Kino Lorber

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Leading distributor of international, documentary, independent and classic films dedicated to cinematic excellence in our theatrical and home video releases.

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Recent reviews

"Critic’s Pick! Rhythmic and propulsive... uses every instrument cinema affords. The result, in a word, is marvelous."
– Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times

“A bravura cinematic essay that intertwines jazz, history, and the taste of a spy thriller…what Grimonprez creates here is a mind-blowingly rich tapestry of research, music, and the jazziest history lesson imaginable.”
– Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar


United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the…

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so-called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa are lured by government propaganda promising easy passage to the European Union. Unable to cross into Europe and unable to turn back, they find themselves trapped in a rapidly escalating geopolitical stand-off. An unflinching depiction of the migrant crisis captured in stark black-and-white, this riveting film explores the intractable issue from multiple perspectives: a Syrian family…

Jean-Luc Godard is synonymous with cinema. With the release of Breathless in 1960, he established himself overnight as a cinematic rebel and symbol for the era's progressive and anti-war youth. Sixty-two years and 140 films later, Godard is among the most renowned artists of all time, taught in every film school yet still shrouded in mystery. One of the founders of the French New Wave, political agitator, revolutionary misanthrope, film theorist and critic, the list of his descriptors goes on…

An investigative thriller set in the world of nuclear power and politics, La Syndicaliste follows the true story of Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert), the influential head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. A deft navigator of elite political and financial circles, Maureen becomes a whistleblower when she discovers international backroom dealings, exposing secrets that shook the French nuclear sector. Fighting against government ministers and industry leaders, Maureen worked tirelessly to bring the scandal to light and defend thousands…

Liked reviews

The filmic equivalent of spending an entire night going on Wikipedia deep dives, 100+ tabs open and fueled by Red Bull and an amazing jazz playlist. Or: an extremely high end video essay made by an Oliver Stone/JFK enthusiast. Frequently astonishing.

Wife of a Spy

Wife of a Spy

★★★★½

Really interesting how the digital filmmaking here sits in contrast to its use of classical techniques (i.e. blocking, backlights, very set bound). It's a tension wherein the digital textures re-inforce and -double the whole theme of the constructed nature of images and identity. Everybody's caught up in and pushing against another's story (e.g. the nation's, the military's, a spy's, a wife's). Of course, the real centre of this is Satoko and Yusaka's mutual efforts to insert or remove her from…

Slalom

Slalom

★★★½

on its initial surface, Slalom seems to take the main route of a typical sports drama. rigorous training, negative encouragement, and jealous schoolmates thicken the pressure to win ski races and the distantly simmering, uneasy maternal relationship. but it glides and slips to other territories, wrapped up in its wintry weather and saddled by the continuous snowfall, where abuse materialises at the hands of the trainer. for some of us craving for appreciation and attention we endlessly look for, it's…

The coldest and most unforgiving movie about skiing this side of “Downhill Racer” — and just as fascinated by the loneliness of bombing down the slopes with the world at your back — Charlène Favier’s “Slalom” is a familiar story of sexual abuse, but one told with such bracing intensity that it snaps across your face like a blast of cold mountain air. From the opening moments of her debut feature, Favier pivots between powerlessness and control with the same…