We (Ellen and Richard) have been going to this film festival for about the last 10 years. A friend from my childhood lives in Philly and was part of the founding of this festival. We enjoy seeing her, her husband, and several ‘new’ friends we’ve met over the years as we go from one film to the next. For the last three years, our good friend for more than 50 years, DP from has joined us from Atlanta.
Unlike the more well known and popular film festivals, this one has delighted us because we’ve been able to see every film of interest to us without the hassle of waiting in long lines, even for the most popular ones. For one fee, you can get a pass for the entire festival (usually about 10 days), and this pass allows you to get into each film with a minimum of waiting. We’ve never been shut out of a film here.
Sometimes we see up to four films as day – this year we saw 15/16 over a five day period (one Ellen and I separated for and saw different films).
We were unable to attend the beginning of the festival this year and so missed some of the highly recommended ones (e.g., ANORA, CONCLAVE, THE NICKEL BOYS), which we will definitely see in the commercial theaters. Also, MARIA, THE BRUTALIST, A REAL PAIN, and UNSTOPPABLE we’ll try to see if any of them come to a local theater.
Here then are the films we saw and a link to information about each one:
TIER ONE – All of these films we thoroughly enjoyed and can recommend unreservedly.
Blitz
The Room Next Door
The Order
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
I’m Still Here
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2024/films/im-still-here/
My Favorite Cake
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_favourite_cake
The Knife
https://www.thecinemen.com/2024/10/26/the-knife-austin-film-festival-review
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other – Won Philly’s Film Festival’s Jury Award for Best Documentary
https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/two-strangers-tryikng-not-to kill-each-other-review-1235943
TIER TWO – Not in the same top category as those above but may be worth your checking out the reviews.
Superboys of Malegaon
https://tiff.net/events/superboys-of-malegaon
All We Imagine as Light
https://www.filmlinc.org/films/all-we-imagine-as-light/
The Last Showgirl
https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/the-last-showgirl-
review-pamela-anderson-1236159496/
Antidote
https://tribecafilm.com/films/antidote-2024
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/ernest-cole-lost-and- found/
The New Year that Never Came
Bound In Heaven – Won Philly Film Festival’s Award for Best Narrative Feature
https://tiff.net/events/bound-in-heaven
