Recommendations for MIFF

When trying to decide what to see at MIFF, I put together a short list of films to see, highlights if you like (currently numbering 48). My criteria varied, such as directors whose work I admire and recommendations from people whose opinions I value. I am also interested to see the Kore-eda and Imamura retrospectives, and as most of those films are on around the middle of the day, I should be able to catch most of them. I’m avoiding films that I know will have a theatrical release, but will be catching some of them, such as Inland Empire and Fay Grim.

In the list below (listed alphabetically), in bold are the films I've given the highest priority and will definitely see as I've booked tickets. The others are titles I’m hoping to see, depending on when they screen but I won’t be able to see them all. I will see other films not on this list if they are at a convenient time and look interesting. I’ve listed the film’s title, director, primary country of origin and the reason it’s on the list.

To see the complete list of films screening at MIFF (and those marked with an asterisk have a distribution), use the link at the top of the sidebar from any page of Melbourne Film Blog.

If there’s anything you’d recommend to others and it’s not on the list below, feel free to post it in the comments, and a brief reason why. Hopefully this will be of value to those who come here looking for ideas on what to see at MIFF (the sheer number of films can be pretty intimidating).

[Update: titles in red have been viewed and confirmed as well-worth seeing]

See also MIFF 2007 reviews

1. After Life (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan) - Kore-eda retro
2. Alexandra (Alexander Sokourov, Russia/…) - Recommendation
3. Ballad of Narayama, the (Shohei Imamura, Japan) - Imamura retro
4. Beauty in Trouble (Jan Hrebejk, Czech Republic) - Director
5. Belle Toujours (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal/…) - Looks interesting
6. Black Rain (Shohei Imamura, Japan) - Imamura retro
7. Brand Upon the Brain! (Guy Maddin, USA/…) - Recommendation
8. Breath (Kim Ki-duk, South Korea) - Director
9. Bubble, The (Eytan Fox, Israel) - Recommendation
10. Bunny Chow (John Barker, South Africa) - Recommendation
11. Distance (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan) - Kore-eda retro
12. Dry Season (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France/…) - Recommendation
13. Eijanaika (Shohei Imamura, Japan) - Imamura retro
14. Fay Grim (Hal Hartley, USA) - Director
15. Half Moon (Bahman Ghobadi, Iran/…) - Recommendation, I like Iranian cinema
16. Hana (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan) - Kore-eda retro
17. Holy Mountain, The (Alexandro Jodorwsky, Mexico) - Recommendation
18. Hottest State, The (Ethan Hawke, USA) - Recommendation
19. I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (Tsai Ming-Liang, Taiwan/…) - Recommendation
20. Inland Empire (David Lynch, USA) - Director
21. Intentions of Murder (aka Unholy Desire) (Shohei Imamura, Japan) - Imamura retro
22. Interview (Steve Buscemi, USA) - Looks interesting
23. Kalaupapa Heaven (Paul Cox, Australia) - Curious
24. Lights in the Dusk (Aki Kaurismaki, Finland/…) - Director
25. Maborosi (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan) - Kore-eda retro
26. Man From London, The (Bela Tarr, France/…) - Director
27. Man Vanishes, A (Shohei Imamura, Japan) - Imamura retro
28. Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine, UK/…) - Director
29. Monastery, The (Pernille Rose Grønkjaer, Denmark) - Recommendation
30. Mourning Forest (Naomi Kawase, Japan) - Recommendation
31. Opera Jawa (Garin Nugroho, Indonesia) - Recommendation
32. Out of the Blue (Robert Sarkies, NZ) - Recommendation
33. Pornographers, The (Shohei Imamura, Japan) - Imamura retro
34. Savage Grace (Tom Kalin, Spain/…) - Recommendation
35. Scott Walker – 30th Century Man (Stephen Kijak, UK/…) - Recommendation
36. Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, USA) - Recommendation
37. Sister's Love, A (Ivan Sen, Australia) - Director
38. Snow Angels (David Gordon Green, Canada) - Recommendation
39. Still Life (Jia Zhang-Ke, Hong Kong/…) - Recommendation
40. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/…) - Director
41. Time (Kim Ki-duk, South Korea) - Director
42. Times and Winds (Reha Erdem, Turkey) - Recommendation, I like Turkish cinema
43. Tuya's Marriage (Wang Quan'an, China) - Recommendation
44. Vengeance is Mine (Shohei Imamura, Japan) - Imamura retro
45. Woman on the Beach (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea) - Recommendation
46. Yamamura Shorts (Koji Yamamura, Japan) - Curious
47. Yo (Rafa Cortes, Spain) - Recommendation
48. You, the Living (Roy Andersson, Sweden/…) - Recommendation