The Mission

Nov 30, 2009 — The following essay was originally written for Criterion’s website in 2005, on the occasion of the DVD release of Powell and Pressburger’s The Tales of Hoffmann. We have posted it here to coincide with BFI Southbank’s ongoing Hein Heckroth exhibition...

May 26, 2008 — As Britain stood on the threshold of a long-dreaded war in 1939, Alexander Korda decided to show what cinema could do to rally the nation and win support around the world.

Jul 1, 2026 — Film at Lincoln Center rolls out a series of ten films probing the secrets and suspicions of a nation that seems perpetually on edge.

Aug 4, 2022 — A quick briefing on the latest news from Venice, New York, Toronto, San Sebastián, and Philadelphia.

Mar 5, 2021 — This week offers a new magazine, conversations with Guy Maddin and the great women filmmakers of the 1970s, and a new restoration of a Hong Kong classic.

Mar 3, 2021 — Alexandre Koberidze’s What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? and Dénes Nagy’s Natural Light compete at the Berlinale.

May 8, 2020 — The opening and closing credits in a film are a form of housekeeping, fulfilling a legal obligation to compile the names of cast and crew who made the final product possible. Visionary designer Saul Bass saw the aesthetic potential in...

Aug 13, 2019 — As Toronto’s full lineup nears completion, New York looks to expand upon “our notions of what the moving image can do and be.”

Aug 30, 2018 — A solid first round of reviews for the Venice opener—and for Ryan Gosling’s performance as Neil Armstrong.

Aug 7, 2018 — Can creative genius flourish on the federal dime? Animator Norman McLaren’s remarkably innovative, government-funded films suggest it can.