2020 Cinema - A Year In Review

Another year, this one like no other.  One of the few bright spots of this year is that virtual cinemas provided increased access to peons, such as myself, who typically would be at the mercy of US distributors. It eroded gatekeeping in a sense, granting access to anyone whose curiosity for the pleasures of cinema transcends borders, cultures, etc.  My list doesn't ascribe to U.S release dates, but rather, to films which I experienced this year.  It is worth noting that some films to grace many Top 10 lists this year - Beanpole, Liberté, Martin Eden - were on my 2019 list, so I'd recommend checking that out as well.  

There are notable films I still need to see - like any other year - but I'm happy with this list and as a reminder, I don't take the debate over release year that seriously, so with no further ado, here are my favorite films from this year, in no particular order.

Isadora's Children - Damien Manivel

Fire Will Come - ​Oliver Laxe

Gamak Ghar - ​Achal Mishra

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets - Turner and Bill Ross

Vitalina Varela - Pedro Costa

Days - ​Tsai Ming-liang

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains - ​Gu Xiaogang

To The Ends of the Earth - Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Labyrinth of Cinema - ​Nobuhiko Ōbayashi

Ghost Tropic - Bas Devos

Nasir - ​Arun Karthick

A White, White Day - ​Hlynur Pálmason

Fourteen - Dan Sallitt 

Minori, On the Brink - ​Ryutaro Ninomiya

Lovers Rock - Steve McQueen

Dick Johnson Is Dead - Kirsten Johnson

Overseas - ​Sung-a Yoon

Collective - ​Alexander Nanau

Chasing Dream - Johnnie To

First Cow - ​Kelly Reichardt

Honorable Mentions:  The Assistant, Da 5 Bloods, Time, Red Moon Tide, I Was at Home, But.., Swallow, Driveways, The Disciple