Look, thanks to that godforsaken pandemic, which messed up the Oscars and the entire calendar year, it’s kind of hard to make the Best Films Of The Year, So Far feature because so many films were kind of released in 2020 — to qualify early for the Oscars — and or many were just released in a quiet limited release in December 2020. So, there is a tiny bit of crossover on our Best Films of 2020 list, but some films, “Nomadland” and “Minari” — which were essentially seen early last year at festivals — are not on this list and some films on the edge, like “Pieces of A Woman,” are okay?

Continue reading The Best Films Of 2021, So Far at The Playlist.

Teacher-turned-indispensable-interpreter, Aida (Jasna Djuricic), runs around a crowded United Nations base relaying messages amid a humanitarian crisis on the brink of devolving into an unspeakable catastrophe. More importantly, she is a mother vehemently trying to wield whatever little influence she has to ensure her sons and husband survive, in Jasmila Zbanic’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?”

The historical backdrop is July 1995 in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica just after the Serb army seized it, but right before they proceeded to carry out a highly premeditated genocide against the locals under the orders of General Mladic (Boris Isakovic)—depicted here as a villain trying, but failing, to wear the cloak of diplomacy to hide the cruelest of intentions.

Continue reading ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’: Jasmila Zbanic’s Bosnian Drama Is A High Wire Act Of Immense Tension & Devastating Humanism [Review] at The Playlist.

It will come as a surprise to many reading this, but the Nazis were not the only perpetrators of genocide on the European continent in the 20th Century. During the Bosnian War (1992-1995) there was an ethnic cleansing campaign by the Bosnian Serb Army. Their largest single atrocity occurred toward the end of the conflict in an event referred to now as the Srebrenica Massacre. An event where over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were brutally killed.

Continue reading Jasmila Žbanić Revisits The Already Forgotten Horrors Of The Bosnian War In ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

Usually, the twists and turns during awards season are prompted by scandals, public relations goofs, or films that simply didn’t play as expected. This year, the ongoing pandemic has created changes in the process itself that continue to surprise longtime observers. The latest was the revelation last week that the International Film Oscar’s shortlist, a crucial part of paring down the usual 90+ submissions to an eventual five nominees, was being severely tinkered with.

READ MORE: Oscars move to April 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic

Since 2008, the International Film committee has helped determine the 9-10 films on the shortlist beyond the traditional voting process.

Continue reading International Film Race Gets Thrown A Curve With Shortlist Expansion at The Playlist.