March Around the World – 2025 Film Challenge
Featured Country: Italy

Roberto Rossellini’s Fear (La Paura) is a psychological drama that delves into guilt, paranoia, and emotional manipulation within a crumbling marriage. The film follows Irene Wagner (Ingrid Bergman), a woman trapped in an affair, whose life spirals into anxiety and fear when she is blackmailed. As she struggles with deception, moral conflict, and psychological torment, her husband, Albert, emerges as a complex figure whose actions ultimately reveal a sinister…

March Around the World – 2025 Film Challenge
Featured Country: Lithuania

Directed by Marija Kavtaradze, Slow is a Lithuanian romantic drama that delves into the nuances of intimacy and connection. The narrative centers on Elena, a ionate contemporary dancer, and Dovydas, a sign language interpreter. Their paths cross when Dovydas assists Elena in teaching a dance class for Deaf teenagers. An immediate bond forms between them, leading to a deepening relationship. However, complexities arise when Dovydas reveals his asexuality, prompting…

I found Asghar Farhadi’s The Past to be just as riveting and engaging as his last outing, A Separation. Just like his previous film, Farhadi throws his viewers into the middle of a tumultuous domestic situation and leaves them to figure out where their loyalties (if any) lie.

The story line is all about motives. Farhardi constructs his stories like the layers of an onion. At first, I thought the storyline was pretty straightforward based on the surface. An Iranian…