Cinema Without Borders jury announced the winners of the Bridging The Borders Award for 2026 Lucas International Film Festival for Young Film Lovers in Germany.  ILUMINADA (Belgium) By Nicolás Rincón Gille wins 2026 Bridging The Borders Award . Bridging the Borders Award is offered by Cinema Without Borders Foundation and sponsored by The Lonely Seal Company Group  Hamed Soleimanzadeh, one of our jury members announced the winner of the Bridging The Borders Award at the closing ceremony of the festival.

SILENCED NIGHTS directed by Lawrence Fajardo is Set in a slum in Manila’s infamous Tondo district, SILENCED NIGHTS follows an ordinary laborer whose life is transformed when he becomes the lone witness to the extrajudicial killing of a teenage boy by police officers.  As fear spreads through his community and silence becomes a means of survival, the laborer is forced to confront the devastating personal cost of choosing between self-preservation and justice.

Eighty years have passed since the end of the Second World War, and cinema has returned again and again to Nazism, occupation, concentration camps, mass killing, displacement, and the greatest catastrophes of that era. Yet one of the most important qualities of Woman Unknown, for me, is that May el-Toukhy, eighty years later, still finds an angle from which to look at the postwar period that does not simply repeat established narratives, but returns to a less-seen part of history: a history that remained not on the battlefield, but in the body, the home, class, memory, silence, and the everyday relationships of ordinary people.

“The greatest riches a man can have in his life – la familia.” – José Sánchez Gregory Nava’s Mi Familia/My Family is a golden tribute to the complex, loving, tragic, angry, thoughtless, joyful, forgiving tangle of relationships found in practically any family. But in this 1995 feature film the focus is on the Sánchez family – José and María and their children, Paco, Irene, Chucho, Toni, Memo, and Jimmy – and their lives in La Villa de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles, otherwise known as L.A.

I am astonished and fascinated by Asghar Farhadi’s new film, Parallel Tales. It is something genuinely fresh and strikingly different from this great filmmaker, who in his latest work gradually draws the viewer into the trap of an unfamiliar story. At first, it is not clear where you are being led, and you may begin to wonder what could possibly happen in this interwoven world, where the characters and spaces seem to have little or nothing to do with one another.

On the Occasion of Iran’s National Cinema Day Iran’s National Cinema Day offers us an opportunity to look again at the long road Iranian cinema has traveled—a road filled with rises and falls, brilliant periods and difficult years, failures and achievements, hopes and disappointments. Yet when we look back at this history, one essential part of it has sometimes received less attention than it deserves: the presence of women actors and the role they have played in shaping the identity of Iranian cinema.

Paolo Strippoli’s L’estranea (The Spiral), presented in competition at the Venice Film Festival, begins with the face of a working woman’s young son, setting into motion the spiral that will define the film. It is the face of a child absorbing the pain of his mother’s humiliation. In the middle of a party, Anna shouts at the woman who works for her, but rather than remaining on Anna, the camera follows the child’s reaction.

There is something wonderfully appropriate about sending the Minions back to the silent era of Hollywood. These characters have always depended far more on movement, expression, timing and physical comedy than on anything they actually say, so placing them among the visual comedians of early cinema feels less like a gimmick and more like discovering where they should have been all along.

Working in animation changes the way you look at children’s entertainment because you begin to notice things that most viewers are not supposed to think about consciously, from the shape of a character’s eyes and the softness of a silhouette to the color palette, the rhythm of a voice and the way a smile is designed to make a child feel safe before a single word has been spoken.

After four films, several of which ended with such emotional finality that audiences had already said goodbye more than once, returning to Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the gang inevitably carries the suspicion that nostalgia has become too valuable for Hollywood to leave alone. Pixar has built one of the most beloved series in animation history, but affection can become a trap.

Four years after directing his vitriolic, self-reflexive film Ahed’s Knee, Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid turned to satire with Yes in 2025. The earlier film focused on Y, a controversial director (much like Lapid) invited to present one of his films in a small village in southern Israel. When confronted with a list of approved discussion topics which he is required to sign, he realizes that the national Ministry of Culture has begun a campaign to limit free expression.

Hammad Zaidi, a Pakistani-American filmmaker, has built a career that moves easily  between filmmaking, distribution, festivals, streaming, education, technology, and  sports. He founded The Lonely Seal Company Group, which includes Lonely Seal  Releasing, The Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay, and Music Festival, The  Lonely Seal Impact Fund, Lonely Seal Streaming, Film Bite, and The Story Oasis Fund.  Hammad also joined the Board of Directors of Cinema Without Borders and is an  Advisory Council Member of MELM - The Masters in Entertainment Leadership and  Management at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).  

A tiny stage, barely two by three meters. Two amateur actors lounging on comfortable armchairs with a small round table between them, performing before a few dozen spectators seated at café tables, sipping different kinds of coffee with brownies or cheesecake. And just like that, you have a theatrical event. It is theater created with minimal expense, without having to wrestle with the lengthy process of obtaining permits from the Ministry of Culture or renting a formal performance venue.

Fatal Distraction has reached the No. 1 spot among documentaries on Amazon, bringing renewed attention to one of the most controversial criminal cases in recent American history. The documentary examines the widely publicized Georgia murder trial of Justin Ross Harris, who was convicted in connection with the 2014 hot-car death of his 22-month-old son. Harris was originally found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

At the 32nd Sarajevo International Film Festival, acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, one of the festival's highest distinctions. The award recognizes Farhadi's outstanding contribution to world cinema and the profound humanism reflected throughout his body of work. He will accept the award in person in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the festival will also present a retrospective of his films as part of its…

Walking through the exhibition halls of SIGGRAPH 2026 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, one quickly realizes that the computer graphics industry has entered a new era. Artificial intelligence is no longer presented as a futuristic promise—it has become an integral part of virtually every creative workflow, from concept design and animation to visual effects, simulation, scientific visualization, and filmmaking. This year's conference brings together researchers, artists, engineers, and technology companies from around the world to explore the next generation of digital storytelling and interactive experiences.

What follows is my conversation with Sohrab Khosravi, an editor whose professional journey began in animation before he became one of the key figures in Iran's transition from film-based editing to the digital era. Over the years, he has collaborated with filmmakers such as Ebrahim Hatamikia, Majid Majidi, Kamal Tabrizi, and many others, building a body of experience that has become part of the living memory of contemporary Iranian cinema.

The winners of the Short Film and Short Script Competitions at the 3rd Koker International Short Film Festival have been revealed. The festival’s top honor, the Golden Cherry Award, was presented to the Chinese film No One Knows I Disappeared. The 3rd Koker International Short Film Festival concluded with its awards ceremony. Formerly known as the Abbas Kiarostami Short Film Festival, the event took place from July 1 to 3, 2026, at Klick Kino in Berlin, Germany.

The Palm Springs International ShortFest is the largest short film festival in North America. Its 32nd edition ran June 23–29, 2026, at the Festival Theaters in Palm Springs, with support from the City of Palm Springs. The festival showed 329 short films from 71 countries across 50 themed programs, including 52 world premieres and 79 California premieres. More than 7,000 films were submitted from 145 countries.

Cinema Without Borders has announced its jury members to decide on the winner of 2026  Bridging The Borders Award at the LUCAS International Festival for Young Film Lover in Germany. LUCAS programmers have also announced the nominees for the Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging The Borders Award A jury of five, formed by CWB will decide on the winning films at the closing night of the festival.

Every major technological breakthrough in the history of cinema has been greeted with fear. When synchronized sound arrived in the late 1920s, many filmmakers believed it would destroy the visual poetry of silent cinema. Some of the greatest silent film stars saw their careers disappear almost overnight, and critics warned that movies would become little more than photographed theater. When color became widespread, there were filmmakers who insisted that black-and-white cinematography represented the true artistic language of cinema. 

There are very few annual events that I regret missing as much as SIGGRAPH. For those of us who have spent our lives writing about cinema, following technological innovation has become almost as important as following the films themselves. Every major transformation in filmmaking—from sound to color, from digital cinematography to computer-generated imagery—began with artists and scientists who dared to imagine a different future.

For more than half a century, SIGGRAPH has been the annual gathering where the future of visual storytelling is unveiled. While many filmmakers still think of it primarily as a conference for computer graphics engineers or software developers, that perception is decades out of date. Today, SIGGRAPH has become one of the most important creative events in the world for directors, producers, cinematographers, animation artists, visual effects supervisors, production designers, game developers, virtual production specialists, and anyone interested in the future of cinema.

Reha Erdem’s quietly beautiful film examines the lives of children in a small Turkish village poised on a mountainside near the sea. Nature is all around them with winds rising and falling, the sun and moon rising and setting, sudden rains, bright sunny days, crisp nights, and the sounds of sheep, goats, donkeys, dogs, and chickens. To the romantic outsider the village might seem idyllic with its timeless lifestyles, homegrown vegetables, fresh baked bread, warm cups of tea, sturdy stone houses with whitewashed walls, rock strewn pathways passing walls of stacked rocks, and an abundance of green trees, plants, and occasional flowers, all with a stunning view of the sea from hilltops.

Ever since Disney began revisiting its animated classics through live-action adaptations, audiences have approached each new release with a mixture of excitement and skepticism. Some films have successfully reimagined beloved stories, while others have struggled to justify why they needed to exist beyond nostalgia. Few projects, however, have faced expectations as high as Moana. The original 2016 animated feature remains one of Walt Disney Animation Studios' greatest modern achievements.

Few filmmakers embrace uncertainty as willingly as Iranian-born director Ramin Niami. His latest feature, Fade Away, was not born from years of development or elaborate financing. Instead, it emerged from a trip to Italy, a handful of trusted actors, an iPhone, and a willingness to trust instinct over convention. Set against the haunting beauty of the Umbrian town of Narni, …

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy is a series that exposes the hidden darkness within a seemingly ordinary human being—the story of a man with two faces. One line of dialogue in the final episode alone offers a revealing clue to the making of a monster: "Why do fathers think beating their children is the way to discipline them?" This single question opens a path toward understanding how an individual can gradually transform into something monstrous.

Hall 4 is one of the independent, under-the-radar, yet thought-provoking works by young filmmaker Hossein Torkjoush. Screened at the Fajr Film Festival, the film received a positive response from critics. Rather than relying on an event-driven narrative, it focuses on atmosphere, psychological suspense, and the audience's gradual confrontation with an enclosed and increasingly tense situation. According to the director himself, …

Diabolical: The Epstein Files is the latest documentary to examine one of the most controversial criminal cases of modern times. Released in February 2026, the 90-minute film revisits a case that has remained at the center of media attention, public debate, and political and social analysis for years. For many people, Jeffrey Epstein is not merely the name of an American financier; he has become synonymous with a complex web of power, wealth, influence, scandal, and unanswered questions.

Taylor Sheridan can rightly be regarded as a genius of the Western and neo-Western television genre. With the critically acclaimed five-season series Yellowstone, he demonstrated that, amid Hollywood's endless stream of spy thrillers, romantic dramas, crime stories, and mysteries, the Western still has a great deal to say. The overwhelming success of Yellowstone led Sheridan to expand its universe with two equally ambitious spin-offs, …

Father, directed by Tereza Nvotová, is a devastating and deeply unsettling film. Because of the extraordinary skill with which it delivers its emotional shock, watching it is anything but easy. It is one of the bleakest yet most profoundly honest European dramas of recent years—a film that does not invite its audience to judge but instead leaves them trapped in a moral and human dilemma for which there are no simple answers.

Fashion, Fame, and the Cost of Identity: How Alice Winocour's Couture Falls Short of the Great Fashion Films Alice Winocour's Couture (2025), starring Angelina Jolie, sets out to combine intimate personal drama with the seductive world of haute couture. It is an ambitious premise that ultimately fails to fulfill its considerable potential. Rather than offering a compelling exploration of fashion as a cultural force or a penetrating character study, the film remains caught between the two, never fully committing to either.

Hamed Soleimanzadeh, an active and influential film critic, filmmaker, and university lecturer in Germany and Italy, holds a postdoctoral degree in Film and Philosophy from the Berlin University of the Arts. To date, Soleimanzadeh has served as a juror at more than fifty prestigious international film festivals, including the Golden Globes, Cannes, the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Alfred Hitchcock never traveled to Iran. There is no photograph of him walking the streets of Tehran, no account of his presence in Shiraz or Isfahan, nor even any evidence that he devoted part of his life to the direct study of Persian literature. He was an Englishman, born in London at the close of the nineteenth century, raised in a Catholic environment, and later became one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of Hollywood.

When we hear the name Thea Sharrock, the acclaimed fifty-year-old British director, our minds naturally drift toward the nuances and craftsmanship of British theatre. Sharrock is a filmmaker with a distinctive style who has demonstrated her remarkable ability to guide actors and create compelling human characters in works such as Me Before You and the acclaimed drama Wicked Little Letters…

The Venice International Film Festival, one of the oldest cinematic events in the world, has announced the Competition Jury for its 83rd edition, which will take place in Venice from September 2 to September 12, 2026. This year, Maggie Gyllenhaal—the American director, actress, screenwriter, and producer—will serve as President of the Jury. The other jury members are: …

Animation has always excelled at transforming inner conflicts into visual spectacle. Fear becomes a monster. Self-doubt takes physical form. The struggle to belong becomes an epic quest. In KPop Demon Hunters, those ideas are fused with the electrifying energy of K-pop to create one of the most entertaining and emotionally sincere animated experiences in recent years. The premise is delightfully bold.

There are films that rely on dialogue to explain themselves, and there are films that trust images, movement, and emotion to communicate something universal. Flow belongs to the latter category. Quiet yet powerful, simple in its premise yet profound in its emotional impact, Flow is one of those rare animated features that reminds us how much can be said without a single spoken word.

here are animated films that entertain, animated films that impress, and then there are those rare works that seem to emerge from somewhere deeper—places where memory, regret, imagination, and hope coexist. The Boy and the Heron belongs firmly in that last category. Watching the latest feature from Hayao Miyazaki, I was reminded of why animation remains one of cinema's most profound artistic languages.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio arrived at a time when audiences had grown accustomed to polished, fast-paced animated spectacles. Yet, from its opening moments, the film announces that it intends to move differently. It asks viewers not merely to watch a familiar fairy tale unfold, but to reconsider why stories endure in the first place. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 95th Academy Awards, the film represented a significant moment for stop-motion animation and for artists who continue to champion the medium's tactile beauty.

There are animated films that entertain, films that impress through technical achievement, and films that quietly enter our emotional lives because they recognize something universal about family. Encanto belongs to the latter category. Watching it for the first time, I was struck not by its vibrant colors or infectious music—though both are extraordinary—but by the gentleness with which it addresses the burdens families pass from one generation to the next.

As someone who has spent decades around animation—watching it evolve from hand-drawn traditions to the astonishing technical sophistication of contemporary filmmaking—I approached Toy Story 4 with equal parts excitement and skepticism. The previous installment had offered what many believed to be a perfect conclusion to Woody and Buzz's journey. The question lingered: did this story really need another chapter? To my surprise, …

There are years when Annecy dazzles with technical innovation, years when a new visual style captures everyone's attention, and years when a particular studio dominates the conversation. Annecy 2025 was different. More than anything else, it was a festival about empathy. Walking through the narrow streets surrounding Lake Annecy, one could sense that animation artists from around the world were grappling with similar questions.

Every year, Annecy offers a glimpse into the future of animation. Yet the 2024 edition of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival felt less concerned with predicting what comes next technologically and more invested in asking an older, more difficult question: how do we remain human in increasingly uncertain times? Perhaps that is why so many of this year's films lingered in the mind long after the lights came up.

Every year, Annecy reminds me why I fell in love with animation in the first place. After decades of working in the industry, attending festivals around the world, and watching the business side of filmmaking evolve through technological revolutions and corporate transformations, I often arrive in Annecy carrying equal measures of excitement and skepticism. The animation landscape has become increasingly driven by algorithms, franchise expectations, and market predictions.

Returning to Annecy in 2022 felt like witnessing the animation community rediscover its heartbeat. The festival had regained its energy, its crowded theaters, its spontaneous conversations by the lake, and its sense of celebration. Yet beneath the excitement, there remained an awareness that the world had changed. The films that resonated most strongly throughout the week reflected that reality. They were playful but thoughtful, nostalgic yet politically aware, intimate while speaking to universal experiences.

Returning to Annecy in 2021 felt profoundly different from previous years. The world was slowly emerging from a period of isolation, uncertainty, and collective grief, and the films showcased at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival reflected these experiences with remarkable honesty. Rather than offering simple escapism, many of the year's most memorable animated works embraced vulnerability, inviting audiences to confront questions of identity, displacement, aging, and the emotional scars left behind by history.

Having spent decades working alongside storytellers, artists, and animators—first through my years of involvement with animation journalism and later within the world of feature animation production—I have come to appreciate children's stories that understand an important truth: emotional growth does not happen through lectures. It happens through empathy, imagination, and discovery. The Pout-Pout Fish is one of those deceptively simple stories.

There are films we watch simply to be entertained—films that occupy us for two hours and gradually fade from memory once the credits roll. Then there are films that remain with us for years, not because of their narrative complexity or visual grandeur, but because they awaken a question within us that we had long forgotten to ask. Pixar's Soul was such an experience for me.

For six decades, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival has been the beating heart of the global animation community. Every June, artists, producers, students and critics from around the world gather in the picturesque French town of Annecy to celebrate the boundless possibilities of animated storytelling. In 2020, however, the festival faced its greatest challenge. As the COVID-19 pandemic brought international travel to a standstill and forced the cancellation of major cultural events worldwide, Annecy's organizers made a bold decision.