Favourite Film Discoveries of 2020
I normally get my fill of watching old films in cinemas when I travel, by attending retrospectives at film festivals or programmed screenings at repertory cinemas. I managed to do that in January (Rotterdam) and February (Berlin), but post lockdown, Alliance Francaise in Dubai was the lifeline I needed to watch classics on the big screen.
It’s unfortunate the cinemas in Dubai didn’t use the opportunity to program old classics and cult films. Whilst the new releases were limited early summer, the multiplexes just re-released films from earlier this year and a few from recent years. I’ve seen several comments on social media asking the cinemas here to show classics, but they never seem to listen. The oldest film they showed was Inception as part of the 10th anniversary release by Warner Bros. and also leading up to the release of Tenet. In October, the cinemas re-released Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to mark its 25th anniversary. Even the one independent cinema in Dubai screened very few classics this year, I lost count how many times La Dolce Vita was shown.
The following is a list of my favourite film discoveries in the order of when I watched them:
January - IFFR 2020, Rotterdam
Part of Ordinary Heroes: Made in Hong Kong program:
Made in Hong Kong (Fruit Chan, 1997)
The Delinquent (Chang Cheh, 1973)
Long Arm of the Law (Johnny Mak, 1984)
Gangs (Lawrence Lau, 1988, 35mm)
Part of Deep Focus: Beth B: War is Never Over
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (I had seen this before at home, but watching it in a cinema made it feel like the first time.)
February - King Vidor Retrospective, Berlinale 2020
The Big Parade (1925)
Show People (1928)
The Patsy (1928)
Street Scene (1931)
The Champ (1931)
Cynara (1932)
Our Daily Bread (1934)
The Wedding Night (1935)
Stella Dallas (1937)
H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
May
Streaming on www.randachahal.com/films
Civilzed People (Randa Chahal, 2000)
June
My Sight is Lined with Vision - Streaming
Sally’s Beauty Spot (Helen Lee, 1990)
Some Divine Wind (Roddy Bogawa, 1992)
Terminal USA (Jon Moritsugu, 1993)
Strawberry Fields (Rea Tajiri, 1997)
Kelly Loves Tony (Spencer Nakasako)
Sea in the Blood (Richard Fung, 2000)
Suprematist Kapital (James T. Hong, Yin-Ju Chen, 2006)
June-December - Alliance Francaise, Dubai
Weekly Classics Program:
A Summer’s Tale (Éric Rohmer, 1996)
Jacquot de Nantes (Agnes Varda, 1991)
Fantastic Planet (René Laloux, 1973)
Cesar and Rosalie (Claude Sautet, 1972)
Shock Troops (Costa-Gavras, 1967)
The Sleeping Car Murders (Costa-Gavras, 1965)
The Man from Rio (Philippe de Broca, 1964)
400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959)
August
Il Cinema Ritorvato 2020 - Streaming Edition:
The Chess Game of the Wind (Mohammad Reza Aslani, 1976)
Daisy Kenyon (Otto Preminger, 1947)
The Grapes of Wrath (Henry Ford, 1940)
I’m No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933)
Pickpocket (Directed by Jia Zhangke, 1997)
September-November
Berwick Film Festival 2020 - Streaming:
The Lighthouse (Mariya Saakyan, 2006)
Aïta (Izza Génini, 1988)
Rythmes de Marrakech (Izza Génini, 1989)
Badnam Basti / Alley of Ill Repute ( Prem Kapoor, 1971)
October-November
December
Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999) - watched this streaming at home on iTunes. I hope one day soon I can watch it on the big screen.)