Film Comment 2017
Intro
The following films appeared in the Film Comment best of 2017 poll. The poll is divided between films that received US theatrical distribution in 2017 and those that did not (including self-distributed films).
Sources: Best Films of 2017, Best Undistributed Films of 2017
Films
1. Good Time
USA
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Lists: Cinema Scope (6, 2017) | Sight & Sound (7, 2017)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2017) | Locarno (Piazza Grande, 2017)
2. A Quiet Passion
UK, Belgium
Terence Davies
Lists: New York Times (9 - Dargis / 9 - Scott, 2017)
Festivals: Berlin (Berlinale Special, 2016) | New York (Film Comment Presents, 2016) | Toronto (Masters, 2016)
3. Personal Shopper
France
Olivier Assayas
Lists: Sight & Sound (11, 2016 / 16, 2017)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2016) | New York (Main Slate, 2016) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2017) | Toronto (Masters, 2016)
4. Get Out
USA
Jordan Peele
Lists: New York Times (5 - Dargis / 3 - Scott, 2017) | Sight & Sound (1, 2017)
Festivals: Sundance (Secret Screening, 2017)
5. Nocturama
France
Bertrand Bonello
Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 2016) | Sight & Sound (13, 2016)
Festivals: Rotterdam (A Band Apart, 2017) | Toronto (Platform, 2016)
6. Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
USA
Frederick Wiseman
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2017) | New York Times (2 - Dargis, 2017)
Festivals: Toronto (TIFF Docs, 2017) | Venice (In Competition, 2017)
7. The Death of Louis XIV
La mort de Louis XIV
France, Portugal, Spain
Albert Serra
Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2016) | Sight & Sound (10, 2016)
Festivals: Cannes (Special Screenings, 2016) | New York (Explorations, 2016) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2017) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2016)
8. Faces Places
Visages villages
France
Agnès Varda, JR
Lists: New York Times (3 - Dargis / 5 - Scott, 2017) | Sight & Sound (6, 2017 / 18, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Telluride (2017) | Toronto (Masters, 2017)
9. The Lost City of Z
USA
James Gray
Festivals: Berlin (Berlinale Special Gala, 2017) | New York (Main Slate - Closing Night, 2017)
10. Lady Bird
USA
Greta Gerwig
Lists: New York Times (6 - Dargis / 2 - Scott, 2017) | Sight & Sound (19, 2017)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2018) | Telluride (2017) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2017)
11. The Human Surge
El auge del humano
Argentina, Brazil, Portugal
Eduardo Williams
Lists: Cinema Scope (8, 2016)
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2016) | New York (Projections, 2016) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2016)
12. The Other Side of Hope
Toivon tuolla puolen
Finland, Germany
Aki Kaurismäki
Lists: Sight & Sound (25, 2017)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Telluride (2017) | Toronto (Masters, 2017)
13. The Florida Project
USA
Sean Baker
Lists: New York Times (4 - Dargis / 1 - Scott, 2017) | Sight & Sound (9, 2017)
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2018) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2017)
14. Dawson City: Frozen Time
USA
Bill Morrison
Festivals: New York (Spotlight on Documentary, 2016) | Rotterdam (Regained, 2017) | Venice (Horizons, 2016)
15. Phantom Thread
USA
Paul Thomas Anderson
Lists: Cinema Scope (5, 2017) | New York Times (8 - Dargis / 6 - Scott, 2017) | Sight & Sound (2, 2018)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Limelight, 2018)
16. On the Beach at Night Alone
Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja
South Korea
Hong Sang-soo
Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2017)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017)
17. Wonderstruck
USA
Todd Haynes
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2017) | Locarno (Histoire(s) du Cinema, 2017) | New York (Main Slate - Centerpiece, 2017) | Telluride (2017)
18. Mudbound
USA
Dee Rees
Lists: Sight & Sound (19, 2017)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Sundance (Premieres, 2017) | Toronto (Gala Presentations, 2017)
19. BPM (Beats Per Minute)
120 battements par minute
France
Robin Campillo
Lists: Sight & Sound (12, 2017)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2017)
20. The Square
Sweden
Ruben Östlund
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2017)
Undistributed
1. The Nothing Factory
A Fábrica de Nada
Portugal
Pedro Pinho
Festivals: Cannes (Directors' Fortnight, 2017) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2017)
2. A Gentle Creature
Krotkaya
France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands
Sergei Loznitsa
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2017) | New York (Film Comment Presents, 2017)
3. Streetscapes [Dialogue]
Germany
Heinz Emigholz
Lists: Cinema Scope (7, 2017)
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2017)
4. Milla
France
Valérie Massadian
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2017) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2018)
5. Tonsler Park
USA
Kevin Jerome Everson
Festivals: New York (Projections, 2017) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2017)
6. Mrs. Fang
France, China, Germany
Wang Bing
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2017) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2017)
7. Spoor
Pokot
Poland, Germany, Czech Republic
Agnieszka Holland, Kasia Adamik
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017)
8. Le fort des fous
France, Algeria, Greece, Germany, Qatar
Narimane Mari
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2017) | New York (Projections, 2017) | Rotterdam (A History of Shadows, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2017)
9. 3/4
Bulgaria, Germany
Ilian Metev
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2017) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2018) | Toronto (Discovery, 2017)
10. The Venerable W.
Le vénérable W.
France, Switzerland
Barbet Schroeder
Festivals: Cannes (Special Screenings, 2017) | Locarno (Out of Competition, 2017) | New York (Spotlight on Documentary, 2017) | Telluride (2017)
11. Golden Exits
USA
Alex Ross Perry
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2017) | Sundance (US Dramatic Competition, 2017)
12. Mrs. Hyde
Madame Hyde
France, Belgium
Serge Bozon
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2017) | New York (Main Slate, 2017) | Rotterdam (Voices, 2018)
13. The Wandering Soap Opera
La Telenovela Errante
Chile
Raúl Ruiz, Valéria Sarmiento
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2017) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2018)
14. Life and Nothing More
Spain, USA
Antonio Méndez Esparza
Festivals: Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2017)
15. Until the Birds Return
En attendant les hirondelles
France, Algeria, Germany
Karim Moussaoui
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2017)
16. Good Luck
France, Germany
Ben Russell
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2017)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2017) | New York (Projections, 2017) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2017)
17. Distant Constellation
USA, Turkey, Netherlands
Shevaun Mizrahi
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2017)
18. The Quartet (Elohim, Abaton, Coda, Ode)
USA
Nathaniel Dorsky
19. Drift
Germany
Helena Wittmann
Festivals: Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2018) | Venice (Critics' Week, 2017)
20. Untitled
Austria
Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi
Festivals: Berlin (Panorama, 2017)