Films of the year 2020: Wendy Ide

By Wendy Ide

Top ten

1. Nomadland
Dir. Chloé Zhao
Zhao’s remarkable cross-country odyssey doesn’t just see the rootless wanderers who find themselves relegated to America’s new periphery — it hears them too. One of the most arresting qualities of Frances McDormand’s remarkable and generous central performance as Fern is that while crafting a character of rare complexity and depth, she also acts as the conduit through which we learn about everyone she encounters. It is a picture that takes a lyrical approach rather than a polemical one — Zhao’s use of glowing magic-hour light brings at times an almost romantic quality. But for all its pensive poetry, this is a damning indictment of the gig economy and of a society without a safety net. Contact: Searchlight Pictures

2. The Assistant
Dir. Kitty Green
The buttoned-up economy of Green’s laser-focused portrait of workplace toxicity gives this film its insidious power — that, and a remarkable central performance from Julia Garner as the lowly assistant to a Weinstein-like mogul. The boss is never seen, but Green uses his absence brilliantly. He is like a black hole of malice that consumes everything. Contact: Protagonist Pictures

3. Kala Azar
Dir. Janis Rafa
A film named after a pandemic is a tough sell this year, even when the disease is one that affects dogs rather than humans. But visual artist Rafa’s directorial debut, about a couple who collect deceased animals for a pet cremation service, is remarkable — a visceral and original piece of work that feels almost feral in its approach to storytelling. Contact: Heretic Outreach

4. Limbo
Dir. Ben Sharrock
Asylum seekers waiting for decisions pending on their applications are lodged on a small Scottish island in Sharrock’s superb second feature. This is a tonal triumph, a film that juggles heartbreaking pathos with absurdist humour. At the heart of the story is a friendship between Omar, a promising musician from Syria, and Farhad, an Afghan who is a fan of Freddie Mercury and chickens. Contact: Protagonist Pictures

5. Wolfwalkers
Dirs. Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
The third film in the Irish trilogy from Moore and Cartoon Saloon, Wolfwalkers is a thing of beauty. It weaves together Celtic graphic influences with 20th-century modernism, capturing a spirit of disruption and rebellion that is both ancient and bracingly timely. The use of music is a soul-soaring delight and the voicework (Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker and Sean Bean among others) crackles with personality. Contact: Apple TV+

6. Apples
Dir. Christos Nikou

7. Mangrove
Dir. Steve McQueen 

8. Sweat
Dir. Magnus von Horn 

9. Soul
Dirs. Pete Docter, Kemp Powers 

10. The Cloud In Her Room
Dir. Zheng Lu Xinyuan

Best documentaries

The Truffle Hunters
Dirs. Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
This idiosyncratic fly-on-the-wall portrait of the elderly men and their dogs who seek northern Italy’s precious fungi is a balm of a film. Like Honeyland before it, The Truffle Hunters takes time to fully draw its characters, embracing a rhythm and a rooted connection to the natural world, which feels both archaic and utterly beguiling. Contact: Sony Pictures Classics

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
Dirs. Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
This riotous, unexpectedly moving film blends fact and fiction with liquor, beer and class-A drugs, inviting the audience to kick back for the final night of a closing dive bar. Contact: Cinephil

Il Mio Corpo
Dir. Michele Pennetta
The lives of two young men — one Italian, one a Nigerian immigrant — are threaded together as they eke out an existence in Sicily, in this striking observational film. Contact: Sweet Spot Docs

Performance of the year

Magdalena Kolesnik in Sweat (dir. Magnus von Horn)
It comes as no surprise to learn Kolesnik lived with her character Sylwia, a fitness influencer, for an extended period of preparation before the film shot. She fully inhabits the role, delivering a physically committed, deceptively complex performance. Contact New Europe Film Sales 

Special mention: I loved the perverse symbiosis of Andrea Riseborough and Christopher Abbott in Possessor.