Programmers' Picks: Justine Barda on SIFF 2025

The New Year That Never Came

A bravura first feature, an amazing final sequence set to Ravel’s “Bolero,” and a timely reminder that dictatorships don’t last forever.

Souleymane’s Story

What really got me about this film is the genre structure—a thriller that ends as a small-scale, high-stakes drama mirrors the message about what it takes to elicit empathy.

Coexistence, My Ass!

The moral clarity and political urgency of the comedy of progressive Israeli stand-up Noam Shuster-Eliassi makes this a film that really meets the historical moment.

DJ Ahmet

A charming, upbeat comedy with a great soundtrack from a country we rarely see on film. A delight!