FILMS from AFAR

Tangier-born writer-actor-director Maryam Touzani says that with her new film Calle Málaga, she wanted to “celebrate the beauty of aging and the freedom that can come with aging.” The story turns on a 70-something woman, played by Spanish veteran Carmen Maura, who insists on remaining in her home in Tangier—against all odds. In doing so, she remakes her life, finds new love and reinforces her connections with her Moroccan roots, the place where she was born and raised as part

Informative, humanizing, and at moments downright scary, this eye-opening documentary is sure to make waves. Interviewees in The Plastic Detox ask how it’s possible that industrial companies have been allowed to make such prevalent products without knowing or addressing the potential and proven harms. Viewers will want to know the same after this wake-up call, which explores the correlations between plastic chemical exposure and a huge range of illnesses, defects, and healt

This tragic, strange, beautifully filmed, hypnotic movie is both hard to watch and tough to take your eyes off. Sir ā t was a finalist for best international film and best sound design Oscars. That latter nomination recognizes the sensory experience of the film, which sets striking frames of the desert to the pulsating techno beats and haunting strains of rave music. The technical work on display from the sound team, cinematographer Mauro Herce, director Laxe, who co-wrote th

This is a sensitive piece of filmmaking with insights into the band's origins as well as how its members today, once head-banging punk rockers, now feel about their lives and legacies. The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel is also a film about the wild and creative milieu of Los Angeles in the 1970s and 1980s. The use of a digitally engineered voice for Hillel, the beloved bandmate who died of a drug overdose in 1988, could raise eyebrows. But it comes ac

This complex psychological drama from Scandinavian filmmaker Joachim Trier has emerged as one the most prominent and award-winning films of the year. If you haven’t seen Sentimental Value before hearing all the hype, you may be surprised by its nuanced and unhurried take on very mature topics. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes, swept the European Film Awards, topped critics lists and is now entering the Oscars with nine nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay,

This Paul McCartney-focused documentary is an informative and entertaining look at the period between the break-up of the Beatles and the death of John Lennon. Man on the Run starts in a frenzy, with an expected montage of footage, photos, and music amplified with quick-paced collages and animations edited together. It's all very Yellow Submarine, but in a subtle touch, the style gets progressively more mellow over the course of the movie. This ties in nicely with the film's