Cultural Hater visited Wrocław for a week to see the best movies screened at the New Horizons International Film Festival. Here’s what you should add to your watchlist!
It’s almost a tradition to visit New Horizons for me, and it’s not only a cinematic festivity. It is also a place to meet with friends, discuss films and get to know new faces. New Horizons festival seems to be finally on its feet after desperately looking for new sponsors, and this edition proved to be much, much better than the last year (if you’re curious, here’s what I wrote about it).
My picks for this year were mostly the praised titles from Cannes, Sundance, and Rotterdam, but I also tried to make up for a few titles from 2018 that I missed, as well as some oldies.
Day one of New Horizons International Film Festival
What I watched: Bacurau, Monos, Little Joe and The Wild Goose Lake.
It’s been a very solid day – to say the least. The Brazilian “Bacurau” was wildly entertaining, as the film painted a rich portrayal of the country’s unstable situation. It was also bizarre, unpredictable and perfect to start a festival. The day’s peak was, however, “Monos” – a film about juvenile guerrilla warfare squad. Its raw nature and absolutely stunning cinematography blew me away and made the other movies remain in its shadow.
You can find the short reviews from day one here.
Day two of New Horizons International Film Festival
What I watched: Deerskin, Parasite, Ghost Town Anthology and Jinpa.
Four movies, but all I can think of is “Parasite”. A brilliant, truly brilliant piece of filmmaking. The Korean drama delivered everything it could, from a wonderful mix of genres to a in-depth look at the class disparities in modern South Korea. Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised by two low-budget Indies – “Jinpa” about a truck driver’s bad luck in Tibet and “Ghost Town Anthology”, which looked at Quebec’s rural areas with a horror twist.
You can find the short reviews from day two here.
Day three of New Horizons International Film Festival
What I watched: The Beach Bum, The Juniper Tree and Zombi Child.
Three films among which none, unfortunately, truly stood out. The one that stayed with me most was “Zombi Child” – a strange, voodoo-infused French drama about a Haitian girl living and studying in France. It had its spectacular moments, but the full potential was never grasped. I also took my chance to watch Bjork’s first feature “The Juniper Tree” and end the day with Harmony Korine’s highly disappointing “The Beach Bum”.
You can find the short reviews from day three here.
Day four of New Horizons International Film Festival
What I watched: Mid90s, Koko-di Koko-da and The Lodge.
I couldn’t ask for a weirder beginning than the day’s four morning screening of “Koko-di Koko-da”. The Danish-Swedish drama was a rollercoaster, touching on the topics of grief and copying with loss with lots of creativity. While it’s not the festival’s top, this Scandinavian movie certainly leaves a mark. I’ve also seen the biggest let-down of New Horizons “The Lodge”, and a heart-warming directorial debut from Jonah Hill “Mid90s”.
You can find the short reviews from day three here.
Day five of New Horizons International Film Festival
I had high hopes for the wildly acclaimed “The Souvenir”, a British drama about a tough relationship of a drug addict and a naive art student. But the film’s all but good, and that didn’t constitute an uplifting start of the day. But the tables turned soon enough with an Icelandic drama “A White, White Day” and Willem Defoe’s monodrama “Tommaso”.
You can find the short reviews from day three here.
And here’s a full ranking of all films that Cultural Hater reviewed!
- Parasite
- Monos
- Bacurau
- Ghost Town Anthology
- The Wild Goose Lake
- Mid90s
- A White, White Day
- Zombi Child
- Tommaso
- Koko-di Koko-da
- The Juniper’s Tree
- Jinpa
- Matthias et Maxime
- Deerskin
- Little Joe
- The Beach Bum
- The Lodge
- The Souvenir