TELESCOPE
X
Spotlight: Girls and Girlhood
What does it mean to be a girl? There may be an infinite number of answers to this question. This week, in celebration of the International Day of the Girl, we look at young female protagonists and the diverse experiences of girlhood that transcend time and geographical borders.
Spotlight: Senior Spotlight
This week’s Spotlight highlights films featuring seniors, especially those who experience — and act upon — late-in-life epiphanies. There is always more to life, as these filmmakers demonstrate: from awakenings and transformations to reckonings and reconciliations.
Spotlight: Belmondo!
This week we look back at the work of Jean-Paul Belmondo, the iconic actor who played in several of the defining films of the French New Wave and who came to personify the rebellious, rough-edged honesty that it stood for.
Spotlight: Westerns Worldwide
Gunslingers, outlaws, tragic heroes. The Western film genre has both celebrated and interrogated the mythos of the frontier, whether made in Hollywood, Italy, or any number of countries that have elevated the genre in recent years. This list includes some of the best international Western of all time.
Spotlight: The India–Korea Connection
India shares its Republic Day with Korea's National Day, but the connection between the two countries dates back to an Indian princess who became a queen during the Joseon Dynasty. This relationship extends to the film world, where Indian filmmakers have found creative ways to retell Korean stories.
Spotlight: The Romanian New Wave
More than a decade on, the Romanian New Wave is still going strong. Earlier in 2021, director Radu Jude won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. Here we’ll start with The Death of Mr. Lazarescu -- the film that started it all --- and catch you up to the present day.
Spotlight: China Noir
Chinese crime films, which make up the growing subgenre “China noir” or “mainland noir,” relocate the distinctive style and atmosphere of 1940s and ’50s film noir in modern-day China. This Spotlight features 12 of these must-see melodramas set in the shadowy fringes of the neon city.
Spotlight: A Day at the Beach
It’s the height of summer (in the northern hemisphere at least) and the time of year when people in countries that border the water head for the coast. They go to escape, to relax, and to daydream in that liminal space where sea, sand, and sky all meet.
Spotlight: Films from and about Afghanistan
After nearly 20 years of war, US Armed Forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Taliban forces are re-taking control of the country. This week, we bring you films from and about Afghanistan, telling the stories of ordinary people, which have too often been overshadowed by the conflict.
