Oscars 2026 Preview, with the Los Angeles Review of Books

For more than two decades, Melissa Anderson has been one of New York City’s most important film critics—and one of Film Comment’s favorite writers. From her start as a freelancer in the 2000s, through her editorships at Time Out, The Village Voice, and most recently 4Columns, she has regaled readers with her peerless wit, her attunement to desire, especially queer desire, and her facility for writing about actors. A new book published by The Film Desk—evocatively titled The Hunger: Film Writing, 2012–2024—offers an invaluable compilation of Melissa’s writing. Film Comment editors Clinton Krute and Devika Girish invited Melissa on this week’s episode to talk about her formative experiences of film and film criticism, her development as a writer and editor, and the genesis of this new collection. Subscribe today to The Film Comment Letter, our free weekly newsletter featuring podcasts, features, reviews, interviews, streaming picks, news, and more.

On October 30 of last year, we lost one of cinema’s most daring auteurs: the British director Peter Watkins. Starting out in television in the 1960s, Watkins developed an utterly unique and militantly political mode of filmmaking. In works like Culloden (1964), The War Game (1966), Punishment Park (1971), and his magnum opus, La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000), he cast nonprofessional actors in enactments of political events from the past, present, or a dystopian future, which he then shot in the style of live news reporting on TV. The results are thrilling films that startle with their naturalism and urgency, and provoke thorny questions about authoritarianism—not just of the state, but also of the media. To commemorate this great filmmaker’s legacy, Film Comment editor Devika Girish invited critic J. Hoberman, who has not only admired and written about Watkins’s work, but also took a class with the man himself back in the 1970s. They talk about the trajectory of Watkins’s life and work, what makes his films feel so singular even today, and the contemporary directors that carry forward his legacy.

It’s that time of year again: the Academy Awards are just around the corner. In anticipation of the winners being revealed this Sunday, Devika and Clint teamed up with some colleagues from Tinseltown—the writers and editors of the Los Angeles Review of Books—to scrutinize this year’s nominees. The publication’s Editor-at-Large Eric Newman, Senior Humanities Editor Annie Berke, and Contributor Elizabeth Alsop joined for a special collaboration with their podcast, the LARB Radio Hour. The group debated the relative merits and shortcomings of this year’s Best Picture contenders—from Sinners to The Secret Agent to F1—and also discussed trends, surprises, and snubs.

Set in Nigeria in 1993, Akinola Davies Jr.’s elliptical, atmospheric My Father’s Shadow is a portrait of a country on the cusp of a political crisis. We experience these events through the eyes of the film’s young protagonists, two boys who spend a day in Lagos with their father. They’re thrilled at the prospect of some quality time with their often-absent old man—but they also sense that there’s trouble brewing around them, even if they don’t understand all the details.  Film Comment Editor Devika Girish spoke with Davies, who just won a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut for the film, about the extent to which he drew upon family memories while writing the script with his brother, Wale; how the crew recreated the textures, sounds, and feel of 1990s Nigeria; and why it was important to have a children’s perspective at the heart of this story.

Across his contributions to Film Comment and other publications, and his programming as the Curatorial Director of the Criterion Collection, Ashley Clark has established himself as one of the smartest, sharpest taste-makers in the film scene in New York and beyond—particularly through his championing of underseen films by people of color. So we were very excited by the announcement of his new book, The World of Black Film, which comes out this week. The beautifully designed volume is a historical survey of a hundred significant films made by Black filmmakers or centering Black life. It adopts a rigorously critical and curatorial approach, taking care to define what a “Black cinema” can mean, and assembling a series of titles, accompanied by deft appreciations, that capture its breadth, depth, and diversity.  Film Comment Editor Devika Girish invited Ashley on the Podcast to discuss his methods in researching and shortlisting films, titles that he discovered while writing the book, and what it meant for him to have legendary Black filmmaker Sir John Akomfrah write the book’s introduction.

It's late January, and the intrepid Film Comment crew has been on the ground reporting from an extra special edition of the Sundance Film Festival—the last to take place on the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, the festival's home since 1981, before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2027. For the past week, we’ve gathered the best critics on the scene to talk about each day’s premieres on the Podcast. For our final Podcast from Sundance 2026, critics Bilge Ebiri and Tim Grierson and programmer Madeline Whittle joined Film Comment Editor Devika Girish to close out the fest, discussing Padraic McKinley's The Weight (2:56), Noah Segan's The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (24:26), Dawn Porter's When a Witness Recants (28:46), Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans's Who Killed Alex Odeh? (34:34), Josephine Decker's Chasing Summer (47:20), Walter Thompson-Hernández's If I Go Will They Miss Me? (1:05:46), Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei The Friend's House Is Here (1:10:28), Rafael Manuel's Filipiñana (1:14:05), and more. Catch up on all of our Sundance 2026 coverage at filmcomment.com

It's late January, and the intrepid Film Comment crew is on the ground reporting from an extra special edition of the Sundance Film Festival—the last to take place on the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, the festival's home since 1981, before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2027. For the next week, we’ll be gathering the best critics on the scene to talk about each day’s premieres on the Podcast. For our fourth Podcast from the fest, critics Robert Daniels, Will Tavlin, and Natalia Winkelman joined Film Comment Editor Devika Girish to discuss William Greaves and David Greaves’s Once Upon a Time in Harlem (2:15), Michał Marczak’s Closure (22:30), Adam Meeks's Union County (31:03), and Kogonada's zi (41:35). Catch up on all of our Sundance 2026 coverage at filmcomment.com

It's late January, and the intrepid Film Comment crew is on the ground reporting from an extra special edition of the Sundance Film Festival—the last to take place on the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, the festival's home since 1981, before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2027. For the next week, we’ll be gathering the best critics on the scene to talk about each day’s premieres on the Podcast. For our third Podcast from the fest, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish invited critics and FC Podcast veterans Tim Grierson, Robert Daniels, and Monica Castillo to discuss some of this year’s buzziest premieres to date, including Cathy Yan’s art world–satire The Gallerist (3:00), Gregg Araki’s erotic romp I Want Your Sex (20:15), and Olivia Wilde’s couples' night dramedy The Invite (31:45, 42:40). Catch up on all of our Sundance 2026 coverage at filmcomment.com

It's late January, and the intrepid Film Comment crew is on the ground reporting from an extra special edition of the Sundance Film Festival—the last to take place on the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, the festival's home since 1981, before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2027. For the next week, we’ll be gathering the best critics on the scene to talk about each day’s premieres on the Podcast. For our second Podcast from the fest, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish sat down with programmer Madeline Whittle (Film at Lincoln Center) and critic Will Tavlin (n+1) to discuss Adam and Zack Khalil's Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] (1:54), John Wilson’s The History of Concrete (14:05), and Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman's Nuisance Bear (28:11). Catch up on all of our Sundance 2026 coverage at filmcomment.com

It's late January, and the intrepid Film Comment crew is on the ground reporting from an extra special edition of the Sundance Film Festival—the last to take place on the snowy slopes of Park City, Utah, the festival's home since 1981, before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2027. For the next week, we’ll be gathering the best critics on the scene to talk about each day’s premieres on the Podcast. To kick things off, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish invited programmer Madeline Whittle (Film at Lincoln Center) as well as critics Robert Daniels (RogerEbert.com) and Will Tavlin (n+1) to share their responses to the films premiering during the first few days of the fest. The group discusses the tongue-in-cheek Charli XCX mockumentary The Moment (3:30), Casper Kelly's dark comedy Buddy (20:15), and Beth de Araujo’s sophomore feature Josephine (29:50). Stay tuned for more of our Sundance 2026 coverage.