Everybody is trying to convince you to buy a book for Christmas, so why don’t you watch a good movie instead? Here are some of our favorites from 2017.
1. Happy End by Michael Haneke (Drama) – A fearful new world of lives adrift.
2. The Great Buddha + by H. Hsin-Yao (Drama) – Neither new nor improved.
3. Motherland by Ramona S. Diaz (Doc) – Masterpiece of Filipino neorealism.
4. The Rider by Chloé Zhao (Drama) – Frail human nature in the “Wild West”.
5. Can’t Say Goodbye by Lino Escalera (Drama) – Debut film with great acting.
6. Just Like Our Parents by Laís Bodanzky (Drama) – Brazilian cinema at its best.
7. The Sea Stares at Us from Afar by Manuel M. Rivas (Doc) – Time and the land.
8. Faces Places by JR, Agnès Varda (Doc) – A very special journey in rural France.
9. Under the Tree by Hafsteinn Sigurðsson (Drama) – Pitch-dark Icelandic humor.
10. Taste of Cement by Ziad Kalthoum (Doc) – War as the only travel opportunity.