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by Film Comment Magazine
Founded in 1962, Film Comment has been the home of independent film journalism for over 50 years, publishing in-depth interviews, critical analysis, and feature coverage of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. The Film Comment Podcast, hosted by editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute, is a weekly space for critical conversation about film, with a look at topical issues, new releases, and the big picture. Film Comment is a nonprofit publication that relies on the support of readers. Support film culture. Support Film Comment.
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- 6 days ago50 min
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, with Genevieve Yue and Inney Prakash
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, and more, is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films of the year. Last week, FC Contributing Editor Genevieve Yue wrote about Nolan’s latest, calling it a “strangely bloodless” adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. Genevieve writes: “The film is shrouded in Nolan’s characteristic dourness, so that Homer’s lively world of men and gods is purged of lightness and humor. Odysseus’s homecoming brings relief, but not joy. A lot of people cry, but no one laughs except the suitors, whose sport is to insult beggars. Even the Sirens’ song, famed for its irresistibility, causes Odysseus to wail in grief.”For this week’s Podcast, Film Comment Editor Clinton Krute invited Genevieve and fellow FC Contributing Editor Inney Prakash to discuss how the film fits within Nolan’s body of work, how it stacks up against other cinematic adaptations of The Odyssey, and more.
- 2 weeks ago36 min
Karlovy Vary #3, with Robert Daniels and Guy Lodge
This week, Film Comment Editor Clinton Krute is in the Czech Republic, reporting on the 60th Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Located in a picturesque spa town, the fest has long been the home of hidden gems in its Competition sections, as well as a mid-summer stop for major films making the international circuit. This year’s edition features many of both, as well as an excellent retrospective sidebar highlighting some favorites from the festival's past, stretching back to the days when it was located in Moscow every other year. For our third and final episode from the fest, Clint welcomed critics and FC Podcast veterans Robert Daniels (RogerEbert.com) and Guy Lodge (Variety) to discuss some of the highlights of the festival, beginning with two Bulgarian films: Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s dark comedy Black Money for White Nights , and Martina Buchelová’s debut feature Lover, Not a Fighter , the winner of the festival’s Proxima Competition Grand Prix award. Finally, Robert talks about Shuntaro Uchida’s drama Incinerator and Guy and Robert dig into Hijamat , written and directed by Nader Saeivar and edited by Jafar Panahi. Subscribe to Film Comment today to stay up-to-date with all of our festival coverage.
- 3 weeks ago38 min
Karlovy Vary 2026 #2, with Robert Daniels
This week, Film Comment Editor Clinton Krute is in the Czech Republic, reporting on the 60th Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Located in a picturesque spa town, the fest has long been the home of hidden gems in its Competition sections, as well as a mid-summer stop for major films making the international circuit. This year’s edition features many of both, as well as an excellent retrospective sidebar highlighting some favorites from the festival's past, stretching back to the days when it was located in Moscow every other year. For our second episode from the fest, Clint welcomed critic and FC Podcast veteran Robert Daniels (RogerEbert.com) to discuss some of the highlights of the festival so far, beginning with Alain Gomis's family epic Dao before turning to Joan Bofill Amargós's The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld , a documentary portrait of the legendary Hollywood film producer. Next, Clint shouts out Yashasvi Juyal's magical realist The Ink-Stained Hand and the Missing Thumb and Robert praises Miroslav Terzić's tense portrait of childhood bullying, 3 Weeks After .Subscribe to Film Comment today to stay up-to-date with all of our festival coverage.
- 3 weeks ago36 min
Karlovy Vary 2026 #1, with Pavel Sladký and Irena Kovarova
This week, Film Comment Editor Clinton Krute is in the Czech Republic, reporting on the 60th Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Located in a picturesque spa town, the fest has long been the home of hidden gems in its Competition sections, as well as a mid-summer stop for major films making the international circuit. This year’s edition features many of both, as well as an excellent retrospective sidebar highlighting some favorites from the festival's past, stretching back to the days when it was located in Moscow every other year. To kick off our coverage, Clint welcomed critic Pavel Sladký and programmer Irena Kovarova to discuss the festival’s history and present, and to hear about some highlights from this year’s selection. The group began by discussing two Czech highlights from the festival's retrospective section: Věra Chytilová's Tainted Horseplay from 1988, and Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos's The Defendant from 1964. Next, they dig into standouts among the new films, including Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov's Black Money for White Nights ; Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz's The Friend's House is Here ; Mads Mengel's The Guest ; and more.Subscribe today to Film Comment to stay up-to-date with all of our festival coverage.
- Jun 17, 202644 min
John Early on Maddie’s Secret
Listeners might know John Early as a very funny comedian and actor—but last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, John debuted a new role: an auteur. His first feature, Maddie’s Secret, takes cues from TV movies, PSAs, erotic thrillers, internet videos, Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls, and more to craft a movie that, despite all these influences and parodic touches, feels wonderfully original and earnest. Early plays the titular Maddie, a food influencer who struggles with bulimia, with sincere commitment, somehow walking the tightrope between campy, laugh-out-loud wit and a profound empathy. Maddie’s Secret opens in cinemas on June 19. Keep your ears open for Part 2 of this conversation, which will be dropping soon as an exclusive for Film Comment subscribers.
- Jun 2, 202648 min
Cannes 2026 #9: Breaking Borders at Cannes Docs
On May 15, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish moderated a panel at Cannes Docs, an industry sidebar dedicated to nonfiction filmmaking. Titled "Breaking Borders," the conversation examined how, even as the film market has become increasingly globalized, traditional professional networks and production infrastructure are still structured around exclusionary ideas about countries and continents. Devika gathered three panelists who lead groundbreaking networks that are nourishing connections across borders, changing not just the terrain of cinema but also of our notions of power, place, and belonging. The speakers included Jason Ryle, the Chief Executive Officer of the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund; Mark Mushiva, a creative technologist and Research Fellow with Forensic Architecture; and Lisa Smith, a founder of the Romani Filmmakers Network.Subscribe today to Film Comment to catch up with all of our Cannes 2026 coverage.Image courtesy of the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund.
- May 26, 20261h 5m
Cannes 2026 #8, with Justin Chang, Tim Grierson, and Jessica Kiang
Cannes 2026 wrapped this past weekend, but the Film Comment crew has not slowed down one bit as we continue to cut through the noise with dispatches, interviews, Podcasts, a special Cannes Critics’ Grid, and much more.For our final Podcast from the Croisette, FC Editor Devika Girish gathered three of our favorite critics—Justin Chang (The New Yorker), Tim Grierson (Screen International), and Jessica Kiang (Variety)—to unpack the festival's final days. The group discussed three late-premiering Competition titles: Valeska Grisebach's Jury Prize–winning The Dreamed Adventure , Léa Mysius's The Birthday Party , and Lukas Dhont's Coward —before turning to Ken Russell's newly restored The Devils (1971) , which screened in the Cannes Classics section.Subscribe today to Film Comment to stay up-to-date with all of our Cannes 2026 coverage.
- May 23, 202655 min
Cannes 2026 #7, with Thomas Flew and Neta Alexander
Cannes 2026 is nearing its close, but the Film Comment crew has not slowed down one bit as we continue to cut through the noise with dispatches, interviews, Podcasts, a special Cannes Critics’ Grid, and much more. This year’s edition has been packed with highly anticipated premieres from Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Valeska Grisebach, James Gray, Paweł Pawlikowski, and many more acclaimed filmmakers.For our seventh Podcast from the Croisette, FC Editor Devika Girish invited Sight and Sound’s Thomas Flew and scholar Neta Alexander to discuss a trio of late-festival Competition premieres: Andrey Zvyagintsev's Palme d'Or–contender Minotaur ; Ira Sachs's 1980s period drama The Man I Love ; and Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo's The Black Ball (La Bola Negra) , which received a rousing 20-minute ovation from the Cannes audience.Next, the group shout out highlights from other sections of the festival: Tom Fontenille's documentary A Secret Heart , which premiered in the ACID sidebar; Clio Barnard's youth-in-England fiction feature I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning , in the Directors' Fortnight program; and John Abraham's newly restored Report to Mother (1986) , from the Cannes Classics section.Subscribe today to Film Comment to stay up-to-date with all of our Cannes 2026 coverage.
About The Film Comment Podcast
Founded in 1962, Film Comment has been the home of independent film journalism for over 50 years, publishing in-depth interviews, critical analysis, and feature coverage of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. The Film Comment Podcast, hosted by editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute, is a weekly space for critical conversation about film, with a look at topical issues, new releases, and the big picture. Film Comment is a nonprofit publication that relies on the support of readers. Support film culture. Support Film Comment.
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