10 international films not to miss at EIFF

Superposition [Denmark] - Sat 19 & Sun 20 Aug

A couple and their young son move to a remote cabin in the Danish forest for an experiment in off-grid living, with no human contact for a year. It’s more luxury AirBnB than survivalist camp: he will podcast, she will finally write her novel, and together they will reconnect with nature. But if witty self-awareness does little to puncture the smugness of their snugness, well, deep marital fissures and the sudden discovery that they are not alone may soon do the trick. When they encounter another family in the forest, identical to themselves in almost every way, the fabric of their identities begin to unravel... Shot with elegant use of reflections and doubling, Superposition is a stylish slice of speculative realism, for those who dig their dilemmas Freudian and their chillers existential.

Passages [France] - Sat 19 & Sun 20 Aug

Despite being married to artist Martin (Ben Whishaw) for over a decade, narcissistic filmmaker Tomas (Franz Rogowski) impulsively spends a night with teacher Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos). As this dalliance starts growing into something deeper, romantic chaos reigns, with Tomas jumping from Martin’s bed to Agathe’s with little thought for either of their feelings. Like the worst, most watchable person in the world, Tomas flutters between people and projects. In their newest collaboration after Little Men, Love is Strange and Frankie, Ira Sachs and his co-writer Mauricio Zacharias capture the mayhem of intimacy and the emotional havoc that a charming narcissist can wreak. Moreover, they’ve achieved a true rarity for contemporary cinema: they made it hot.

Past Lives [South Korea] - Sun 20 & Mon 21 Aug

Nora (Greta Lee) emigrates to Canada from Seoul at age twelve, leaving behind her best friend and first love Hae Sung (Teo Yoo). Another 12 years go by before Hae Sung can track Nora down on social media, her Westernised moniker a nagging impediment to their virtual reunion. Because life rarely spares the well-meaning, many more obstacles stand between the two lovers who never were, caught in the rueful misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A classic immigrant tale in the making, Celine Song’s directorial debut Past Lives is one of those rare films able to balance on its expertly crafted tightrope the woes of diaspora and the magical possibilities of reinvention.

Drylongso [USA] - Mon 21 Aug

Art student Pica (Toby Smith) is much more interested in practice than theory. She spends long afternoons roaming the neighbourhood to photograph what she calls an ‘endangered species’: young Black men. Making her work even more urgent is a serial killer who stalks the same streets in search of young lives to take. The vibrant debut of acclaimed artist Cauleen Smith navigated the blurry lines of the private and public, harnessing its protagonist’s endless charisma to comment on racial politics, the strictures of the art world, and the importance of community. Brought back to screens in a beautifully textured restoration, Drylongso stands today as fresh and bold a film as it was in 1998, confidently juggling contagious charm and potent political awareness.

Trenque Lauquen [Argentina/Germany] - Mon 21 to Wed 23 Aug

Laura, a botanist, has disappeared. As the two men who felt they knew her best seek out clues to her whereabouts, they realise how little of Laura they ever really knew. What begins as a mystery soon deepens into an odyssey of literary romance, queer kinship, meditations on landscape, and creature-feature sci-fi, via many shaggy-dog diversions. Director Laura Citarella, of the El Pampero Cine collective (La Flor), journeys through more plots and genres than many filmmakers will travel to in their whole careers. Across twelve chapters, over two feature-length parts (presented at EIFF as a single screening with an interval), she keeps it compelling, and creates a deeply absorbing cinema of enigmas.

Orlando: My Political Biography [France] - Mon 21 & Tue 22 Aug

‘Someone once asked me: “Why don't you write your biography?” I replied: “Because f*cking Virginia Woolf wrote my biography in 1928.”’ Philosopher, curator and writer Paul B. Preciado (Testo Junkie) imagines a world bursting with Orlandos: an array of trans performers embodying one of literature’s most resonant metamorphoses, and giving accounts of their own lived experience. From beautifully composed tableaux to the ultimate waiting-room song, “You are not the doctor’s b*tch!”, the film considers the ways that trans people are forced to confront government, history and psychiatry, as well as traditional notions of the family and the power of multinational pharmaceutical companies. This angry, witty, stylish and hugely energising rallying cry for trans liberation is one of the most remarkable films you’ll see this year.

The First Slam Dunk [Japan] - Tue 22 & Wed 23 Aug

Short, scrappy and quick-tempered, Ryota is not a typical fit for basketball greatness. Still - here we are at the big match of the season, Ryota’s team of underdogs at Shohoku High School facing off the established champions Sanno Industry, and Ryota must dig deep. In fact, each of his teammates must search inside themselves, as we follow the travails of their teen lives, and the challenges that come with grief and struggles of self-belief. That these reveries are captured in a series of flashbacks while the game thrillingly plays out in near real-time is the special sauce in Takehiko Inoue’s adaptation of his own iconic manga series.

Afire [Germany] - Tue 22 to Wed 23 Aug

Leon (Thomas Schubert), a pretentious young writer struggling to finish the follow-up to his first book, embarks on a much-needed writing retreat in a seaside cottage with his best friend, a charmingly laissez-faire photographer. To the surprise of the duo, they arrive to find a mysterious woman, Nadja (played by the director’s frequent collaborator Paula Beer), staying at their place. Meanwhile, on the horizon, forest fires burn. The latest film from Christian Petzold (Phoenix, Barbara) comments on the subjectivities of passion with the same piercing soberness it uses to touch upon themes of insecurity and failure. The result is a sharp – and raucously entertaining — portrayal of the struggles of creatives, and one of the German auteur’s funniest films to date.

Showing Up [USA] - Tue 22 & Wed 23 Aug

Lizzy (Michelle Williams) is a sculptor struggling with an upcoming show, family stress and her art-school admin job. Things would be a lot easier if she could only get her landlord, fellow artist Jo (Hong Chau), to sort out the hot water. But Jo’s mind is on other things, and when she adopts a broken bird, Lizzy must deal with the consequences. While the ins and outs of academic status anxiety provide sharp humour, Showing Up is remarkable for how it not only takes artistic practice seriously, but makes it compelling. Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt (Certain Women, First Cow) has a unique way of focusing attention – a precise, subtle and human style of cinema – and it’s a pleasure to witness one of the greatest working filmmakers on top form.

Fremont [USA] – Wed 23 Aug

Twenty-something Donya (Anaita Wali Zada) spends her days working at a fortune cookie factory and her nights wide awake battling insomnia. An Afghan refugee who emigrated to the US after serving as a translator for the American army, Donya lives in limbo between the desire to rebuild her life and the overbearing guilt she carries within. With Fremont, director Babak Jalali (whose debut Frontier Blues played at EIFF 2010) drinks from the fountain of Jim Jarmusch, weaving deadpan humour and poignancy into a sensitive immigrant tale anchored by the moving breakout performance of real-life refugee Wali Zada. She is joined here by the perpetually off-kilter Gregg Turkington as a Jack London-loving psychiatrist and Jeremy Allen White, star of The Bear, as a heartthrob mechanic

The Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from 18 to 23 August and ou can browse the full programme online HERE or download the Festival Brochure PDF