Movies that takes you deeply and sensitively into the human condition are perhaps the rewarding of films to watch.
While they don’t possess the bigness and brightness of blockbusters, what they do have in spades is a beguiling sense of human relatability, the sense that even though the characters may be light years removed from your own lived experience, that they speak universally for all of us.
All of want to be loved for ourselves, to realise own dreams and to be connected and mean something special to someone else, all themes featured in the three films in this selection.
They all help us to see what it means to be human, and that can only be good for own sense of humanity and for our own empathy and the way we treat others.
Beautiful drama and life lessons? Win-win all round.
SNAPSHOT
Dalva, 12, lives alone with her father. She dresses, wears make-up and lives like a woman. One evening, the police storm into their home and take her into foster care. Dumbfounded and outraged at first, she later meets Jayden, a social worker, and Samia, a teen with a temper. Through these new relationships, can Dalva learn to become a child again? Love According to Dalva, originally known as simply Dalva, is both written and directed by French filmmaker Emmanuelle Nicot, making her feature directorial debut after one other short previously. It’s written in collaboration with Jacques Akchoti and Bulle Decarpentries. This initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week sidebar section, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize and a Rising Star Award. (courtesy First Showing)
Love According to Dalva opens 22 March in France and UK/Ireland on 28 April.
SNAPSHOT
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are split apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea to Canada. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York City for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance. Past Lives is both written and directed by Korean-Canadian writer / filmmaker Celine Song, an acclaimed playwright making her feature directorial debut after a few other TV writing gigs previously. It’s produced by David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler. This first premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and also just played at the Berlin Film Festival. (courtesy First Showing)
Past Lives opens in USA in limited release on 19 May.
SNAPSHOT
Wildflower is a hilarious big-hearted celebration of family in all its variety, focusing on a young woman named Bea (Kiernan Shipka). A coming-of-age film about growing up too fast and slowing down enough to recognize one’s good fortune. Bea feels obliged to take care of her parents. She gets a job doing pool maintenance and, though she is an exceptional student, she ignores the pleas of her high school guidance counsellor to apply to colleges that would take her away from home. Wildflower is directed by filmmaker Matt Smukler, making his first narrative feature after a few shorts previously. The screenplay is written by Jana Savage, from a story by Matt Smukler and Jana Savage; adapted from Smukler’s 2020 documentary film. This initially premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival last year. (courtesy First Showing)
Wildflower opens 17 March in USA.