News

Antonio Sequeira’s “Autumn” offers a window into Portuguese life, focusing on a family unit whose familiar contours are subtly reshaped by departure and the passage of time. The film follows this rural household through the cycle of a year, delineated by the four seasons, a period made significant by the eldest son, Tomás, leaving for university studies in London.

This journey sets up an immediate dialogue between the sun-drenched, tradition-steeped Portuguese countryside, particularly the family’s vineyard which grounds them in the soil, and the sprawling, anonymous urbanity of London that begins to claim Tomás.

“Autumn” thereby positions itself to explore not just the intimate shifts within a family, but also the broader tremors of change as local lifeways intersect with global currents, all rendered with a gentle, observant eye.

Portrait of a Household Before the Shift

At the heart of “Autumn” is a family whose initial dynamics are...

Set in the Douro valley, Antonio Sequeira’s softly drawn portrait of a family in flux never quite ferments to anything more than a light tipple about the passing of time

This wistful Portuguese film is a pointillist portrait of a nuclear family over the course of an eventful year; it has plenty of earthy flavour, perhaps like the wine the paterfamilias of the story, Otávio (Miguel Frazão), produces on his small plot in hills above the Douro river. In oenological terms, you can really taste the terroir – the land on which it’s made – with notes of nostalgia and melancholy and a tangy, slightly humorous spice. But there’s also maybe a touch too much sweetness in the blend, given writer and director Antonio Sequeira’s script occasionally slips into a tannic, sentimental theatricality. If it weren’t for the fact that the stunning landscape plays such an integral...

The inaugural Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (Hiff) in Vietnam has unveiled its line-up of about 100 films, including 12 each for the Southeast Asia competition and for the first or second film competition, with directors Anne Fontaine and Hirokazu Kore-eda among its guests.

Scroll down for line-up

The Asian premiere of French biopic Bolero will open the festival on April 6. Director Fontaine and leading actor Raphaël Personnaz will be present for the film’s Asian premiere, which will take place at the city’s historic Opera House.

Further notable festival guests include acclaimed Japanese director Kore-eda who will receive...

The Austin Film Festival has announced its first wave of screenings for its upcoming 30th anniversary event.

Oscar winner Emerald Fennell’s new film Saltburn has been chosen as the festival’s opening night selection. The MGM and Amazon Studios title stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike, and is described as “a wicked tale of privilege and desire.” It’s the sophomore effort by the acclaimed Promising Young Woman filmmaker, who will be in attendance.

This year also includes several world premieres, such as Lena Headey’s feature directorial debut, The Trap, which stars Headey’s Game of Thrones co-star Michelle Fairley, along with James Nelson Joyce.

Other notable titles (full list and descriptions below) include the debut feature American Fiction from writer-director Cord Jefferson, which stars Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown and Tracee Ellis Ross. Also, screenwriter Brian Helgeland returns to Aff with his newest project, Finestkind,...