I posted one of these last year, though in a slightly more timely fashion. Before I completely forget about these films I wanted to repost them here, as they should be either getting limited US releases or becoming available on netflix (or getting easier to bt!) sometime soon.

My #1 film of the festival this year was  A Boy and His Samurai, from the team that brought us the marvelous fugitive film Golden Slumber last year:

I particularly loved the main conflict in this film had to do with trying to figure out what a modern family is, and how that works, logistically and psychologically. I feel like films ignore this but that it is just a huge part of life in the modern world. Wonderful!

My #2 film was the small but surprisingly vivid slow-burn sci-fi Carre Blanc:

Carre Blanc didn't floor me, but it was so tight, and tidy, and meticulous, and cold, and funny... if A Boy and His Samurai wasn't so absurdly adorable and sweet Carre Blanc would have been my favorite film without question.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the following movies and can recommend them without reservation. Many of these films contain... adult content, in one form or another, just a heads up! In no particular order:

Bullhead

Sleep Tight

Melancholia

How to Steal 2 Million (brilliant low-key South African noir - lead actor is so charismatic!)

You Said What?

Snowman's Land (if you dug In Bruges definitely check this one out)

I also want to call out one film in particular, Milocrorze, but primarily for one scene, involving a super slow-mo single cut sequence of a samurai crashing through a brothel in unbelievable style that went on seemingly forever, with visual cues from the almost abstract renderings of ancient samurai you see on scrolls in museums. It's an incredible scene. The rest of the movie does not compare!

And finally, the festival offerings I most sorely regret missing:

The Yellow Sea (the new film from the South Korean crew that created The Chaser!)

Extraterrestrial (from Time Crimes and Oscar-winning 7:35am director Nacho Vigalondo)

Beyond the Black Rainbow

[aw man I couldn't even find a trailer for this!!]

You're Next (pulled from the festival after securing distribution after the first screening. That's how good it is. Criminy.)