Ritesh Mehta
@mehta_critic
Film/TV Script Consultant, Fest Curator, Critic | Words @indiewire @FilmmakerMag | Past: Co-Director of Programming @IFFLA; AFIFest; Sundance; Fox; Disney | PhD
bumping -- a film worthy of (and in need of) your support
TO A LAND UNKNOWN opens in limited release this weekend; TO A LAND UNKNOWN is phenomenal. would really urge you to see this devastating, furious, essential thriller about two palestinian cousins trying to survive in greece. my review, @vulture: vulture.com/article/review…
Every word of this, from @tnyfrontrow: newyorker.com/culture/the-le…
Congrats Seemab Gul (and cinematographer Zamarin Wahdat), both IFFLA alum whose shorts "Sandstorm [Mulaqat]" and "Bambirak" we programmed in the fest's 2022 and 2023 editions respectively! Excited to check out your feature debut!
#TIFF50 World Premiere: 🎒 GHOST SCHOOL dir. Seemab Gul
SoHo-ness & the new desi elite "While these spaces mark significant shifts, w their progressive membership policies & patronage of the arts... they are very much still sanctums of modern luxury... w admission given out by invite only or through referrals" bbc.com/news/articles/…
Projects Produced by Alia Bhatt, Payal Kapadia & Kani Kusruti In Busan’s APM 2025 Line-up deadline.com/2025/07/alia-b…
Insightful piece & important pushback on ADOLESCENCE by @annavetticad: "[T]he [show's] writing avoids addressing the inconvenient truth that enraged girls and women don't mimic the violence of enraged boys and men, though girls too face social media pressure... and alienation."
#Adolescence is #Netflix's most-watched series of 2025 so far, as per the OTT's bi-annual report out this week. I write in TOI about the beautiful acting, poignant music, technical brilliance and polished obfuscation the show employs to camouflage its sympathy for male violence.
Yes I did like EDDINGTON back at Cannes, might like it even more were I to revisit as long as I don't mind being hammered by 2020-21 zeitgeist tropes. A waywardness about its barrens & shook beliefs that feels a fresh mix of americana & western. Some really well mounted shots!
Ten pretty good films at Cannes, & there were others that l liked a lot too. Among these, I have to definitely revisit SENTIMENTAL VALUE. The one film I know I love--& to which I had a strong visceral reaction that heightened and stayed for 15 mins after the screening--is SIRAT
acchhe din "Critic’s Notebook: The Awful Optics of CBS Canceling ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’" by Daniel Feinberg hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/…
"There are more than 200 million Dalits in India. That’s more than half of America. It’s about time that people know around the world." 👏🏽 Neeraj @ghaywan's HOMEBOUND heads to #TIFF in this Sep! Re-sharing my interview w him & @somenmishra0 at Cannes indiewire.com/features/inter…
Pleasure to have spoken to @ghaywan & @somenmishra for their moving drama HOMEBOUND, which premiered at #Cannes yesterday! We covered a fair amount of ground! Congrats to the entire team! 👏🏾👏🏾 indiewire.com/features/inter… @IndieWire @DharmaMovies #martinscorsese #Cannes2025
My Karlovy Vary 2025 report. Discussed: four strong new first features, John Garfield, career (un)sustainability, a French filmmaker who will absolutely be in Cannes comp in the next ten years, Cyril Connolly. filmmakermagazine.com/131325-karlovy…
Saw YES in Karlovy Vary, high up in the regal Municipal Theater. My knees were made immovable in the narrow rows, & I was always worried departing audiences would fall off the parapet, but fully agree w @davidehrlich's perceptive writing abt Lapid's bonkers, breathless feature!
Yes: Nadav Lapid’s splenetically furious satire of Israeli denialism starts as a Sorrentino-like bacchanalia before downshifting to the Gaza border. So good & unsparing it will probably have to self-release at Film Forum next year. My #Cannes2025 review: indiewire.com/criticism/movi…
Deeply saddened to learn that poet Andrea Gibson, subject of the soul-enriching Sundance award winner COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT, has passed away. Sending Megan Falley & all their loved ones my deepest condolences.♥️ I can’t wait for you all to see Ryan White’s gorgeous doc.
What a BEAUTIFULLY detailed and thoughtful interview! Thank you for digging deeper than the generic “why did you choose this?” questions. You allowed Mahdi to let us in to his mind and process. 🙌🏼
Caught up w five strong to v strong films at #KarlovyVary which I had missed at Cannes! - IF I HAD LEGS, I’D KICK YOU 👼 - YES! 🤯 - MY FATHER’S SHADOW 🇳🇬 - MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO 🦩 - TWO PROSECUTORS 🗄️ Caught two others, one which I wrote abt indiewire.com/features/inter…
Lovely speaking w Palestinian American writer-director-actor @CherienDabis after the moving European premiere of her third, most ambitious feature, ALL THAT'S LEFT OF YOU, at @KVIFF! She's so eloquent & sharp! @TheMatchFactory @indiewire #KarlovyVary 🇵🇸 indiewire.com/features/inter…
I spoke to Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel about his sharp & affecting feature debut, TO A LAND UNKNOWN, which is out in limited theaters in the US tomorrow July 11, distributed by @watermelon_pics. Here's the interview at @FilmmakerMag filmmakermagazine.com/131280-intervi…
ICYMI, while there's still some #pride left in June, my conversation w @BruceLaBruce about his iconic career indiewire.com/features/inter…
I loved speaking w @BruceLaBruce one of queer cinema's great provocateur filmmakers. Enjoyed researching the fascinating interviews & scholarly pieces abt his wildly diverse body of work since the 80s & the punk #queercore movement 🏳️🌈 @indiewire #art #porn indiewire.com/features/inter…
What an incredible feeling to see restored Sholay with the original ending on the big screen at Piazza Maggiore in Bologna with so many people under the stars as they stayed awake till 1am for me it was my childhood memory come alive 50 years later Sholay is back…@FHF_Official
I loved speaking w @BruceLaBruce one of queer cinema's great provocateur filmmakers. Enjoyed researching the fascinating interviews & scholarly pieces abt his wildly diverse body of work since the 80s & the punk #queercore movement 🏳️🌈 @indiewire #art #porn indiewire.com/features/inter…
