Festival Circuit 2026

[Yakushima]

Stuff I saw at the 2026 Festival du Nouveau Cinema

Thank you for the report, Mr Sausage! Now I hope to catch some of these before too long.

[Matt]

I'm happy to hear the Mandico doesn't veer too far away from his usual outré style. I was worried that stars and a budget might constrain him, but if it has only done so in terms of story and plot, I can live with that.

[Mr Sausage]

It’s clear that no one told Mandico to tone down anything, and the two actresses are nothing if not game. I suspect the problem is that Mandico felt that style alone was enough to transform and elevate the conventions of the basic story, and I didn’t feel he quite managed it the way he did with the adventure story and sci-fi conventions of his first two. Maybe he underestimated just how familiar the trajectory of this kind of story has become? Still, the filmmaking here is absolutely mad.

[rowan9075]

Late to this, but the context matters. The question was framed pretty aggressively, so I doubt any answer would have landed well.

What made it worse was the follow-up. People dug up a 1977 quote where Wenders said every film is political. That made “cinema is not political” look like a dodge, not a principle.

[Mr Sausage]

It’s a good idea to quote what conversation you’re replying to if it happened well upthread.