The Criterion Collection
Hamid Naficy is a professor in the Department of Radio/Television/Film and the Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Professor in Communication at Northwestern University, as well as a faculty member in Northwestern’s Middle East and North African Studies Program and Department...
Feb 22, 2011 — It wasn’t intended. No one could have predicted it. But Sweet Smell of Success turned out to be a terminus where several movie genres and subgenres converged and curdled, producing a uniquely delicious perfume of everlasting cynicism. Inhale deeply. And...
Features
Jun 15, 2020 — The hugely popular and prolific Italian actor Alberto Sordi relished playing rogues, characters riddled with foibles and weaknesses. In an interview with Positif’s Jean A. Gili in 1999, he revealed that his aim was to depict in a comic register...
The Daily
Nov 11, 2025 — “It’s the end of the world, but keep dancing,” says Laxe.
With his stunning visuals, ambiguous narratives, and still relevant focus on modern alienation, this Italian master ushered in a new European art cinema permeated by a distinctly contemporary ennui.
Jun 22, 2026 — Deep Dives In 1971, upon the release of his first and only feature film, James Bidgood pulled a disappearing act. He had spent the better part of seven years shooting Pink Narcissus, a hallucinatory tale of a daydreaming gay hustler, on...
On the Channel
Jun 28, 2021 — Next month brings a twenty-seven-film spotlight on the neonoir thrillers of the post-studio-system era, a survey of art-house animation from around the world, and more.
Nov 2, 2021 — Federico Fellini’s earliest masterpiece is a story of despair and optimism, cruelty and salvation, that occasioned the director’s ascent to stardom.
The Daily
May 5, 2026 — The nation’s largest silent film festival returns to the newly renovated Castro Theatre.
Essays
Dec 16, 2013 — Here at last comes the time of ecstasy, of trances.Those who refuse to their senses the gift of trances shall wither.Brothers in trances, when will freedom come?They threw me out of my land and country.May my star shine. [. ....