Jackson Kosmacki
New York NY
I am a filmmaker and film writer from the DC area, relocated to NYC, where I am earning my MFA in Directing from the Feirstein School at Brooklyn College. A lifelong cinephile, I have studied film at home and academically, earning a BA in Media Studies from the University of Virginia with a focus in film studies. My primary scholastic concerns are world cinema, including Latin American, Italian, and Post-Imperial cinema traditions, as well as the traditions of LGBTQ+ cinema, the gangster film, and Golden Age Hollywood. As a filmmaker myself, my artistic goals surround constructivist visual storytelling, political subtext, genre subversion, and emotional resonance.
My Watchlist
Au Hasard Balthazar
(Au hasard Balthazar)
In the French countryside, donkey Balthazar experiences different sides of human nature as he is passed from owner to owner.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Sweden • 1966
- Director Robert Bresson
- Cast Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, François Lafarge, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Philippe Asselin, Pierre Klossowski
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video
Heart of Glass
(Herz aus Glas)
With the death of the foreman who holds the secret of a town's legendary glass-blowing works, the town slides into depression.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- West Germany • 1976
- Director Werner Herzog
- Cast Josef Bierbichler, Stefan Güttler, Clemens Scheitz, Sonja Skiba, Volker Prechtel, Brunhilde Klöckner
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Shout! Factory TV, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
War and Peace
(Война и мир)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Soviet Union • 1966
- Director Sergey Bondarchuk
- Cast Ludmila Savelyeva, Sergey Bondarchuk, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Viktor Stanitsyn, Kira Golovko, Oleg Tabakov
- Genre War, Drama, History, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Sword of Doom
(大菩薩峠)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1966
- Director Kihachi Okamoto
- Cast Tatsuya Nakadai, Yûzô Kayama, Michiyo Aratama, Yōko Naitō, Toshirō Mifune, Tadao Nakamaru
- Genre Action, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Breaking the Waves
A woman's husband, paralyzed after a neck injury, asks her to have sex with other men and then tell him about her experiences.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Sweden, France • 1996
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr, Adrian Rawlins, Jonathan Hackett
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Embrace of the Serpent
(El abrazo de la serpiente)
A poetic and haunting journey into a lost world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina • 2015
- Director Ciro Guerra
- Cast Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolivar, Brionne Davis, Jan Bijvoet, Luigi Sciamanna, Nicolás Cancino
- Genre Adventure, Drama
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, OVID, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Birds of Passage
(Pájaros de verano)
Generations of tradition. Consumed by greed.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Colombia, Denmark, Mexico • 2018
- Director Cristina Gallego
- Cast Carmiña Martínez, Natalia Reyes, Jhon Narváez, Greider Meza
- Genre Drama
- Available on fuboTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Crackle, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Plex, Plex Channel
Yi Yi
(一一)
Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they face everyday dilemmas.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan, Japan • 2000
- Director Edward Yang
- Cast Wu Nien-Jen, Elaine Jin, Issei Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Hsi-Sheng Chen
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Under the Shadow
After Shideh's building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor says the missile was cursed.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Jordan, Qatar • 2016
- Director Babak Anvari
- Cast Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi, Ray Haratian, Hamid Djavadan, Bijan Daneshmand
- Genre Drama, Horror, Thriller, War
- Available on Netflix, Hoopla, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store
Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man
(Thomas Sankara, l'homme intègre)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2006
- Director Robin Shuffield
- Cast Thomas Sankara
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Kanopy
Ash Is Purest White
(江湖儿女)
The violent love story of a young dancer and a mobster spanning from 2001 to 2017.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, France, Japan • 2018
- Director Jia Zhangke
- Cast Zhao Tao, Liao Fan, Feng Xiaogang, Xu Zheng, Zhang Yibai, Diao Yi'nan
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
State of Siege
(État de siège)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy, West Germany • 1972
- Director Costa-Gavras
- Cast Yves Montand, Renato Salvatori, O.E. Hasse, Jacques Weber, Jean-Luc Bideau, Maurice Teynac
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
The Conductor
(Dyrygent)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Poland • 1980
- Director Andrzej Wajda
- Cast John Gielgud, Krystyna Janda, Andrzej Seweryn, Jan Ciecierski, Tadeusz Czechowski, Marek Dąbrowski
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Get Carter
A London gangster’s homecoming, brought about by his brother’s mysterious death, is anything but sweet.
- ✭
- United Kingdom • 1971
- Director Mike Hodges
- Cast Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne, Tony Beckley, George Sewell
- Genre Crime, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
35 Shots of Rum
(35 rhums)
A close-knit father and daughter navigate changes in their relationship as the daughter prepares to live her own life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Germany • 2009
- Director Claire Denis
- Cast Mati Diop, Nicole Dogue, Grégoire Colin, Alex Descas, Ingrid Caven
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI Amazon Channel, Metrograph, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train
(Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train)
When an artist dies, a collection of his friends, family, and lovers travel together to his funeral.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1998
- Director Patrice Chéreau
- Cast Pascal Greggory, Valeria Bruni‑Tedeschi, Charles Berling, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Bruno Todeschini, Sylvain Jacques
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Eight Deadly Shots
(Kahdeksan surmanluotia)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Finland • 1972
- Director Mikko Niskanen
- Cast Mikko Niskanen, Tarja-Tuulikki Tarsala, Tauno Paananen, Elina Liimatainen, Ari Vainiontaus, Mauno Argillander
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
The Mattei Affair
(Il caso Mattei)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1972
- Director Francesco Rosi
- Cast Gian Maria Volonté, Luigi Squarzina, Gianfranco Ombuen, Edda Ferronao, Accursio Di Leo, Furio Colombo
- Genre Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
- Available on Amazon Video
Christ Stopped at Eboli
(Cristo si è fermato a Eboli)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1979
- Director Francesco Rosi
- Cast Gian Maria Volonté, Paolo Bonacelli, Alain Cuny, Lea Massari, Irene Papas, François Simon
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Drugstore Romance
(Corps à cœur)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1979
- Director Paul Vecchiali
- Cast Hélène Surgère, Nicolas Silberg, Myriam Mézières, Christine Murillo, Liza Braconnier, Louis Lyonnet
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Sunflower
(I girasoli)
Giovanna travels to Russia to try to find her husband, Antonio, believed to have died during World War II.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Soviet Union • 1970
- Director Vittorio De Sica
- Cast Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Ludmila Savelyeva, Galina Andreyeva, Anna Carena, Germano Longo
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
Meantime
A portrait of working-class life in Thatcher's Britain.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1983
- Director Mike Leigh
- Cast Phil Daniels, Tim Roth, Jeffrey Robert, Pam Ferris, Gary Oldman, Marion Bailey
- Genre Comedy, Drama, TV Movie
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Gentleman Rissient
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- • 2016
- Director Guy Séligmann
- Cast
- Genre
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Jubilee
Sex, drugs, and punk rock. Add violence and time travel and you have Jubilee.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1978
- Director Derek Jarman
- Cast Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox, Jordan, Ian Charleson, Karl Johnson
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Music
- Available on Criterion Channel
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
(4 luni, 3 săptămîni și 2 zile)
At what moment do we begin to live?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Romania, Belgium • 2007
- Director Cristian Mungiu
- Cast Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Alexandru Potocean, Luminița Gheorghiu, Adi Cărăuleanu
- Genre Drama
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video