2015
Intro
The following films appeared on year-end lists in Cinema Scope, Film Comment, The New York Times, and Sight & Sound. Selection for the Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, New York, Rotterdam, Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, and Venice film festivals is noted.
Films
45 Years
UK
Andrew Haigh
Lists: Sight & Sound (7, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2015) | Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015)
88:88
Canada
Isiah Medina
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015) | Film Comment (15 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (Signs of Life, 2015) | New York (Projections, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
The Academy of Muses
La academia de las musas
Spain
José Luis Guerin
Lists: Film Comment (4 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (Signs of Life, 2015) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2016)
Afternoon
Na ri xia wu
Taiwan
Tsai Ming-liang
Lists: Film Comment (18 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2015)
Amy
UK, USA
Asif Kapadia
Lists: Sight & Sound (9, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Midnight Projections, 2015)
Anomalisa
USA
Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson
Lists: Film Comment (12, 2015) | New York Times (5 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (11, 2015)
Festivals: Rotterdam (ID: The Generic Self , 2016) | Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015) | Venice (In Competition, 2015)
Arabian Nights
As 1001 Noites
Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland
Miguel Gomes
Lists: Cinema Scope (2, 2015) | Film Comment (5, 2015) | Sight & Sound (4, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
The Assassin
Nie Yinniang
Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, France
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 2015) | Film Comment (2, 2015) | New York Times (1 - Dargis, 2015) | Sight & Sound (1, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2016) | Toronto (Masters, 2015)
The Big Short
USA
Adam McKay
Lists: New York Times (9 - Dargis / 3 - Scott, 2015)
Bridge of Spies
USA
Steven Spielberg
Lists: Film Comment (20, 2015) | New York Times (3 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2015)
Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton
Canada
Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Forum Expanded, 2016) | New York (Special Events, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
Brooklyn
UK, Ireland, Canada
John Crowley
Lists: Film Comment (18, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Sundance (Premieres, 2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015)
Carol
UK, USA
Todd Haynes
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015) | Film Comment (1, 2015) | New York Times (4 - Dargis / 5 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (2, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Telluride (2015)
Chevalier
Greece
Athina Rachel Tsangari
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015) | Film Comment (2 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | New York (Special Events, 2015) | Rotterdam (Voices, 2016) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2015)
Clouds of Sils Maria
Sils Maria
France, Germany, Switzerland
Olivier Assayas
Lists: Film Comment (4, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2014) | Locarno (Piazza Grande, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2014)
Cosmos
Portugal, France
Andrzej Żuławski
Lists: Film Comment (6 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015)
Creed
USA
Ryan Coogler
Lists: New York Times (9 - Scott, 2015)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
USA
Marielle Heller
Lists: Film Comment (19, 2015) | New York Times (8 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Generation, 2015) | Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2015)
Don't Blink - Robert Frank
USA
Laura Israel
Lists: Film Comment (5 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Panorama, 2016) | New York (Main Slate, 2015)
The Forbidden Room
Canada
Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson
Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Sundance (New Frontier, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
Girlhood
Bande de filles
France
Céline Sciamma
Lists: Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2014) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2015) | Sundance (Spotlight, 2015) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2014)
Happy Hour
Happî awâ
Japan
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Lists: Film Comment (8 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | Rotterdam (Episodic/Epidemic, 2016)
Hard to Be a God
Trudno byt' bogom
Russia
Aleksei German
Lists: Film Comment (11, 2015) | Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2014)
Heart of a Dog
USA
Laurie Anderson
Lists: New York Times (4 - Scott, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Special Events, 2015) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2016) | Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Docs, 2015) | Venice (In Competition, 2015)
Horse Money
Cavalo dinheiro
Portugal
Pedro Costa
Lists: Cinema Scope (1, 2014) | Film Comment (15, 2015) | Sight & Sound (3, 2014 / 19, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2014)
In Jackson Heights
USA
Frederick Wiseman
Lists: Film Comment (13, 2015) | New York Times (5 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Spotlight on Documentary, 2015) | Toronto (Docs, 2015) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2015)
In the Shadow of Women
L'Ombre des femmes
France
Philippe Garrel
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2016) | Toronto (Masters, 2015)
Inside Out
USA
Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
Lists: Film Comment (9, 2015) | New York Times (2 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition, 2015)
It Follows
USA
David Mitchell
Lists: Sight & Sound (11, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Critics' Week, 2014) | Sundance (Park City at Midnight, 2015) | Toronto (Midnight, 2014)
Jauja
Argentina, USA, Netherlands, France, Mexico
Lisandro Alonso
Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2014) | Film Comment (16, 2015) | Sight & Sound (9, 2014)
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2014)
Journey to the Shore
Kishibe no tabi
Japan, France
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Lists: Film Comment (7 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2015)
The Look of Silence
Senyap
Denmark, Indonesia, Norway, Finland, UK
Joshua Oppenheimer
Lists: Film Comment (10, 2015) | Sight & Sound (18, 2014 / 19, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Berlinale Special, 2015) | New York (Spotlight on Documentary, 2014) | Telluride (2014) | Toronto (Docs, 2014) | Venice (In Competition, 2014)
Lost and Beautiful
Bella e perduta
Italy
Pietro Marcello
Lists: Cinema Scope (7, 2015) | Film Comment (9 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road
Australia, USA
George Miller
Lists: Film Comment (3, 2015) | New York Times (1 - Dargis / 8 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (3, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition, 2015)
The Martian
USA
Ridley Scott
Lists: New York Times (6 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Special Events, 2015) | Toronto (Gala Presentations, 2015)
Microbe & Gasoline
Microbe et gasoil
France
Michel Gondry
Lists: Film Comment (16 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2015)
Minotaur
Minotauro
Mexico, Canada
Nicolás Pereda
Lists: Film Comment (10 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Projections, 2015) | Rotterdam (Bright Future Mid-length, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
The Movement
El Movimiento
Argentina, South Korea
Benjamin Naishtat
Lists: Film Comment (14 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2015)
Of the North
Canada
Dominic Gagnon
Lists: Film Comment (19 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Rotterdam (ID: Community Cameras, 2016)
Pervert Park
Sweden, Denmark
Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors
Lists: Film Comment (17 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Sundance (World Cinema Documentary Competition, 2015)
Phoenix
Germany
Christian Petzold
Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2014) | Film Comment (8, 2015) | Sight & Sound (13, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (LOLA at Berlinale, 2015) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2014)
Results
USA
Andrew Bujalski
Lists: New York Times (10 - Scott, 2015)
Festivals: Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2015)
Sixty Six
USA
Lewis Klahr
Lists: Film Comment (12 - Undistributed, 2015) | New York Times (10 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Signatures, 2016)
The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers
UK
Ben Rivers
Lists: Film Comment (3 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | New York (Projections, 2015) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
The Smell of Us
France
Larry Clark
Lists: Film Comment (20 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Venice (Venice Days, 2014)
Son of Saul
Saul fia
Hungary
László Nemes
Lists: Film Comment (14, 2015) | Sight & Sound (8, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2015) | New York (Film Comment Presents, 2015) | Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015)
Spotlight
USA
Tom McCarthy
Lists: Film Comment (7, 2015) | New York Times (3 - Scott, 2015)
Festivals: Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2015)
Tangerine
USA
Sean Baker
Lists: Film Comment (17, 2015) | Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Sundance (Next, 2015)
Taxi
Iran
Jafar Panahi
Lists: New York Times (6 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2015) | Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Masters, 2015)
Timbuktu
France, Mauritania
Abderrahmane Sissako
Lists: Film Comment (6, 2015) | New York Times (1 - Scott, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2015) | Toronto (Masters, 2014)
The Treasure
Comoara
Romania, France
Corneliu Porumboiu
Lists: Cinema Scope (9, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2015)
Victoria
Germany
Sebastian Schipper
Lists: Sight & Sound (19, 2016)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015)
Visit, or Memories and Confessions [1982]
Visita ou Memórias e Confissões
Portugal
Manoel de Oliveira
Lists: Cinema Scope (6, 2015) | Film Comment (13 - Undistributed, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Special screening, 2015) | New York (Revivals, 2015) | Rotterdam (Regained, 2016)
Welcome to Me
USA
Shira Piven
Lists: New York Times (10 - Scott, 2015)
Festivals: Toronto (Special Presentations, 2014)