Favourite Films of 2021
Another good year of films, despite a second year of the pandemic, streaming vs movie theatre arguments and claims that cinema is dead. I also managed to attend a few film festivals abroad. I returned to Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna after missing it last year and attended two festivals for the first time - Venice International Film Festival and Viennale. I attended only one online film festival, Prismatic Ground and watched only four films online from this year’s edition of Pordenone Silent Film Festival which also took place in person.
Locally, I curated a film festival this summer in Abu Dhabi, and attended the 4th edition of Sharjah Film Platform.
I watched 461 films in total, 291 at the cinema, the majority in Dubai and the rest via online streaming and a few on Emirates’ in-flight entertainment when I travelled. Just like last year, I felt lucky cinemas here remained open, Vox even opened a new multiplex this year in Wafi Mall which I went to frequently.
A few things to note about recent censorship issues in UAE cinemas:
In November, ETERNALS was censored more than would’ve expected and earlier this month WEST SIDE STORY’s release was pulled because of censorship requirements instigated out of Saudi Arabia.
On December 16, the Media Regulatory Office announced a new 21+ rating a couple of weeks ago, meaning films with this rating won’t be censored (i.e. sex/nudity won’t be cut). THE LOST DAUGHTER is the first film that got released here with that rating, and SILENT NIGHT was the second one I saw a few days ago with that rating.
Not sure if these are interrelated, and I’m curious to see if the new 21+ rating will encourage more people here to go to the cinema, instead of watching pirated versions of new releases online.
This year I’m writing one post combining my favourite new discoveries and new releases. I don’t have the capacity to write more, despite the amount of notes I have written down for many of these films when I watched them. Maybe I will write about the ones I feel strongly about another time. For now, here’s my list.
A complete list of all the films I liked this year can be found on my Letterboxd account.
my favourite discoveries watched in cinemas:
Il Cinema Ritrova 2021:
THE MORE THE MERRIER (1942)
I REMEMBER MAMA (1948)
SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR (1952)
SHANE (1953)
Part of Cinemalibero: Feminine, Plural:
WE WERE YOUNG (Binka Zhelyazkova, 1961)
SAMBIZANGA (Sarah Maldoror, 1972)
ALI IN WONDERLAND (Djouhra Abouda, Alain Bonnamy, 1976)
From other strands:
THE WILD CAT (Ernst Lubitsch, 1921, projected with carbon arc lamp)
SHITOYAKANA KEMONO (aka ELEGANT BEAST / THE GRACEFUL BRUTE) (Yuzo Kawashima, 1962)
BHUMIKA (Shyam Benegal, 1977)
BERLIN AT DUSK (Annik Leroy, 1980)
RUAN LINGYU / CENTRE STAGE (Director’s Cut) (Stanley Kwan, 1992)
Terence Davies Retrospective at Viennale 2021
I missed the first few days of the festival so sadly I missed some I hadn't seen before. But I was happy Terence Davies was there in person, he presented two of the four films I watched. He’s a delight to listen to.
THE LONG DAY CLOSES (1992)
THE NEON BIBLE (1995)
OF TIME AND THE CITY (2008)
THE DEEP BLUE SEA (2011)
Additionally, whilst I was in Vienna I finally got to see THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed, 1949)at Burg Kino where it’s always screening a few times every month. A film I’ve been saving to watch in Vienna when I got the chance.
Sharjah Film Platform 2021:
WEDDING IN GALILEE (Michel Khleifi, 1988)
My top 40 new films of the year:
I narrowed down my list to 40 even though I did like a lot more, but thought it would be too much to share here. I start with my top 3 of the year and the rest are added in alphabetical order and where I watched them. I added a few honourable mentions at the end.
Top 3:
WHAT DO WE SEE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY? (Aleksandre Koberidze, 2021)
Streaming - Berlinale 2021
ANNETTE (Leos Carax, 2021)
Novo Cinemas and Vox Cinemas, Dubai
THE CARD COUNTER (Paul Schrader, 2021)
Venice International Film Festival, Cinema Lumiere, Bologna, Roxy Cinemas, Dubai
The rest in alphabetical order:
BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR (Josh Greenbaum, 2021)
In-flight Entertainment - Emirates
BERGMAN ISLAND (Mia Hansen-Love, 2021)
Viennale 2021 at Gartenbaukino
CANE FIRE (Anthony Banua-Simon, 2021)
Streaming - Prismatic Sound and Cine-MAS 2021, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
COMING HOME IN THE DARK (James Ashcroft, 2021)
Novo Cinemas, Dubai
CRY MACHO (Clint Eastwood, 2021)
Vox Cinemas, Dubai
DRIVE MY CAR (Hamaguchi Ryusuke, 2021)
Viennale 2021, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus
DUNE (Denis Villeneuve, 2021)
Teatro Medica Palace, Bologna, Novo Cinemas (IMAX), Dubai
FAYA DAYI (Jessica Beshir, 2021)
Viennale 2021, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus
FRIENDS AND STRANGERS (James Vaughan, 2021)
Streaming - Berlinale 2021 and Viennale 2021, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus
THE GREAT MOVEMENT (Kiro Russo, 2021)
Viennale 2021, Urania
GRITT (Itonje Søimer Guttormsen, 2021)
Streaming - IFFR 2021
HOUSE OF GUCCI (Ridley Scott, 2021)
Roxy Cinemas and Novo Cinemas, Dubai
IN THE AIR TONIGHT (Andrew Norman Wilson, 2020)
Streaming - Le Cinema Club
IRANI BAG (Maryam Tafakory, 2020)
Cine-MAS 2021, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
LANDSCAPES OF RESISTANCE (Marta Popivoda, 2021)
Streaming - IFFR 2021
THE LAST DUEL (Ridley Scott, 2021)
Venice International Film Festival and Vox Cinemas, Dubai
THE LOST DAUGHTER (Maggie Gyllenhaal, 2021)
Vox Cinemas (twice), Dubai
LIMBO (Ben Sharrock, 2021)
In-flight Entertainment - Emirates Airline
MALIGNANT (James Wan)
Vox Cinemas and Reel Cinemas, Dubai
MAPPING LESSONS (Philip Rizk, 2021)
Sharjah Film Platform, Mirage City Cinema, Sharjah
MEMORIA (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2021)
Viennale 2021 at Gartenbaukino
MEMORY BOX (Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, 2021)
Streaming - Berlinale 2021
MARINER OF THE MOUNTAINS (Karim Ainouz, 2021)
Viennale 2021 at Filmmuseuem
NO TIME TO DIE (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2021)
Vox Cinemas and Roxy Cinemas, Dubai
NOBODY (Ilya Naishuller, 2021)
Reel Cinemas (Dolby) and Vox Cinemas, Dubai
OLD (M. Night Shyamalan, 2021)
Vox Cinemas, Dubai
PASSING (Rebecca Hall, 2021)
De France, Vienna and Netflix
PETIT MAMAN (Céline Sciamma, 2021)
Streaming - Berlinale 2021
PIG (Michael Sarnoski, 2021)
Streaming - iTunes
THE POWER OF THE DOG (Jane Campion, 2021)
Viennale 2021 and Netflix
RED ROCKET (Sean Baker, 2021)
Viennale 2021 at Gartenbaukino
SOUAD (Ayten Amin, 2021)
Streaming - Berlinale 2021
THE SOUVENIR PART II (Joanna Hogg, 2021)
Viennale 2021 at Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus
SPENCER (Pablo Larrain, 2021)
Viennale 2021 at Gartenbaukino and Roxy Cinemas, Dubai
STILLWATER (Tom McCarthy, 2021)
Vox Cinemas, Dubai
SUNDOWN (Michel Franco, 2021)
Venezia 2021
VERA DREAMS OF THE SEA (Kaltrina Krasniqi, 2021)
Venezia 2021
Honourable mentions:
COPSHOP (Joe Carnahan)
THE COURIER (Dominic Cooke)
THE DOG WHO WOULDN’T BE QUIET (Ana Katz)
THE FATHER (Florian Zeller)
FOR THE SAKE OF VICIOUS (Gabriel Career)
GHOSTS (Azra Deniz Okyay)
THE GREEN KNIGHT (David Lowry)
MINARI (Lee Isaac Chung)
MR BACHMAN AND HIS CLASS (Maria Speth)
ONE SHOT (James Nunn)
THE RIDERS OF JUSTICE (Anders Thomas Jensen)
WRATH OF MAN (Guy Ritchie)
