1. 2001: Space Odyssey (English, 1968) and The Color of Pomegranates (Armenian, 1969): Stanley Kubrick and Sergei Parajanov’s film as poetry. Space Odyssey on the big screen is an experience like no other.
  2. The Water Magician (Japanese, 1933): One of the best live performances I have experienced with the superb Ichirō Kataoka as the benshi (“motion picture narrators”) and Günter Buchwald on the piano and violin, oftentimes playing them simultaneously.
  3. The Rickshaw Man (Japanese, 1943): Restored version of a film that was censored by the Japanese during WII and the GHQ afterwards. Eric Nyari, who was at the screening and contributed to the restoration, also produced a few other favourites Black Box Diaries (Japanese, 2025) and Neo Sora’s Happyend (Japanese, 2024) and Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus (2023).
  4. Sentimental Value (Norwegian, English, 2025), Loveable (Norwegian, 2024) and Hard Truths (English, 2024): Finding an emotional home is challenging when you are abandoned and more so, when that person returns. Sentimental Value was a standout, although its portrait transposing the faces of the three characters—inspired by the dual portrait in Persona (Swedish, 1966)—was too much in the face.
  5. Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (Portuguese-Brazil, 1980): Physical abandonment in a brutal environment where children are exploited by some adults to commit crimes.
  6. Trenque Lauquen (Spanish-Argentina, 2022): Not all who are missing want to be found. Another gem from the Argentinian collective El Pampero Cine—this one directed by Laura Citarella—who make films at their own pace while crafting works influenced by Borges.
  7. The Librarians (English, 2025): In some parts of the world, being a librarian in 2025 is not safe. I was fortunate to watch in a cinema hall packed with librarians and the director of the documentary, Kim A. Snyder, which shows how stark the situation is in some counties in the USA.
  8. Los Angeles Plays Itself (English, 2003) and The Celluloid Closet (English, 1996): Los Angeles and Hollywood films, the way Hollywood did not show you.
  9. The Souvenir (English, 2019): Subtle depiction of a relationship: dependence, and gaslighting.
  10. Sweet Bean (Japanese, 2015): Beautiful and sad. Beautiful reminder about the value of excellent anko for many Japanese sweets. Sad reminder about the many people diagnosed with leprosy who were discriminated and locked up in Japan, a country that still lacks anti-discrimination laws.

Other films I liked watching this year:

  • Mädchen in Uniform (German, 1931)
  • The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (Japanese, 1952)
  • San Soleil (French, 1983)
  • Typhoon Club (Japanese, 1985)
  • Better Days (Mandarin, English, 2019)
  • Our Body (French, 2023)
  • Riefenstahl (German, English, 2024)
  • The Mastermind (English, 2025)
  • Heldin (German - Switzerland, 2025)
  • Frontline - Yokohama bay (Japanese, 2025)
  • In die Sonne schauen (German, 2025)

Films that I enjoyed watching again, having watched them once or more before:

  • Early Spring (Japanese, 1956)
  • Hiroshima mon amour (French, Japanese, English, 1959)
  • Persona (Swedish, 1966)
  • Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (Bengali, 1973)
  • Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours trilogy (French, Polish,1993-94)
  • Secrets & Lies (English, 1996)
  • In the Mood for Love (Mandarin, 2000)
  • Mulholland Drive (English, Spanish, 2001)
  • The Party (English, 2017)
  • Burning (Korean, 2018)
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire (French, 2019)
  • Drive My Car (Japanese, English, Korean, Korean Sign language, Mandarin, 2021)
  • The Worst Person in the World (Norwegian, 2021)