The story of a Swiss banker traveling Argentina during the junta, “Azor” takes place in the cloistered world of private banking.  A world one is often born into, with special codes of conduct and dialect, private bankers prefer to operate out of public view – that’s why the banks endure and build fortunes over centuries while their criminal clients may rise and fall.  Azor itself is a code word meaning “to not say too much” or “to keep one’s cards close,” a trait that the film and its protagonist so excel at, viewers will be kept guessing until the last moment. 

READ MORE: ‘Liborio’: Nino Martínez Sosa’s Debut Is A Moving Drama About Belief [ND/NF Review]

Yvan de Wiel  (Fabrizio Rongione) is a third-generation Swiss banker traveling to Argentina for the first time after the disappearance of his partner, Rene Keys.

Continue reading ‘Azor’: Andreas Fontana’s Debut Is A Fascinating Look At Wealth & Power Through Conversation [ND/NF Review] at The Playlist.

“Liborio” invites viewers to the birth of a religion and asks them if they would believe. Based on a historical figure, albeit one with the dimensions of a folk hero, “Liborio” is set in the countryside of the Dominican Republic in the early 20th century. After being lost in a torrential storm and thought dead, a man (Vicente Santos) is found alive days later. He informs his community he has been to heaven and returned with a message to save the people.  He is reborn as Liborio.         

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While his resurrection occurs earlier in his story, Liborio is a remarkably Christ-like figure whose profile in his community grows with a series of miracles, such as saving a child.  Liborio preaches a simple and positive creed—out with the evil and in with the good—to his rural followers. He is a benevolent leader, never trying to fight, but only to keep his community fed. Despite this, like Christ, he eventually runs afoul of the powers that be through little fault of his own, with the United States Marines playing the part of the Romans. 

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“Liborio” is the feature directing debut of Nino Martínez Sosa, a Dominican-born Spaniard with extensive experience as a film editor. While the story of Liborio could be interpreted into a variety of genres, Sosa’s priority with the film isn’t plot or politics as much as putting viewers into the heads of Liborio’s followers.  As in the Gospels, the story isn’t told in the prophet’s words but through the eyes of various followers.  Over and over, we see characters gaze at Liborio, the dance of faith and doubt in their eyes, trying to decide whether or not they’re witnessing the miraculous.

Continue reading ‘Liborio’: Nino Martínez Sosa’s Debut Is A Moving Drama About Belief [ND/NF Review] at The Playlist.

Road movies prime their audience to expect the unexpected – part of the point of the genre is for the protagonist’s expectations to be thwarted and for their journey to take a few extra twists and turns along the way.  “Bipolar” takes this tendency to an extreme, with a protagonist so open to chasing new whims that it’s impossible to predict what might be happening in ten minutes, let alone by the end of the film. 

Continue reading ‘Bipolar’: A Lobster-Loving Road Trip across China [ND/NF Review] at The Playlist.

A consummate man of letters, Jorge Luis Borges frequently receives the vague honorific of being a ‘writer’s writer,” often a fancy way of saying that his work is too complicated to adapt to film. Borges’ fascination with symbols and language, our imperfect tools for conceiving the world, manifested in stories where literary sleight of hand turns the mundane inside out to find the miraculous, where maps overtake the territory they represent and one walks in labyrinths without end.

Continue reading ‘Aleph’: A Borges-Inspired Odyssey Around the Globe [ND/NF Review] at The Playlist.

Believe it or not, the New Directors/New Films festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. And much like the rest of the film events happening over the past year or so, ND/NF is adapting for the times, making this year’s festival more accessible than ever before.

READ MORE: Tribeca Film Festival Announces Plans For In-Person Event In June

With New Directors/New Films starting on April 28, we’re thrilled to give our readers an exclusive look at the trailer for the event.

Continue reading New Directors/New Films Exclusive Trailer: NYC Event Celebrates 50 Years With An Eclectic Lineup Of Emerging Filmmakers at The Playlist.