Film Comment 2015
Intro
The following films appeared in the Film Comment best of 2015 poll. The poll is divided between films that received US theatrical distribution in 2015 and those that did not (including self-distributed films). These are abridged versions of the lists as they appeared in the print edition of the magazine.
Sources: Best Films of 2015, Best Undistributed Films of 2015
Films
1. Carol
UK, USA
Todd Haynes
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015) | New York Times (4 - Dargis / 5 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (2, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Telluride (2015)
2. The Assassin
Nie Yinniang
Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, France
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 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)
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
Australia, USA
George Miller
Lists: New York Times (1 - Dargis / 8 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (3, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition, 2015)
4. Clouds of Sils Maria
Sils Maria
France, Germany, Switzerland
Olivier Assayas
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2014) | Locarno (Piazza Grande, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2014)
5. Arabian Nights
As 1001 Noites
Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland
Miguel Gomes
Lists: Cinema Scope (2, 2015) | Sight & Sound (4, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
6. Timbuktu
France, Mauritania
Abderrahmane Sissako
Lists: New York Times (1 - Scott, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2015) | Toronto (Masters, 2014)
7. Spotlight
USA
Tom McCarthy
Lists: New York Times (3 - Scott, 2015)
Festivals: Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2015)
8. Phoenix
Germany
Christian Petzold
Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2014) | Sight & Sound (13, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (LOLA at Berlinale, 2015) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2014)
9. Inside Out
USA
Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
Lists: New York Times (2 - Scott, 2015) | Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition, 2015)
10. The Look of Silence
Senyap
Denmark, Indonesia, Norway, Finland, UK
Joshua Oppenheimer
Lists: 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)
11. Hard to Be a God
Trudno byt' bogom
Russia
Aleksei German
Lists: Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2014)
12. Anomalisa
USA
Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson
Lists: 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)
13. In Jackson Heights
USA
Frederick Wiseman
Lists: New York Times (5 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Spotlight on Documentary, 2015) | Toronto (Docs, 2015) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2015)
14. Son of Saul
Saul fia
Hungary
László Nemes
Lists: Sight & Sound (8, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2015) | New York (Film Comment Presents, 2015) | Telluride (2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015)
15. Horse Money
Cavalo dinheiro
Portugal
Pedro Costa
Lists: Cinema Scope (1, 2014) | Sight & Sound (3, 2014 / 19, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2014)
16. Jauja
Argentina, USA, Netherlands, France, Mexico
Lisandro Alonso
Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2014) | Sight & Sound (9, 2014)
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2014) | New York (Main Slate, 2014) | Rotterdam (Spectrum, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2014)
17. Tangerine
USA
Sean Baker
Lists: Sight & Sound (14, 2015)
Festivals: Sundance (Next, 2015)
18. Brooklyn
UK, Ireland, Canada
John Crowley
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Sundance (Premieres, 2015) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2015)
19. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
USA
Marielle Heller
Lists: New York Times (8 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: Berlin (Generation, 2015) | Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2015)
20. Bridge of Spies
USA
Steven Spielberg
Lists: New York Times (3 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2015)
Undistributed
1. Right Now, Wrong Then
Jigeumeun matgo geuttaeneun tteullida
South Korea
Hong Sang-soo
Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Rotterdam (Critics' Choice, 2016) | Toronto (Masters, 2015)
2. Chevalier
Greece
Athina Rachel Tsangari
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | New York (Special Events, 2015) | Rotterdam (Voices, 2016) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2015)
3. The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers
UK
Ben Rivers
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | New York (Projections, 2015) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
4. The Academy of Muses
La academia de las musas
Spain
José Luis Guerin
Festivals: Locarno (Signs of Life, 2015) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2016)
5. Don't Blink - Robert Frank
USA
Laura Israel
Festivals: Berlin (Panorama, 2016) | New York (Main Slate, 2015)
6. Cosmos
Portugal, France
Andrzej Żuławski
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015)
7. Journey to the Shore
Kishibe no tabi
Japan, France
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2015) | New York (Main Slate, 2015) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2015)
8. Happy Hour
Happî awâ
Japan
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | Rotterdam (Episodic/Epidemic, 2016)
9. Lost and Beautiful
Bella e perduta
Italy
Pietro Marcello
Lists: Cinema Scope (7, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2015) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
10. Minotaur
Minotauro
Mexico, Canada
Nicolás Pereda
Festivals: New York (Projections, 2015) | Rotterdam (Bright Future Mid-length, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
11. Kaili Blues
Lu bian ye can
China
Bi Gan
Lists: Cinema Scope (10, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2015) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2016)
12. Sixty Six
USA
Lewis Klahr
Lists: New York Times (10 - Dargis, 2015)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Signatures, 2016)
13. Visit, or Memories and Confessions [1982]
Visita ou Memórias e Confissões
Portugal
Manoel de Oliveira
Lists: Cinema Scope (6, 2015)
Festivals: Cannes (Special screening, 2015) | New York (Revivals, 2015) | Rotterdam (Regained, 2016)
14. The Movement
El Movimiento
Argentina, South Korea
Benjamin Naishtat
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2015)
15. 88:88
Canada
Isiah Medina
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2015)
Festivals: Locarno (Signs of Life, 2015) | New York (Projections, 2015) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015)
16. Microbe & Gasoline
Microbe et gasoil
France
Michel Gondry
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2015)
17. Pervert Park
Sweden, Denmark
Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors
Festivals: Sundance (World Cinema Documentary Competition, 2015)
18. Afternoon
Na ri xia wu
Taiwan
Tsai Ming-liang
Festivals: Toronto (Wavelengths, 2015) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2015)
19. Of the North
Canada
Dominic Gagnon
Festivals: Rotterdam (ID: Community Cameras, 2016)
20. The Smell of Us
France
Larry Clark
Festivals: Venice (Venice Days, 2014)