Pre Covid-19 we searched the internet everyday looking for the very best of What’s Happening, primarily on Manhattan’s WestSide, so that you didn’t have to.” We made it as easy as 1-2-3. Covid has required some changes.

NB. My blogging platform WordPress has made changes in how it functions that are mostly unintelligible. Did WordPress ever hear:”If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I will only be able to publish in a limited fashion until I can figure things out (hopefully.)

New Directors/New Films Turns 50 With a Bracingly Eclectic Lineup

“For the showcase’s milestone anniversary, organizers have put together an eclectic program paired with a selection of films from past decades.”

Here are the films that the NYT, New York Magazine, and others recommend:

New York Times

Pebbles

El Planeta

Dark Red Forest

Destello Bravío

Gull

Wood and Water

Friends and Strangers

Faya Dayi

Liborio

Azor

Eyimofe (This Is My Desire)

Rock Bottom Riser

We’re All Going To The World’s Fair

All Light, Everywhere

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The Short List (New York Magazine)
New Directors/New Films Festival 2021

The MoMA and Film at Lincoln Center’s showcase for emerging filmmakers returns with both virtual and in-person screenings. By Bilge Ebiri

Faya Dayi
Jessica Beshir’s mesmerizing doc takes an impressionistic look at Ethiopia’s culture of khat — a plant that’s harvested, sold, and chewed for its euphoric effects.

Luzzu
A Maltese fisherman struggling to make ends meet turns to the black market in Alex Camilleri’s moving social-realist drama, which used non­professional actors for a sense of authenticity.

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
A teenager steps into an online role-playing horror game that promises dangerous physical and spiritual transformation in Jane Schoenbrun’s trippy, experimental feature.

El Planeta
A young woman and her mother (played by director Amalia Ulman and her real-life mom), who live beyond their means in post-financial-crisis Spain, go through a variety of surreal scenarios in this very strange but genuinely charming comedy.

newdirectors.org, April 28 to May 8

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Indiewire.com

“All Light Everywhere” (dir. Theo Anthony)

“Apples” (dir. Christos Nikou)

“Dark Red Forest” (dir. Jin Huaqing)

“El Planeta” (dir. Amalia Ulman)

“Faya Dayi” (dir. Jessica Beshir)

“Luzzu” (dir. Alex Camilleri)

“Rock Bottom Riser” (dir. Fern Silva)

“Short Vacation” (dirs. Kwon Min-pyo & Seo Han-sol)

“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” (dir. Jane Schoenbrun)

“Wood and Water” (dir. Jonas Bak)