The pandemic has been a blessing in disguise, to a point. Many films continued to be available online at the start of the year, but as vaccines increased and panic subsided, theaters started to reopen, albeit not at lightning speed. 
So while I certainly did not rush back to the big screens, films began to disappear from the many online platforms at our disposal. By the Fall, most films were first playing in theaters while access to virtual screenings in other locations wholly vanished.I finally decided to bite the bullet and went to see Drive My Car on the big screen. It was really an exhilarating experience after almost 21 months. It was like going to watch a film for the very first time. The film itself made this even more memorable.
I missed watching quite a few films in any event while the number I saw was low compared to previous years. Catching up is thus the clarion call for this year. But seeing them on the big screen will be challenging. Regardless, I am delighted the big screen is right around the corner once again.
Below is my list sorted by the date seen -no ranking intended.
- Test pattern – Shatara Michelle Ford (2019, US)
- Red Soil – Farid Bentoumi (2020, France)
- Manor House – Cristi Puiu (2020, Romania)
- Sankara is not dead – Lucie Vivier (2019, France)
- Marighella – Walte Moura (2019, Brazil)
- Berlin Alexanderplatz – Burhan Qurbani (2020, Germany)
- State Funeral – Sergey Loznitsa (2019, Ukraine)
- Operation Curveball – Johannes Nader (2020, Germany)
- Games People Play – Jenni Toivoniemi (2020, Finland)
- Azor – Andreas Fontana (2021, Switzerland)
- Drive my car – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (2021, Japan)
- Only the animals – Dominik Moll (2019, France)
- Prayers for the Stolen – Tatiana Huezo (2021, Mexico)
Cheers, Raúl
