Film Comment 2019
Intro
The following films appeared in the Film Comment best of 2019 poll. The poll is divided between films that received US theatrical distribution in 2019 and those that did not (including self-distributed films).
Sources: Best Films of 2019, Best Undistributed Films of 2019
Films
1. Parasite
Gisaengchung
South Korea
Bong Joon-ho
Lists: Cinema Scope (7, 2019) | New York Times (3 - Dargis / 3 - Scott, 2019) | Sight & Sound (2, 2019)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | Locarno (Histoire(s) du cinéma, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Telluride (2019) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2019)
2. The Irishman
USA
Martin Scorsese
Lists: Cinema Scope (10, 2019) | New York Times (2 - Dargis / 4 - Scott, 2019) | Sight & Sound (3, 2019)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate - Opening Night, 2019)
3. Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood
USA
Quentin Tarantino
Lists: Cinema Scope (8, 2019) | New York Times (5 - Dargis / 9 - Scott, 2019) | Sight & Sound (4, 2019)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | Locarno (Piazza Grande, 2019)
4. Transit
Germany, France
Christian Petzold
Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2018) | New York Times (7 - Dargis, 2019)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Toronto (Masters, 2018)
5. Atlantics
Atlantique
France, Senegal, Belgium
Mati Diop
Lists: New York Times (10 - Scott, 2019) | Sight & Sound (7, 2019)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2019)
6. The Souvenir
UK
Joanna Hogg
Lists: New York Times (2 - Scott, 2019) | Sight & Sound (1, 2019)
Festivals: Berlin (Panorama, 2019) | Sundance (World Cinema Dramatic Competition, 2019)
7. High Life
Germany, France, USA, UK, Poland
Claire Denis
Lists: Cinema Scope (10, 2018) | Sight & Sound (11, 2019)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Rotterdam (Signatures, 2019) | Toronto (Gala Presentations, 2018)
8. Ash Is Purest White
Jiang hu er nü
China, France
Jia Zhangke
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2019) | Toronto (Masters, 2018)
9. Pain and Glory
Dolor y gloria
Spain
Pedro Almodóvar
Lists: New York Times (1 - Dargis, 2019) | Sight & Sound (6, 2019)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Telluride (2019) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2019)
10. Uncut Gems
USA
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Lists: Cinema Scope (4, 2019) | Sight & Sound (12, 2019)
Festivals: New York (Special Events, 2019) | Telluride (2019) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2019)
11. Marriage Story
USA
Noah Baumbach
Lists: New York Times (5 - Scott, 2019) | Sight & Sound (14, 2019)
Festivals: New York (Main Slate - Centerpiece, 2019) | Telluride (2019) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2019) | Venice (In Competition, 2019)
12. La flor
Argentina
Mariano Llinás
Lists: Cinema Scope (3, 2018)
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2018)
13. An Elephant Sitting Still
Da xiang xi di er zuo
China
Hu Bo
Lists: Cinema Scope (1, 2018)
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2018) | Locarno (Histoire(s) du Cinema, 2018) | Toronto (Discovery, 2018)
14. Long Day's Journey Into Night
Di qiu zui hou de ye wan
China, France
Bi Gan
Lists: Cinema Scope (6, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Un Certain Regard, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2019) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2018)
15. Synonyms
Synonymes
France, Israel, Germany
Nadav Lapid
Lists: Cinema Scope (9, 2019) | New York Times (6 - Dargis, 2019)
Festivals: Berlin (Competition, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2019)
16. Asako I & II
Netemo sametemo
Japan, France
Hamaguchi Ryosuke
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Rotterdam (Limelight, 2019) | Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2018)
17. Us
USA
Jordan Peele
Lists: Sight & Sound (9, 2019)
18. The Image Book
Le livre d'image
Switzerland, France
Jean-Luc Godard
Lists: Cinema Scope (2, 2018) | Sight & Sound (11, 2018)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2018) | New York (Main Slate, 2018) | Toronto (Masters, 2018)
19. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
France
Céline Sciamma
Lists: Sight & Sound (5, 2019)
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Telluride (2019) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2019)
20. Ad Astra
USA
James Gray
Festivals: Venice (In Competition, 2019)
Undistributed
1. State Funeral
Gosudarstvennyye pokhorony
Netherlands, Lithuania
Sergei Loznitsa
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2019)
Festivals: New York (Spotlight on Documentary, 2019) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2019) | Venice (Out of Competition, 2019)
2. Endless Night
Longa noite
Spain
Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro
Festivals: Locarno (International Competition, 2019) | New York (Projections, 2019) | Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2020) | Toronto (Wavelengths, 2019)
3. To the Ends of the Earth
Tabi no Owari Sekai no Hajimari
Japan, Uzbekistan, Qatar
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Festivals: Locarno (Piazza Grande, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Toronto (Masters, 2019)
4. MS Slavic 7
Canada
Sofia Bohdanowicz, Deragh Campbell
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2019)
5. Present.Perfect.
Wan mei xian zai shi
USA, Hong Kong
Shengze Zhu
Lists: Cinema Scope (Special Mention, 2019)
Festivals: Rotterdam (Tiger Competition, 2019)
6. Oh Mercy!
Roubaix, une lumière
France
Arnaud Desplechin
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | New York (Main Slate, 2019)
7. Tommaso
Italy
Abel Ferrara
Festivals: Cannes (Special Screenings, 2019)
8. Bait
UK
Mark Jenkin
Lists: Sight & Sound (8, 2019)
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2019)
9. Belonging
Aidiyet
Turkey, Canada, France
Burak Çevik
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2019)
10. Midnight in Paris
USA
James Blagden, Roni Moore
11. No Data Plan
USA
Miko Revereza
Festivals: Rotterdam (Bright Future, 2019)
12. It Must Be Heaven
France, Qatar, Germany, Canada, Palestine, Turkey
Elia Suleiman
Festivals: Cannes (Competition, 2019) | Toronto (Masters, 2019)
13. Wasp Network
France, Spain, Brazil
Olivier Assayas
Festivals: New York (Main Slate, 2019) | Toronto (Special Presentations, 2019) | Venice (In Competition, 2019)
14. So Pretty
USA, France
Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2019)
15. Just 6.5
Metri shesho nim
Iran
Saeed Roustaee
Festivals: Rotterdam (Limelight, 2020) | Venice (Horizons, 2019)
16. Bird Island
L'Île aux oiseaux
Switzerland
Sergio da Costa, Maya Kosa
Festivals: Locarno (Filmmakers of the Present, 2019)
17. What We Left Unfinished
USA, Afghanistan, Qatar
Mariam Ghani
Festivals: Berlin (Forum, 2019)
18. You Will Die at Twenty
Sudan, France, Egypt, Germany, Norway, Qatar
Amjad Abu Alala
Festivals: Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema, 2019) | Venice (Venice Days, 2019)
19. Lina From Lima
Lina de Lima
Chile, Argentina, Peru
María Paz González
Festivals: Toronto (Discovery, 2019)
20. The Devil Between the Legs
El Diablo entre las Piernas
Mexico
Arturo Ripstein
Festivals: Toronto (Masters, 2019)