Year of the Scab | Film Festival Today

Jay Berg’s AFI DOCS 2017 Top Five

July 9, 2017

“The Stranger” Proves Just As Elliptical As Its Source
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
April 9, 2026
The Stranger (François Ozon, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars French author Albert Camus’ short 1942 novel The Stranger follows the story of an aimless young man who commits a murder for reasons unclear even to him and then pays the ultimate price for it, all the while shrugging his shoulders at the world. Set in colonial Algeria—where Camus (1913-1960) was himself born—the book deals seemingly tangentially with the cultural, racial, and class issues ... >>
“Miroirs No. 3” Offers Variations on Catharsis
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
April 2, 2026
Miroirs No. 3 (Christian Petzold, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars German director Christian Petzold (Transit) specializes in films that combine elements of drama and thriller, though the latter feature does not always manifest through big external set pieces. Rather, the adrenaline rush comes from within as a slow build of emotional intensity that forces the viewer to confront uncomfortable truths. In Miroirs No. 3 (the title of which refers to a piano ... >>
“She Dances” Wears Heart on Its Sleeve
By Robin C. Farrell
March 28, 2026
She Dances (Rick Gomez, 2025) 3½ out of 5 Stars A passing glance at the trailer for She Dances and it’s clear that this is a grief story; one that focuses on the avoidance and prolonged aftermath of loss. Through a combination of road-trip hijinks, side quests, competition, and lots and lots of dancing, this is, indeed, a story exploring the necessity of truth in healing, even though it hurts. ... >>
SXSW Interview: “The Peril at Pincer Point” Directors Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 27, 2026
Directors Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine just premiered their latest collaboration, the feature film The Peril at Pincer Point, at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival (where I reviewed it). The story centers around a movie sound recordist, Jim Baitte (Jack Redmayne) who travels to a mysterious island (Pincer Point) to gather audio for a demanding director, on whose latest project he is working. Little does Jim know that fate will conspire to ... >>
“Two Prosecutors” Highlights Totalitarian Terror
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
March 26, 2026
Two Prosecutors (Sergey Loznitsa, 2025) 4½ out of 5 stars In many countries at many times, the human propensity to control and/or kill those who oppose the power structure has waxed and waned in its bloodthirsty intensity. Fascist and totalitarian urges appear to exist within most societies, held at bay when the belief in the rule of law and the agency of ordinary citizens are the prime directives. When a corrupt, populist leader—of which there ... >>