From a young age, the film stuck in my mind as undyingly sympathetic, and upon my revisiting it recently, I love it more than ever as not only the purest demonstration of Lynch’s ability to thrive within the studio system, but also the directorial attention to his own idiosyncratic way of loving the people of the world around him.

Visually, this film feels like a masterclass of instinctive storytelling.

Occasionally awkward performances and deliveries are mostly forgiven by this fine adaption of a scandalous mystery. 

Much like Godzilla’s messy and complicated birth as a concept and popular culture figure, I too feel as though I’ve come out of this experience a strange creature. It’s something I won’t soon forget.

Rewatching The Phantom Menace sent me far beyond the realms of good or bad; I left with an admiration for a deeply strange film, and a slight cynicism that we may never quite see the likes of it again.

Being able to see such a beautiful restoration on the big screen is worth the price of admission alone, and I could not recommend The Conformist more.

This is one of the most important films in this year’s festival. I would implore anyone wanting to learn more about Palestinian history to watch it. 

While Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is not the most audience (or even fan) friendly experience around, it's a devastating look at a life cut short.

Featuring Argento at his most feverishly creative, Phenomena lives up to its title, providing an experience that's as difficult to rationalise as it is rare to come by.

With Love to the Person Next to Me is not a perfect film, but it does have something that many films with larger budgets lack- a soul.

With gut-wrenching violence and disruptive themes, and its critique of gender roles and cultural norms in Japan, cinephiles and fans of the more gruesome side of life ought to catch this slow-burning, thought-provoking thriller.

A powerful story about survival that bleeds hope through the linework.

While there is much to talk about for this film’s context, Nakahira keeps the narrative in focus with contemporary editing and exciting cinematography so that Crazed Fruit can shine.

Mustang follows the story of five young girls growing up in rural Turkey, as they navigate their youth and the looming social expectations of marriage and purity.

Martyrs is up there as a formative film of its time period. Just don’t dive deeper into its writer-director’s filmography looking for a similar level of quality.

It'd be hard to prime anyone for the journey the feature takes you on, and to do so would in part ruin the fun. It's a thunderous Pandora's Box of a film, a disorganised mixed bag of funhouse tricks that's rewarding sporadically, but always daring.

It's a séance in the city.

Unashamedly self-indulgent and barely cognizant of any sort of budgetary limitation […], Miami Connection is wicked fun for the midnight movie crowd that'll have you puzzling over how a movie like this even got made.

Baraka is a must-see for anyone who finds themselves with a proclivity towards social sciences, theology, or spirituality.

I haven’t seen a movie juggle the human range of emotions with such ease in years, although I can recall one movie that did it pretty well not too long ago: Paddington [1].