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SHIVA BABY EMMA SELIGMAN, US A young Jewish woman’s secret life unravels during a shiva, in Seligman’s frantically funny feature debut, a modern New York farce with a surprising emotional punch. W E S A I D “Seligman’s decision to let the ensuing disaster unspool entirely within the confines of the shiva is a brilliant device for weaving together all the emotional and narrative tensions in play, and then winding each wire to an almost unbearable breaking-point. As writer, she studs her intricately constructed screenplay with hilarious absurdity and scalpel-sharp one-liners; as director, she frames the mayhem expertly, with one eye always on the bigger picture.” (Lisa Mullen, S&S, Summer) WHERE TO SEE IT On Mubi now
THE TSUGUA DIARIES MAUREEN FAZENDEIRO & MIGUEL GOMES, PORTUGAL Fazendeiro and Gomes’s playful puzzle finds creative inspiration in Covid complications, creating a languorous yet comic slice of fauxdocumentary quarantine life. W E S A I D “In the absence of an appreciable narrative, the intention seems to be of luxuriating in the sensuality of 16mm by capturing textures and the play of sunlight as the trio build a butterfly house in an orchard, or the vivid colours that bathe the garden at night. Then The Tsugua Diaries switches gears, from fiction to (pretend) documentary, becoming a film about its own making.” (Giovanni Marchini Camia, S&S online)
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WHERE TO SEE IT Awaiting UK distribution
PLAYGROUND LAURA WANDEL, BELGIUM The cruelty of the playground is meted out on a young brother and sister in Wandel’s immersive debut.
“Playground’s French title, Un monde (A World), suggests that a school is a self-enclosed universe with its own laws, customs and abuses, set apart from the adult realm; but also that it is a microcosm of the horrors and injustices outside. Playground is a triumph in terms of focus and concision – a mere 72 minutes – with the action rigorously restricted to the school premises and the camera always held exactly at child’s-eye height.” (Jonathan Romney, S&S online)
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WHERE TO SEE IT In UK cinemas in 2022
BEGINNING DÉA KULUMBEGASHVILI, GEORGIA Kulumbegashvili’s compelling first feature focuses elliptically on Yana, a mother and wife in a community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose sacrifices have brought no solace. WE SAID “Beginning what, exactly? The mesmerising debut
feature by Georgian director Déa Kulumbegashvili never makes it clear – indeed, refuses to make anything too clear. What is certain is that Beginning is the work of a very singular, independently minded director. It is a slow, contained, reserved film – yet it contains moments that are startling, even shocking.” (Jonathan Romney, S&S, May)
WHERE TO SEE IT On Mubi now