Prime this week.
Great titles that will soon expire
The Water Diviner, Russell Crowe’s directorial debut (he also plays the lead role) leaves Netflix this Tuesday, October 6th. It’s about an Australian man who travels to Turkey after the end of World War I to find his three sons who never returned from the war.
The extremely intense A24 movie from 2018 A Prayer Before Dawn leaves Amazon Prime this Monday, October 5th. It’s the true story of an English boxer who gets thrown into a harsh jail in Thailand.
The Newsflash: a dispatch from Hamburg
No one from outside Germany seems to have come to the Hamburg Film Festival this year, and for this reason, things felt exceptionally safe. Here is a picture I took of the cinema before the screening of Quo Vadis, Aida:
Here are my picks from the festival in the same five made-up categories as Venice.
The one headed to the Oscars: Nomadland
Theatrical release scheduled December 4th.
Chloé Zhao is one magnificent rarity. Born and raised in China, she has been able to write and direct two of the most poignant films on the American experience in recent memory: The Rider (2017) and now Nomadland.
Parasite stood out by winning the Palme D’Or last year and went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. With its Golden Lion win at Venice, this Frances McDormand story about the precarity of the gig economy feels like it will follow the same trajectory.
The critic favorite: Quo Vadis, Aida?
Release date not yet announced.
Already at 100% Rotten Tomatoes, this incredible drama follows a UN translator during the day of the Srebrenica massacre, in which 8372 Bosnian Muslims were killed.
The film is as horrific as it is relevant: up until the actual murders start, the people are constantly being assured that everything is under control and that there is no reason to panic. Much like how many minorities in distress are often addressed nowadays.
The one with Shia: -
Hamburg was good. It wasn’t perfect.
The event-maker: Sound of Metal
Will be on Amazon Prime December 4th.
Riz Ahmed plays a recovering addict and heavy-metal drummer who starts losing his hearing. This jeopardizes his life on the road and his delicate mental balance in this hell-of-a-ride movie.
The film spans two continents and countless settings as the world closes down on Ahmed’s character. But there is a lot of substance too: the story becomes about how deafness is only a disability to people who see it as such, and how a loss of hearing might not be this guy’s biggest problem.
Side note: I will be really disappointed if Riz Ahmed is not nominated for an Oscar this year. And you know what’s crazy? I don’t even know for which role: this or his Berlin highlight Mogul Mowgli.
The Arab’s favorite Arab movie: Mayor
Release date not yet announced.
One of my favorite films of the festival was this small documentary about the mayor of Ramallah, the de-facto capital of Palestine. An American director followed him for two years and recorded his every-day life.
It might be unexpected but this film is incredibly funny. There are board meetings about Ramallah “city branding” where at one point the mayor asks “what does city branding mean?”, and no one knows. Terribly cheesy Chrismas decorations that get taken super seriously. Emoji red lights. And countless other instances of funny municipal governance.
But, obviously, there is a lot that happens that is difficult and heartbreaking. Gunshots outside the city hall that trap the mayor, violence, and never-ending protests.
This mayor might be in the most unique situation in the world, having to put aside so much anxiety-inducing politics (and his own safety) to focus on improving the lives of people living under occupation through little things like a water fountain or a Christmas tree.
That’s it for today, I hope there is something in there for you.
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The next edition will be in your inbox on Friday, October 9th.
Until then,
Bilal Zou, founder [bilal@agoodmovietowatch.com]
Carried with the support of the Creative Europe Program – MEDIA.