2020
Intro
The following films appeared on year-end lists in Cinema Scope, The New York Times, and Sight & Sound. Film Comment was on hiatus in 2020 and did not publish any lists. Selection for the Berlin, Cannes, New York, Rotterdam, Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, and Venice film festivals is noted. Cannes and Telluride cancelled their 2020 festivals, but did announce their intended programs. Locarno presented a program of retrospectives and works in progress.
Films
The Assistant
USA
Kitty Green
Lists: Sight & Sound (14, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Panorama, 2020) | Sundance (Spotlight, 2020) | Telluride (2019)
Bacurau
Brazil
Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
Lists: New York Times (5 - Dargis / 7 - Scott, 2020) | Sight & Sound (17, 2020)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2020) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2019)
Beanpole
Dylda
Russia
Kantemir Balagov
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2020) | Telluride (2019) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2019)
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
USA
Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
Lists: Sight & Sound (11, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Panorama, 2020) | Sundance (US Documentary Competition, 2020)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
USA
Jason Woliner
Lists: New York Times (1 - Scott, 2020)
City Hall
USA
Frederick Wiseman
Lists: Cinema Scope (9, 2020) | New York Times (2 - Dargis / 2 - Scott, 2020)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2020) | Toronto (TIFF Docs, 2020) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2020)
Collective
Colectiv
Romania, Luxembourg
Alexander Nanau
Lists: New York Times (8 - Dargis / 2 - Scott, 2020)
Festivals: Sundance (Spotlight, 2020) | Toronto (TIFF Docs, 2019) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2019)
Da 5 Bloods
USA
Spike Lee
Lists: Sight & Sound (12, 2020)
DAU. Degeneration
DAU. Degeneratsia
Germany, Ukraine, UK, Russia
Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Ilya Permyakov
Lists: Cinema Scope (8, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Berlinale Special, 2020)
David Byrne's American Utopia
USA
Spike Lee
Lists: New York Times (4 - Dargis / 8 - Scott, 2020) | Sight & Sound (16, 2020)
Festivals: New York (Spotlight, 2020) | Toronto (Gala Presentations, 2020)
Days
Rizi
Taiwan
Tsai Ming-liang
Lists: Cinema Scope (1, 2020) | Sight & Sound (10, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2020) | New York (Main Slate, 2020)
Dick Johnson Is Dead
USA
Kirsten Johnson
Lists: New York Times (9 - Scott, 2020) | Sight & Sound (6, 2020)
Festivals: Sundance (US Documentary Competition, 2020)
Fauna
Mexico, Canada
Nicolás Pereda
Lists: Cinema Scope (10, 2020)
Festivals: New York (Currents, 2020) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2020)
First Cow
USA
Kelly Reichardt
Lists: New York Times (6 - Dargis / 3 - Scott, 2020) | Sight & Sound (3, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2020) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Telluride (2019)
The Forty-Year-Old Version
USA
Radha Blank
Lists: New York Times (9 - Dargis / 5 - Scott, 2020)
Festivals: Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2020)
Gunda
Norway, USA
Victor Kossakovsky
Lists: New York Times (3 - Dargis, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Encounters, 2020) | New York (Main Slate, 2020)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
USA
Charlie Kaufman
Lists: Sight & Sound (4, 2020)
Kajillionaire
USA
Miranda July
Lists: Sight & Sound (20, 2020)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2020) | Sundance (Premieres, 2020)
The Last City
Die letzte Stadt
Germany
Heinz Emigholz
Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Encounters, 2020) | New York (Currents, 2020)
Lovers Rock
UK
Steve McQueen
Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2020) | New York Times (8 - Scott, 2020) | Sight & Sound (1, 2020)
Festivals: Cannes (Official Selection, 2020) | New York (Main Slate - Opening Night, 2020)
Malmkrog
Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia
Cristi Puiu
Lists: Cinema Scope (7, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Encounters, 2020) | New York (Main Slate, 2020)
Mangrove
UK
Steve McQueen
Lists: Sight & Sound (13, 2020)
Festivals: Cannes (Official Selection, 2020) | New York (Main Slate, 2020)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
USA
Eliza Hittman
Lists: New York Times (7 - Dargis, 2020) | Sight & Sound (7, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2020) | Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2020)
Nomadland
USA
Chloé Zhao
Lists: Sight & Sound (8, 2020)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate - Centerpiece, 2020) | Telluride (2020) | Toronto (Gala Presentations, 2020) | Venice (In Competition, 2020)
Palm Springs
USA
Max Barbakow
Festivals: Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2020)
Rocks
UK
Sarah Gavron
Lists: Sight & Sound (9, 2020)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Perspectives, 2020) | Toronto (Platform, 2019)
Saint Maud
UK
Rose Glass
Lists: Sight & Sound (5, 2020)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Voices, 2020) | Toronto (Midnight Madness, 2019)
Shirley
USA
Josephine Decker
Lists: Sight & Sound (15, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Encounters, 2020) | Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2020)
Soul
USA
Pete Docter
Lists: New York Times (10 - Scott, 2020)
Festivals: Cannes (Official Selection, 2020)
Time
USA
Garrett Bradley
Lists: Sight & Sound (2, 2020)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2020) | Sundance (US Documentary Competition, 2020)
Wolfwalkers
Ireland, Luxembourg, France
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Lists: Sight & Sound (19, 2020)
Festivals: Toronto (Special Events, 2020)
The Woman Who Ran
Domangchin yeoja
South Korea
Hong Sang-soo
Lists: Cinema Scope (6, 2020) | Sight & Sound (18, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2020) | New York (Main Slate, 2020)
The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)
Werke und Tage (der Tayoko Shiojiri im Shiotanibecken)
USA, Sweden, Japan, UK,
C.W. Winter, Anders Edström
Lists: Cinema Scope (2, 2020)
Festivals: Berlin (Encounters, 2020) | New York (Currents, 2020)
The Year of Discovery
El año del descubrimiento
Spain
Luis López Carrasco
Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 2020)
Festivals: New York (Currents, 2020) | Rotterdam (Tiger Competition, 2020)