While Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid been working for years with lots of acclaim (2011’s “Policeman” was very well-regarded and 2014’s “The Kindergarten Teacher” was so good, Maggie Gyllenhaal decided to produce and star in a 2018 remake), the filmmaker seemed to make an even bigger splash on the international scene with “Synonyms” which won the Golden Bear, and the FIPRESCI Award at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and introduced more audiences to wiry star Tom Mercier.

Continue reading ‘Ahed’s Knee’ Trailer: Nadav Lapid Returns With A Blistering Tale Of Grief & Filmmaking at The Playlist.

The 74th Cannes Film Festival came to an end on Saturday night. It was a sweaty fest full of tourists more interested in the beach than the world premieres and lots of spitting in testing vials for non-Europeans, but it proved that a major festival could return at full capacity during the age of COVID. And, a jury comprised of notable industry players Spike Lee, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Tahar Rahim, among others, selected Julia Ducournau’s “Titane” to win the prestigious Palme d’ Or.

Continue reading Spike Lee Reveals ‘Titane’ As 2021 Cannes Palme d’Or Winner A Bit Early [Full Winners List] at The Playlist.

There is so much noise in Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee” (“Ha’berech”): from the whitewash of the opening frames, which roar into a revving motorcycle engine, to an unexpected Vanessa Paradis needle drop, to the strange host of anatomical noises as Y (the choreographer Avshalom Pollack, very much in control of his physicality) breathes heavily and pads across the floors of his rented apartment in Arava, the desert where he’s screening his new film.

Continue reading ‘Ahed’s Knee’: A Searing Autobiographical Takedown Of Corrupt Government [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.