Eric Lavallée

Ears perked up when reviews coming in from Locarno described Ruslan Pak's debut film as a Uzbekistan set, slighted deviated version of The Wire. Reviews suggest that this could be one of the better portraits about identity -- apart from the film's protag, here displaced fourth generation Soviet Koreans are unaware of one's moral and cultural lineage.

Opening Venice's Orizzonti section before shipping out to Toronto, this marks a noteworthy new direction for one of the most important figures in New Iranian cinema of the 70's and 80's. After working as an American filmmaker for a pair of decade, Amir Naderi has gone all "The Five Obstructions" on his career by ordering his latest work to be all things Japanese. With collaborations from Shinji Aoyama (2000's Eureka) who helped co-write the film and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (2003's Bright Future) who served as special consultant, this should be a standout item in Naderi's filmography.

Officially appearing on my radar twice in the same week (when it was being considered the top contender at Olivier Père's Locarno and when took home not only the Golden Leopard but doubled up with a Best Actress award to boot. Mumenthaler's originally titled 'Absences' (workshopped at Cannes' Cinéfondation) is already drawing comparisons with fellow Argentinean Lucrecia Martel...

Lanthimos' Un Certain Regard winning Dogtooth has charted a course towards the stars (I vividly remember the viewing experience back in Cannes) and there are bandwagon filled with cinephiles who are very much looking forward to seconds. Primed for a big showing in Venice, Alps is the Greek helmers' third film and is closer in DNA to his first 2005's Kinetta.

Written by Slumdog Millionaire's Simon Beaufoy and helmed by the director who did The Cider House Rules and Chocolat, we presume that this is a premium title with Oscar potential with an already built in demographic via the popularity of the novel.