Steve James | Film Festival Today

Jay Berg’s AFI DOCS 2018 Top Five

July 4, 2018

“Crossing a Dawn” Reveals Hidden Depths
By George W. Campbell
October 23, 2026
Crossing a Dawn (Zhao Badou, 2026) 4 out of 5 stars It feels like an understatement to say that dating in the 2020s can feel impossible. On top of safety concerns, the scene is full of people desperate for connection yet terrified of what that actually entails. So, in the unlikely event you meet the perfect person, what happens if you’ll only ever know them for one night? This is the question writer/director Zhao Badou poses in his feature ... >>
Middleburg Review: “Fatherland”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 21, 2026
Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2026) 4½ out of 5 stars I confess that I have never read any works by German writer Thomas Mann (1875-1955), the 1929 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, though I have had, over the years, a few of them on my bookshelf, such as The Magic Mountain and Doctor Faustus. I tried at one point to watch Italian director Luchino Visconti’s 1971 adaptation of Mann’s Death in Venice but never made it very far. It is ... >>
“I See the Demon” Offers Ambitious Cerebral Horror
By Patrick Howard
October 20, 2026
I See the Demon (Jacob Lees Johnson, 2025) 4½ out of 5 stars I See the Demon blends psychological horror with science fiction to craft a story filled with paranoia and disturbing revelations. Rather than relying on conventional horror tropes, the film builds tension through a fractured sense of reality. This warped reality challenges the viewers to question their senses. ... >>
“NAZA” Chronicles Bibi’s Killing Spree
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 8, 2026
NAZA (Yuval Abraham/Rachel Szor, 2026) 5 out of 5 stars By now in this increasingly horrific century of ours, quoting Orwell has become quite the cliché, so forgive me for citing these famous lines from his seminal dystopian novel 1984 (published in 1949): “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” There are so many real-world issues to wish this can apply, given the rise once ... >>
New/Next Review: “The Haunting of Pennhurst”
By Matt Patti
October 8, 2026
The Haunting of Pennhurst (Mike Attie/Katarina Poljak/Nathan R. Stenberg, 2026) 4 out of 5 stars As a haunted house enthusiast, I’ve visited most of the marquee attractions around the eastern Pennsylvania region. I remember when first learning about “Pennhurst Asylum” that I found the idea to be in poor taste. Holding a haunted attraction at the site of a former state institution that was notorious for the awful treatment of its residents and ... >>

“Clayface” Molds a Superb Stand-Alone Supervillain Story
In >> Adam Vaughn, Breaking, Film Reviews, Spotlight
“Klara and the Sun” Shines Too Brightly
In >> Breaking, Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Reviews, Spotlight
“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” Is a Meditation on Faith and Violence
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, George W. Campbell, Spotlight
“Forgotten Island” Is Sweet, Frantic, and Full of Heart
In >> Breaking, Film Reviews, George W. Campbell, Spotlight

5 Films to See at Middleburg 2026
October 10, 2026
The 14th Middleburg Film Festival runs from Thursday, ...>>
3 Films to See at New/Next 2026
September 30, 2026
Back for its fourth year, Baltimore’s New/Next Film ...>>
10 Picks for TIFF 2026
September 9, 2026
The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (or ...>>
Five Films to See at DC/DOX 2026
June 10, 2026
DC/DOX is back, now in its 4th year, running June ...>>
Five Films to See at Tribeca 2026
June 2, 2026
Once again, I am headed to the Tribeca Festival, which ...>>