Reality

The legendary Iranian filmmaker explored the boundaries between reality and fiction, the complexities of childhood, and the beauty of his country’s landscapes.

The writer and director of His Three Daughters shares his deep love for Charles Laughton, talks about how Aki Kaurismäki blends fantasy and reality in La vie de bohème, and praises La Ciénaga and Girlfriends as cinematic miracles.

This Canadian filmmaker is widely regarded as the master of body horror, and his visceral explorations of sex and technology challenge our preconceptions of reality.

Oct 24, 2017 — In this intimate psychological thriller, Olivier Assayas interrogates contemporary society’s near-religious reliance on technology and its mediation of reality.

Jul 12, 2026 — Channel Calendars This month on the Criterion Channel, crank up the volume on our playlist of (actually good) rock biopics that go beyond cliché to explore the elusive place where inspiration sparks and musical legends are born. Our Southern Gothic...

Jul 10, 2026 — We’re celebrating the Harry Dean Stanton centennial, listening to Ross McElwee and Tsai Ming-liang, and revisiting the work of Bruce Conner.

Jul 2, 2026 — This week’s roundup ranges from sad goodbyes to a silent comedy, from Hitchcock to Barker, and from video art to a cult TV series.

Jul 1, 2026 — BAM’s thirteen-film series dips into chapters of American history that tend to get overlooked on Fourth of July weekends.

Jun 30, 2026 — The distinction between social and political cinema is not always clear. The former category, which focuses on realistic portrayals of the everyday lives and struggles of the working class, generally includes the films of Italian neorealism and British social realism,...

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...