LFF 2016 PREVIEW: AQUARIUS

'Expansive yet focused, Aquarius confirms Mendonca's commitment to Brazil's middle-class populace and asserts a newly evident skill for dramatic storytelling'

Jordan Cronk, Sight & Sound

'A deeply moving yet wry tribute to the resistance of small islands of human integrity'

Carmen Gray, AnOther

'Aquarius establishes [Mendonca Filho's] authorial voice as well as his place as one of the most eloquent filmic commentators on the contemporary state of Brazilian society'

Giovanni Marchini Camia, The Film Stage

Kleber Mendonca Filho made a big impression on many, myself included, with his remarkably accomplished debut narrative feature Neighbouring Sounds in 2012. This year, he returned to make an even bigger splash, showing in competition at Cannes to great acclaim with his follow-up, Aquarius. Both director and star Sonia Braga were lauded by critics for their portrayal of a woman stubbornly and provocatively refusing to vacate her apartment block, of which she is the sole remaining resident, to allow developers to put up a new resort. The political activity of cast and crew at Cannes in May has attracted much controversy to the film, including public criticism from prominent voices, the appointment of one of whom to the Oscar Foreign Language Film selection committee for Brazil resulted in some filmmakers officially withdrawing their works from consideration. Mendonca Filho is, by my judgement, a great filmmaker with a solid sense of moral responsibility, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing Aquarius at the London Film Festival this year. The fest kicks off tomorrow, and I'll be commencing my coverage on Friday!

LFF 2016 PREVIEW: MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE

One of the most emotionally acute and sharply observed films in recent memory

Jordan Cronk, Cinema Scope

[A] supremely humane and moving film

Elena Lazic, Little White Lies

A compact triumph of stop-motion animation

Lisa Nesselson, Screen Daily

Claude Barras made a big splash indeed with a little film at Cannes in May: his debut film, the 66-minute stop-motion My Life as a Courgette drew raves aplenty from critics. Subsequently selected as Switzerland's official entry to the Oscar Foreign Language Film category, it has been a prominent fixture on the summer and autumn festival season, set to conclude with a slot at LFF next month. One of the shortest films on my schedule at the fest, and my only animated title, it's also one of my most hotly-anticipated. Co-adapted by Celine Sciamma, best known for another recent Cannes success, Girlhood.

LFF 2016 PREVIEW: TONI ERDMANN

A narrative feature that's as potent as one could hope to find in contemporary cinema

Jordan Cronk, Reverse Shot

A work of great beauty, great feeling and great cinema

Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Toni Erdmann is filled with grand comic inventions, and it encompasses so many strands of experience that it eats the material of several decades of movies for breakfast

Kent Jones, Film Comment

No film set the Croisette alight this May quite like Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann. Building upon the acclaim for her first two features, the 2-hour 42-minute German comedy was the toast of Cannes, drawing in unanimous praise from critics, and even recording the highest score in the history of Screen International's Critics Poll. It won the FIPRESCI prize at the festival, before progressing to the FIPRESCI Grand Prix for 2015-16. It marks a must-see for all cinephiles offered the chance, which, for me, will first arrive at the London Film Festival in October. Release dates, indicating Oscar hopes, are on their way: Christmas Day stateside and the 3rd of February in the UK.