Highlights of the 2025 Edmonton International Film Festival

For the first time since 2019, I had the opportunity to attend the Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF), where I watched 23 films in nine days, mostly in the company of one or more close friends. Based on the average of my ratings, it was the best film festival I have ever attended (I have attended about fifteen festivals this century at which I watched at least seven films). As a result, my highlight list will be a top-ten list, counting down (and at least half of these films will be on my list of top fifteen films of 2025, coming in late January).

Observations: 

Two films that would have been in my top six at EIFF were two of my three favourite films at TIFF (Sentimental Value & The President’s Cake), which I watched again. I have not included them here as my comments can be found in my previous post of TIFF highlights.

I watched seven Canadian films at EIFF and three of them made my top ten. My favourite of those was yet another excellent film made by a Canadian Indigenous woman (this time it’s Eva Thomas). 

If you include the two films mentioned above that I also watched at TIFF, only two of my top twelve films at EIFF were US films. These twelve films were made in nine different countries. The ‘international’ filmmaking community remains the place to find the best independent films.

Three of the ten films listed here were made by women.

I watched five documentaries at EIFF, two of which are on this list.

One filmmaker actually has two films on the list. Given that Richard Linklater is one of my all-time favourite filmmakers, this isn’t a great surprise. We start with him at number ten:

10. Nouvelle Vague - Linklater made this gorgeous black & white film in France (in French). It tells the story of how Jean-Luc Godard, one of the most influential filmmakers of the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague), made his first and most famous film, Breathless, in 1960. The style and cinematography often mirror Godard’s experimental work, immersing us both in the amazing environment of the French New Wave in 1960 Paris as well as in Godard’s creative genius. The actors are playing the actors and filmmakers of 1960 and they’re amazing. For students of the French New Wave like me, this film will be endlessly fascinating - a treasure. Others might find some scenes unnecessary. I think this is a brilliant film but, unfortunately for me, Godard is not among my favourite New Wave directors (despite admiring him) and I’m not a huge fan of Breathless. So only ***+. 

9. The Mastermind - Kelly Reichardt’s new film concerns a would-be art thief (a great performance by Josh O’Connor) and a heist that goes very wrong. Typical of Reichardt, the film is incredibly slow-moving and understated, with lingering shots that sometimes feel too long (even a little pretentious). But I was generally captivated throughout, appreciating the great acting, the realistic story, the accurate 1970 setting and atmosphere, the excellent cinematography and the unique jazz score. ***+.

8. Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie - Destined to become a cult classic (and it may win some big awards next year), this Canadian time-travel mockumentary from Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol (who also star and are generally terrific) is absolutely hilarious (perhaps the funniest film I’ve seen in years). Not all the gags land of course, and some of the silliness gets out of hand, but this is that rare comedy that really worked for me. It only lacked consistency. ***+.

7. Shamed - This excellent Canadian documentary from Matt Gallagher examines the impact of Creeper Hunter, an online vigilante in Canada who exposed potential pedophiles by pretending to be an underage girl. Some of those who were exposed took their own lives because of the shame, despite never having committed a crime. Gallagher was able to interview the vigilante himself, making for a fascinating (if hard to watch) doc. A few more clarifying details would make this a four-star effort. ***+ - ****.

6. Antidote - A well-structured and stylistic documentary from James Jones that highlights the work of three investigative journalists who have exposed the nefarious deeds of Vladimir Putin and whose lives are therefore in constant danger. Primary among these journalists is Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist who uncovered Putin’s involvement in the poisoning deaths of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Tense, captivating, scary and inspiring. Great stuff. ***+ - ****.

5. Nika & Madison - This Canadian Indigenous adventure drama (mistakenly called a crime thriller) is another terrific film from a Canadian Indigenous woman filmmaker (this time from Eva Thomas, who made Aberdeen, a film I enjoyed at Cinéfest a couple of years ago). Two young women (well-played by Ellyn Jade and Star Slade) are forced to go on the run from the Ontario police when one of them is sexually assaulted by a police officer and the other comes to the rescue. While there are some glitches in the writing and acting along the way, the overall story, the dialogue, the cinematography and the score are all very good. ***+ - ****.

4. Blue Moon - Richard Linklater’s second film on the list gives Ethan Hawke the chance to turn in an Oscar-worthy performance as Lorenz Hart, who was Richard Rodgers’s lyricist before Oscar Hammerstein II. A great supporting cast includes Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott (as Rodgers). Most of the film takes place in real time in a Manhattan bar on March 31, 1943, the opening night of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!. The nonstop dialogue is brilliant, the atmosphere is perfect and I was captivated for every single second of this film. The only flaw for me is that the actors tried a little too hard to be the real-life characters they were portraying. Another masterpiece from Linklater.  ****.

3. Sound of Falling - Mascha Schilinski’s mesmerizing German drama concerns four generations of women living in the same house in the north of former East Germany. The non-linear plot is confusing at times and a few scenes defy explanation (for me, at least), but the ensemble cast feels amazingly authentic, the cinematography is unique and beautiful, and the stories are profound and often moving, making me feel like I was watching a Scandinavian classic from the sixties. ****.

2. It Was Just an Accident - Jafar Panahi’s latest film deservedly won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. It’s another Iranian film that had to be filmed in secret, but this one is much lighter than most Iranian films of late, despite the central theme of torture. Indeed, while I would call this an anti-authoritarian political thriller, I would also call it a dark comedy, even though I can find no online mention of such a genre label for this film. The ensemble cast is excellent, as is the writing (the dialogue is endlessly thought-provoking) and direction. ****

1. Kiss of the Spider Woman - Most of the films on this list are critically-acclaimed, but my favourite film at EIFF received mixed reviews and has not been appreciated by the masses. This difference in opinions is partly explained by my love of musicals (not a love that most film critics seem to share) but also by my recent discovery that I tend to watch films with the right hemisphere of my brain, which means that the technical attributes of a film are less important to me than how the film engages my soul (or ‘nourishes my soul’, if you will). 

Kiss of the Spider Woman is based on the 1992 stage musical which was based on a 1976 novel by Manuel Puig and the 1985 film version which earned William Hurt an Academy Award. I bought a CD of the musical thirty years ago and have listened to it many times, so I was more familiar with this story than most filmgoers. We’re in Argentina in the early 1980s, during a military dictatorship. Diego Luna plays Valentin, a revolutionary leader who has been arrested and shares a cell with Molina (played by Tonatiuh Elizarraraz), a gay window dresser (arrested for being gay) who will be set free if he can get Valentin to divulge the names of his fellow revolutionaries. 

For me, this film is pure movie magic (a term I probably use to describe that right-side impact I mentioned). I loved every minute of it, from the brilliant musical numbers to the intense life-transforming conversations in the jail cell. Tonatiuh is a revelation - his singing is the best in the film and his acting felt entirely convincing. Luna was also perfect. And I forgot to mention that Jennifer Lopez has a major role, playing three characters (including the Spider Woman) in a role that was made for her. Bill Condon directed this masterpiece, which deserves to be seen on the big screen (I’m so glad I had a chance to do so in Edmonton, as I fear no such opportunity will be available in my corner of New Brunswick). 

Now that I’ve completed this post, I finally had the chance to read Gareth Higgins’s review of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Here is an excerpt: “This film is courageous enough to show that perhaps the truest relationship between sexuality and physical intimacy is one in which love is simply a matter of seeing the heart of the person in front of you. The profound subtlety of this film is revealed in how, in the end, everyone - even the Spider Woman - is sacrificing for everyone else. It’s a mutual evolution-revolution, in which the way we show up in our bodies, the way we show up in our analyses of the world, the way we decorate our mundane spaces, the way we look at each other, the way we vote, the kind of world we seek, and the stories we tell are indivisible from each other. An eight by ten feet room can be a universe; and it really is true that our tales can imprison us, or set us free.”