Films This Week 12/03/21
by Gary Palmucci | 3rd December 2021 | Gary's Corner
Greetings and Happy Hanukkah!
Ninety-three nations have submitted an entry for Best International Film for the 2022 Academy Awards, tying a previous record. While only about a dozen of these have so far seen U.S. theatrical release, one of the most critically acclaimed Hive, from Kosovo — is this week’s addition to New Plaza’s Virtual Cinema lineup.
Winner of three top prizes at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this is the story of one woman’s desperate search for her husband in the aftermath of the 1998-99 Kosovo War, which drove invading Yugoslav forces (with heavy participation from NATO airstrikes) from the tiny country, at a considerable cost of lives and displacement.
This wife, Fahrije (Blerta Basholli), with steely determination, tries to keep her family solvent and together, tending to the family’s beehive trade — a microcosm New Plaza viewers may recall from the popular, Oscar-nominated Honeyland — while refusing to give in to despair about her missing husband’s fate.
Always “on the case” for compelling female-centric narratives and emerging filmmakers, NY Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote:
“‘Hive seizes and holds your interest simply through the drama created by sympathetic characters trying to surmount awful, unfair hurdles. Mostly, though, what holds you rapt is Gashi’s powerful, physically grounded performance, which lyrically articulates her taciturn character’s inner workings…in focusing on this one woman, director Berta Basholli is making an argument about what types of war stories are worth telling.”
BREAKING NEWS: This afternoon (12/3) Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was named “Best Picture of the Year” by the venerable New York Film Critics’ Circle. His other film released this year, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is currently featured in our Virtual Cinema lineup. Here’s a perfect opportunity to sample the work of this rising young — and likely soon to be Oscar-nominated — international filmmaker.
Gary Palmucci, Film Curator
New Plaza Cinema