The Work

Jan 9, 2026 — The director of some of the bleakest films ever made once claimed all they were all comedies—except one.

Dec 22, 2025 — The critic and curator talks about working on a program of films by trailblazing Black women directors, which opened at London’s BFI Southbank this year and is now playing on the Criterion Channel.

Dec 18, 2025 — Checking in on lists of the best films, performances, scenes, scores, restorations, and more.

Dec 18, 2025 — At year’s end, we’re reading about the partnership and breakup of Alfred Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann—and much more.

Dec 9, 2025 — In her Cannes-award-winning narrative feature debut, Mira Nair sees the lives of Indian street children with an unconditionally generous gaze, taking in their world in all its contradictions and complexity.

Dec 1, 2025 — One of the most vital playwrights of our era was also an award-winning screenwriter.

Nov 24, 2025 — This month brings new collections from Melissa Anderson and A. S. Hamrah and a whole shelf of lives lived with the movies.

Nov 10, 2025 — Olivia Laing’s second novel is set in mid-1970s Rome, where Fellini is shooting Casanova and Pasolini is at work on Salò.

Nov 4, 2025 — The director of La commune and The War Game shook up viewers with dramatizations historical conflicts and imminent futures.

Oct 29, 2025 — In her intensely personal debut feature, the filmmaker and poet investigates the myths that have shaped South African history through a mix of archival footage, poetic remembrances, and conversations with friends and family.