international Oscar submission – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

PERFECT DAYS – Review by Jennifer Green

December 6, 2023December 10, 2023 Jennifer Green Franz Lustig, international Oscar submission, koji Yakusho, Perfect Days, Takuma Takasaki, wim wenders

German director Wim Wenders’ deceptively simple, meditative, Tokyo-set Perfect Days demonstrates a masterful use of what the medium of cinema can offer. By pairing minimalist storytelling with modern settings, ambient sound with a nostalgic soundtrack, and moving images with unobtrusive dialogue and action, Wenders constructs a portrait of one man’s seemingly ordinary life that manages to both scratch away at what it means to be human and ask quintessential questions about what constitutes a life well-lived.

Reviews

SHADOW OF THE SUN – Review by Nadine Whitney

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 Nadine Whitney Anyelo Lopez, Carlos Manuel Gonzalez, Greisy Mena, international Oscar submission, Miguel Angel Ferrer, The Shadow of the Sun, Venezuelan films

Miguel Ángel Ferrer’s debut feature and international Oscar submission The Shadow of the Sun is an enriching and emotional journey which unites two brothers who live in Acarigua a remote and insular city as they follow their dreams to present a song at a music competition in Caracas. Although The Shadow of the Sun is a touch formulaic it redeems itself with being cheeky, charming, tragic, and magical. Miguel Ángel Ferrer has made a glorious film which is an ode to brotherhood and acceptance, and most of all to living out loud and not hiding in anyone’s shadow.