Authors — Kaleem Aftab
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Dark Streaming Clouds, Virtual Platforms and Coronavirus Tests: The 2020 Year in Film Festivals
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Sorry, Mr Dickens, there was no best of times in 2020 for film festivals. Indeed, some may question whether my annual trip down memory lane is even needed in a year that saw festivals shutting doors, industry-wide job losses and movies continually postponed and then delayed yet again. But with the coronavirus pandemic an accelerant to long-simmering changes in the film industry, for film festivals 2020 may be remembered as a critical inflection point. The cancellation of festivals — or more accurately the move to digital and hybrid […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Dec 28, 2020 -
On What Would Have Been the Launch of Cannes, a Celebration of 26 Film Festivals — and 26 Festival Directors
Film festivals are all about a community coming together to celebrate an art form that we all love. They were one of the first group of events to cancelled when the coronavirus began to spread. The current crisis in the film industry (and across society and the economy as a whole) — the job losses and closures — made it difficult to publish my look back over my year in film festivals, as I’ve done on an annual basis for Filmmaker since 2014. (Also, I had broken my finger over Christmas so was unable to type for three weeks, which […]
by Kaleem Aftab on May 12, 2020 -
Diana Sanchez, TIFF’s New Senior Director of Film, on Her First Year at TIFF and the Future of Film Festivals
In March Diana Sánchez was promoted to the newly created role of Senior Director of Film for the Toronto International Film Festival. Previously, Sanchez was the Spanish language selector for the Canadian festival. She now oversees the programming strategy for the main festival; TIFF Cinematheque; Film Circuit, the Canadian organization’s nationwide film network; and theatrical programming at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Given the size of that job, it was inevitable that she would have to relinquish her role as Artistic Director of the Panama Film Festival, the festival she helped start in 2011. Under her direction, the Panama Film Festival […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Sep 9, 2019 -
“Now is an Interesting Moment, When the Cruelties and Inequality are More Exposed than Ever”: Petra Costa on her Netflix-Premiering Doc on Brazilian Politics, The Edge of Democracy
Politics is confusing at the best of times. But in the age of Brexit, Trump and now Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, it’s impossible to keep track of the fake news, alternative facts and the good old-fashioned lies, damned lies and statistics. Since January 1st of 2019, President Bolsonaro has been ruling the roost in Brazil, following hot on the heels of a president who was almost impeached (Michel Temer), one who was impeached (Dilma Roussef) and one who now keeps a prison bed warm (Lula). The political shenanigans came so thick and fast from the biggest nation in South America […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Jun 19, 2019 -
2018: A Year in 14 Festivals
2018 is the year that film festivals were challenged to answer the most basic question: What is cinema? The rise of VOD and streaming platforms have cinema owners worried that audiences will finally abandon theaters and the theatrical experience. The fear stems from the VOD market refusing to worship the primacy of cinema and the dictum that says all films should be played in theaters before arriving on another platform. And who can blame VOD providers for taking this stance, when they operate in a global market place, and when they are funding movies by auteurs themselves? If they fund […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Dec 31, 2018 -
“The Future is What We See It to Be”: Raoul Peck on James Baldwin, Karl Marx and The Young Karl Marx
The Young Karl Marx is the latest film from Raoul Peck, a filmmaker who still believes in the intelligence of the audience. It’s his first film since his incredible success with the Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro, about James Baldwin. Like so many radical filmmakers he has found acclaim when he has been able to marry his own political beliefs and curiosity with society’s infatuation with celebrity. The film on Baldwin came at the right time and struck a chord at a moment when #BlackLivesMatter entered the public consciousness and the realisation that the election of an African-American president […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Mar 5, 2018 -
A Year in 17 Festivals: A Look Back at the Movies, and the Movie Theaters
Rotterdam Film Festival The year started with my first visit to the Rotterdam Film Festival, which is once again being seen as a festival for experimental and challenging films under the auspices of Artistic Director Bero Beyer and which offers an eclectic mix of cinemas. The Willem Burger Complex — where I saw a number of films, including one-time Spike Lee cinematographer Ernest Dickerson’s Double Play, a playful but ultimately unsatisfactory adaptation of Frank Martinus Arion’s Curaçao-set novel — is a beautiful building designed for conferences, but the seats do make you feel like you’re in a lecture hall, befitting […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Dec 29, 2017 -
“He Was On Facebook, Having Trouble with His Computer, So I Helped Him…”: Mohammed Naqvi Talks Filming Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Insha’Allah Democracy
Insha’Allah Democracy sees filmmaker Mohammed Naqvi investigate politics through a series of interviews with Pervez Musharraf, who became the head of the Pakistani government following a bloodless coup in 1999. In June 2001 the general became the tenth President of Pakistan. The attack on the World Trade Center took place a few months after Musharraf’s presidency began, and the War on Terror was the major cloud that hung over his head throughout his regime. In 2008 he resigned from office in the face of impeachment proceedings being taken against him by the Pakistani parliament. For filmmaker ‘Mo’ Naqvi, it wasn’t […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Dec 4, 2017 -
“Nazareth is a Violent City… But It’s also Hilarious”: Director Annemarie Jacir on Wajib
Annemarie Jacir’s third film, Wajib, a wry comedy set in the run up to Christmas in Nazareth, premiered in competition at the Locarno Film Festival before heading to, this week TIFF. The film pairs legendary Arabic actors Mohammed and Saleh Bakri together in a movie for the first time. Naturally, the father and son play father and son. Saleh, who has appeared in all three films directed by Jacir, plays Rome-based Shadi, who is returning to Nazareth after a period away for the wedding of his sister Amal (Maria Zreik). In keeping with Palestinian tradition, Shadi, alongside his divorced father, […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Sep 13, 2017 -
“If You Can Fall Asleep, in a Movie, it Means that the Movie Often Works:” Legendary DP Christopher Doyle on Winning the Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens in Cinematography Award
This year at the Cannes Film Festival, Christopher Doyle became the most recent cinematographer to be graced with the Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens In Cinematography Award, a prize given for a DP’s impact on the history of world cinema. Sponsored by the renowned lens maker, this year’s “trophy” was an Angénieux Optimo 15-40 zoom lens specially engraved with Doyle’s name. Born in Sydney in 1952, Doyle left his homeland as a teenager to begin an odyssey in Asia, where he has predominantly worked. He had a number of jobs — from oil drilling to cow herding — before his photographs caught […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Jul 11, 2017
