SAIFF 2012: Inaugural South Asian Rising Star Film Awards Winners Announced

For their ninth year, the South Asian International Film Festival have marked a new first: their first awards competition and ceremony. The South Asian Rising Star Awards focus on the best of upcoming talent coming out of the Indian subcontinent... More »

By J Hurtado

SAIFF 2012 Review: BALAK PALAK Can't Decide If It's A Sex Comedy Or An Afterschool Special

I don't think I'd be writing here if I didn't, on some level, have the irrepressible, deep-seated urge to root for the little guy. There are times when this makes it difficult for me to say less than glowing things... More »

By J Hurtado

SAIFF 2012 Review: MISS LOVELY Is One Of The Most Excitingly Original Indian Films Of 2012

Among the toasts of Cannes' Un Certain Regard section this year was Ashium Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely, a film chronicling the ups and downs of a couple of small potatoes film producers with dollar signs in their eyes. The film takes... More »

By J Hurtado

SAIFF 2012: Marathi Noir PUNE 52 Gets A New Trailer Ahead Of Its US Premiere

As the eleventh annual South Asian International Film Festival gets closer, we're starting to get more and more promo materials for some of the most highly anticipated Indian independents out there. One that we've been watching for a long time... More »

By J Hurtado

Well Beyond Bollywood: SAIFF Announces Eclectic 2012 Line-up

While a certain Mister J. Hurtado is the resident reviewer of South Asian fare here at Twitch, many of us do enjoy the kaleidoscopic kind of cinema that the region churns out. And there probably isn't a better place to... More »

By Ben Umstead

SAIFF 2011: ALMS OF THE BLIND HORSE Review

Alms of the Blind Horse, tells a day in the lives of people in a small Punjabi village. With the cast of mostly non-professional locals, the film is the first Punjabi feature to be shown in international film festivals. Based... More »

By Dustin Chang

SAIFF 2011: KSHAY (CORRODE) Review

Obsession is a popular theme among filmmakers and it has been since the dawn of the cinema. Karan Gour's Kshay takes that theme and places it in a new context in a world unfamiliar to most people outside of the... More »

By J Hurtado

SAIFF 2011: DEOOL (THE TEMPLE) Review

Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni's Deool is a political satire that literally slays the sacred cows of Indian politics and devotion. Kulkarni's focuses his keen eye on rural Maharashtra and the speed with which corruption can move through a well-meaning community when... More »

By J Hurtado

SAIFF 2011: ABU, SON OF ADAM Review

Abu, Son of Adam is a peaceful, contemplative film. This Malayalam drama about an aging couple and their quest to perform Hajj is without melodrama and without pretension. What it lacks in fireworks, it makes up for in real, raw... More »

By J Hurtado

Leading Voices in Global Cinema

Todd Brown, Founder & Editor Toronto
Peter Martin, Managing Editor Dallas
Ryland Aldrich, Festivals Editor Los Angeles
James Marsh, Asian Editor Hong Kong
Brian Clark, European Editor Paris

Jason Gorber's Cineruminations: On MAN OF STEEL, SuperJesus, and THIS IS THE END's Jewpocalypse

Back in 1933, while Hitler was ascending into power in Germany and diasporic Jews throughout the world looked on with concern, two high school students created one of the most indelible mythical heroes of the last century. Borrowing from the Nietzschean concept of the Übermensch, Joe Shuster and Jerry... More »

Twitchvision: Talking MAN OF STEEL and THIS IS THE END

This is the big week of Superman's return, with Zack Snyder's take on the caped saviour hitting our screens. While my opinion's kind of mixed on the film, there's still plenty to admire about it. I also discuss the overt Jesus imagery throughout, as expanded in a full cineruminations column... More »

70s Rewind: Bridges, Barbra, Bogdanovich, Brynner

Amazon's Prime Instant streaming service is not as well-established as Netflix and has far more modest offerings in off-beat and strange cinema. Still, since I temporarily dropped Netflix, I've been diving deeper into Amazon's catalog, and discovered a good number of films from my favorite movie decade. Here's a selection... More »

LA Film Fest 2013: Twitch Picks 12 Must-See Films

It's LA Film Fest time with LA's downtown fest kicking off tonight with Pedro Almodovar's I'm So Excited. Twitch will be on hand with a small crew to bring you news and reviews from around the fest. You can follow us on twitter at @TwitchFilm | @BenUmstead | @AlexKoehne... More »

Jason Gorber's Cineruminations: On Shyamalan, SHE'S ALL THAT and a Preponderance for Pigeonholing

Part of the (heated) discussion about my take on After Earth surrounded the dicey proposition, popularized by the "Cahiers du Cinema" crowd in the 50s, that a director's work is to be considered part of a continuous process of development, an oeuvre with authorial consistency.Frank Zappa called it "conceptual continuity",... More »