My first film festival that I’ve had any sort of pass for in almost five years (the last one was TIFF 2016) is also the first time that I’ve dedicated myself to watching a significant number of films from my city’s festival. While the normal theaters these films would show in are a walk or quick bus away, COVID has forced this film to be 100% virtual. In the theater or not, I’m excited to watch festival movies and find the hidden gems.

Aggregated here are the reviews for each film I watched in the order I watched them.

The Pink Cloud (2021, Dir. Iuli Gerbase) – ⋆⋆⋆⋆

I’M FINE (Thanks for Asking) (2021, Dir. Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina) – ⋆⋆⋆

Summer of 85 (2020, François Ozon) – ⋆⋆½

The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet (2021, Dir. Ana Katz) – ⋆⋆⋆⋆

Goddess of the Fireflies (2020, Dir. Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette) – ⋆⋆⋆⋆½

Valentina (2020, Dir. Cássio Pereira dos Santos) – ⋆⋆⋆⋆

There Is No Evil (2020, Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof) – ⋆⋆⋆½

Bad Tales (2020, Dir. Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo) – ⋆⋆⋆

Charter (2020, Dir. Amanda Kernell) – ⋆⋆⋆⋆½

Summertime (2021, Dir. Carlos López Estrada) – ⋆⋆½

Bebia, à Mon Seul Désir (2021, Dir. Juja Dobrachkous) – ⋆⋆⋆

Little Girl (2020, Dir. Sébastien Lifshitz) – ⋆⋆⋆⋆

Get the Hell Out (2020, Dir. I.-Fan Wang) – ⋆⋆
—– Also includes Mom Fight (2019, Dir. Mickey Finnegan) – ⋆⋆⋆

Slalom (2021, Dir. Charlène Favier) – ⋆⋆⋆½

Beans (2021, Dir. Tracey Deer) – ⋆⋆½
—– Also includes Bub (2021, Dir. Oriwa Hakaraia and Te Mahara Tamahana) – ⋆½

Waikiki (2020, Dir. Christopher Kahunahana) – ⋆⋆⋆
—– Also includes PIIKSI/Huia (2021, Dir. Joshua Manyheads and Cian Elyse White) – ⋆⋆⋆

Sweat (2020, Dir. Magnus von Horn) – ⋆⋆

The Earth is Blue as an Orange (2020, Dir. Iryna Tsilyk) – ⋆⋆⋆

Strawberry Mansion (2021, Dir. Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney) – ⋆⋆⋆½
—– Also includes The Other Morgan (2021, Dir. Alison Rich) – ⋆⋆⋆

Wisdom Tooth (2019, Dir. Liang Ming) – ⋆⋆⋆½

Rebel Objects (2021, Dir. Carolina Arias Ortiz) – ⋆

Topside (2021, Dir. Logan George and Celine Held) – ⋆⋆⋆⋆
—– Also includes Huntsville Station (2020, Dir. Chris Filippone and Jamie Meltzer) – ⋆⋆⋆

Too Late (2021, Dir. D.W. Thomas) – ⋆⋆⋆½
—–Also includes Unholy ‘Mole (2019, Dir. David Bornstein) – ⋆⋆⋆

The Spy (2019, Dir. Jens Jonsson) – ⋆½

The Teacher (2019, Dir. Ming-Lang Chen) – ⋆⋆

Ma Belle, My Beauty (2021, Dir. Marion Hill) – ⋆⋆⋆

Fly So Far (2021, Dir. Celina Escher) – ⋆⋆⋆

The Perfect Candidate (2021, Dir. Haifaa Al-Mansour) – ⋆⋆⋆½

God Exists, Her Name is Petruya (2019, Dir. Teona Strugar Mitevska) – ⋆½

Son of Monarchs (2021, Dir. Alexis Gambis) – ⋆⋆⋆