My favorite films 2021
There are always two lists, the one at the end of the year with the favorite new films I have seen as far as they were available. And there is a list strictly sorted after the date of a films first public screening.
This year I could not choose one single film of the year, because I was split between Zhao´s masterpiece Nomadland and Venice Atienza´s mesmerizing coming of age -docu, Last Days at Sea.
Despite the fact cinemas were closed more than half of the year, I was able to see a lot of great films. The only new film I am missing in this list is the new film of the great Aparna Sen The Rapist, on which I could not get my hands on. Hope that will happen soon at the beginning of next year.
One of the great moments was during my trip to Paris: I just bought a ticket for First Cow and had a small talk with a man who works for the Parisian Cinema Le grand Action. The diversity of the film theatres in Paris is still overwhelming.
1-Nomadland, Chloé Zhao, USA: 2020
ex aequo with
1-Last Days at sea, Venice Atienza, Philippines: 2021
2-Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse, Maria Speth (Mr. Bachmann and his Class), Germany: 2021
3-Bela, Prantik Basu, India: 2021
4-Saheber Cutlet (Saheb´s Cutlet) , Anjan Dutt, India: 2020
5-Fighter, Jéro Yun, Korea: 2020
6-Seize Printemps (Springblossoms) , Suzanne Lindon, France: 2020
7-Binisutoy, Atanu Ghosh, India: 2021
8-Fabian oder der Gang vor die Hunde (Fabian), Dominik Graf, Germany 2021
9-Jái aimé vivre lá, (I love to live here) Régis Sauder, France: 2020
10-West Side Story, Steven Spielberg, USA: 2021
11-The Father, Florian Zeller, England: 2020
12-Inteurodeoksyeon (Introduction) , Hong Sang-soo, Korea: 2021
13-The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson, USA: 2021
14-Lauras Stern (Lauras Star) , Joya Thome, Germany: 2021
15-Eternals, Chloé Zhao, USA: 2021
special mentions
-First Cow, Kelly Reichardt, USA: 2020
Aruna Vasudev, Mother of Asian Cinema, Supriya Suri, India
-From the Wild Sea, Robin Petré, Denmark: 2021
-Wood and Water, Jonas Bak, Germany: 2021
-Una escuela en Cerro Hueso ( A school in Cerro Hueso) , Betania Cappato, Argentinia: 2021
Rüdiger Tomczak