The Film Comment Podcast

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Karlovy Vary #3, with Robert Daniels and Guy Lodge Jul 11, 2026

Show notes

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 (04:24), and Martina Buchelová’s debut featureLover, Not a Fighter (13:28), the winner of the festival’s Proxima Competition Grand Prix award. Finally, Robert talks about Shuntaro Uchida’s drama Incinerator (20:49) and Guy and Robert dig into Hijamat (26:30), written and directed by Nader Saeivar and edited by Jafar Panahi.

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Karlovy Vary 2026 #2, with Robert Daniels Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

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 (3:09) before turning to Joan Bofill Amargós's The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld (16:50), 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 (25:42) and Robert praises Miroslav Terzić's tense portrait of childhood bullying, 3 Weeks After (31:40).

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Karlovy Vary 2026 #1, with Pavel Sladký and Irena Kovarova Jul 07, 2026

Show notes

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 (8:16) from 1988, and Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos's The Defendant (14:40) from 1964. Next, they dig into standouts among the new films, including Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov's Black Money for White Nights (17:50); Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz's The Friend's House is Here (22:00); Mads Mengel's The Guest (27:02); and more.

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John Early on Maddie’s Secret Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

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.

Cannes 2026 #9: Breaking Borders at Cannes Docs Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Image courtesy of the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund.

Cannes 2026 #8, with Justin Chang, Tim Grierson, and Jessica Kiang May 26, 2026

Show notes

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 (4:00), Léa Mysius's The Birthday Party (21:58), and Lukas Dhont's Coward (35:09)—before turning to Ken Russell's newly restored The Devils (1971) (50:15), which screened in the Cannes Classics section.

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Cannes 2026 #7, with Thomas Flew and Neta Alexander May 23, 2026

Show notes

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 (3:50); Ira Sachs's 1980s period drama The Man I Love (18:16); and Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo's The Black Ball (La Bola Negra) (32:48), 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 (41:52), which premiered in the ACID sidebar; Clio Barnard's youth-in-England fiction feature I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning (45:20), in the Directors' Fortnight program; and John Abraham's newly restored Report to Mother (1986) (47:35), from the Cannes Classics section.

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Cannes 2026 #6, with Isabel Stevens and Neta Alexander May 20, 2026

Show notes

Cannes 2026 is in full swing and the Film Comment crew is on the ground, cutting through the noise with dispatches, interviews, Podcasts, a special Cannes Critics’ Grid, and much more. This year’s edition is packed with highly anticipated premieres from Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Valeska Grisebach, James Gray, Paweł Pawlikowski, and many more acclaimed filmmakers.

For our sixth Podcast from the sun-dappled shores of the French Riviera, Sight and Sound's Isabel Stevens and scholar Neta Alexander join FC Editor Devika Girish to share their responses to two Competition titles that are sure to generate lots of chatter: Cristian Mungiu's legal thriller Fjord (3:15) and Pedro Almodóvar's self-reflexive drama Bitter Christmas (19:25). Next, they turn to two highlights from the festival's other sections: Austrian director Sandra Wollner's Everytime (26:00), which premiered as part of Un Certain Regard, and Chilean filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor's La perra (32:50), a selection in the Directors' Fortnight program.

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Cannes 2026 #5, with Jordan Cronk, Adam Piron, and Ruun Nuur May 19, 2026

Show notes

Cannes 2026 is in full swing, and the Film Comment crew is on the ground, ready to cut through the noise with dispatches, interviews, Podcasts, a special Cannes Critics’ Grid, and much more. This year’s edition is packed with highly anticipated premieres from Pedro Almodóvar, Valeska Grisebach, James Gray, Paweł Pawlikowski, and many more acclaimed filmmakers.

For our fifth Podcast from the Croisette, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish is joined by critics (and programmers) Jordan Cronk, Adam Piron, and Ruun Nuur to dive into some mid-festival highlights: James Grey's buzzy crime drama Paper Tiger (3:15); Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s family road movie 9 Temples to Heaven (11:08); a selection of documentaries including Gabin, The Match, and The Story of Documentary Film (22:00); and the out-of-body experience that is Arthur Harari's thriller The Unknown (34:15).

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Cannes 2026 #4, with Öykü Sofuoğlu and Inney Prakash May 18, 2026

Show notes

For our fourth Podcast from the Croisette, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish is joined by critic Öykü Sofuoğlu as well as FC Contributing Editor and Asia Society programmer Inney Prakash to debate their reactions to Clarissa (3:18), Arie and Chuko Esiri's Mrs Dalloway adaptation set in contemporary Lagos; Sheep in the Box (18:50), Hirokazu Kore-eda's parable about the dangers of AI; and Hope (33:09), Na Hong-jin's high-throttle monster movie.

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