Film Comment’s annual end-of-year survey was released today with Josh and Benny Safdie’s Good Time, Terence Davies’s A Quiet Passion, and Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper taking the top spots among films released in 2017. Of the films that screened at festivals worldwide but have not announced stateside distribution, Pedro Pinho’s The Nothing Factory, Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, and Heinz Emigholz’s Streetscapes [Dialogue] received the top rankings.
The 2017 poll participants are all Film Comment contributors from the past year and include Ina Archer (The Smithsonian), Margaret Barton-Fumo (FC columnist), Ela Bittencourt (Brazil-based programmer), Andrew Chan (The Criterion Collection), Ashley Clark (BAMcinématek), Nick Davis (FC contributing editor; Northwestern University), Nicholas Elliott (Cahiers du Cinéma, BOMB), Molly Haskell, J. Hoberman (The New York Times), Eric Hynes (FC columnist and Museum of the Moving Image associate curator), Kristin M. Jones (The Wall Street Journal), Nellie Killian (programmer and FC contributing editor), Aliza Ma (Metrograph), Farran Smith Nehme (FC columnist), Sheila O’Malley (RogerEbert.com), Nick Pinkerton, Jonathan Romney (FC contributing editor), Jonathan Rosenbaum, Amy Taubin (FC and Artforum contributing editor), and Manu Yáñez Murillo (Otros Cines Europa).
Additionally, this week’s Film Comment podcast features a lively discussion of the poll results with Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold, Digital Producer Violet Lucca, and FSLC Director of Editorial and Creative Strategy Michael Koresky.
Film Comment’s Top 10 Films Released in 2017:
- Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie, USA
- A Quiet Passion Terence Davies, U.K./Belgium
- Personal Shopper Olivier Assayas, France
- Get Out Jordan Peele, USA
- Nocturama Bertrand Bonello, France
- Ex Libris: The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, USA
- The Death of Louis XIV Albert Serra, France/Portugal/Spain
- Faces Places Agnès Varda and JR, France
- The Lost City of Z James Gray, USA
- Lady Bird Greta Gerwig, USA
See the full list here.
A Gentle Creature
Film Comment’s survey also ranks films that have screened and made notable appearances at festivals throughout the year, but remain without U.S. distribution at press time.
Film Comment’s Top 10 Unreleased Films of 2017:
- The Nothing Factory Pedro Pinho, Portugal
- A Gentle Creature Sergei Loznitsa, France/Germany/Lithuania/The Netherlands
- Streetscapes [Dialogue] Heinz Emigholz, Germany
- Milla Valérie Massadian, France
- Tonsler Park Kevin Jerome Everson, USA
- Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany
- Spoor Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik, Poland/Germany/Czech Republic
- Le Fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Greece/Germany/Qatar
- 3/4 Ilian Metev, Bulgaria
- The Venerable W. Barbet Schroeder, France/Switzerland
See the full list here.
“Out of the hundreds of movies released in 2017, our esteemed contributors have distilled the year into an energized and energizing lineup of essential films,” said Editor-in-Chief Nic Rapold. “This selection reflects Film Comment’s love for the art and craft of cinema in its many forms, ranging from first-time filmmakers to 43rd-timers. Not to mention film’s many seasons: the top five all opened before the traditional fall frenzy of releases. Read all about it in Film Comment.”
The complete list of films and participants can be found on FilmComment.com, on the Film Comment app, and in the January/February issue, which hits newsstands the second week of January—pre-order the issue or subscribe today.
