2020 Releases Ranked
TIFF 61 (online)
61st TIFF #6
As the director said in an introductory video, we must not have all of our attention in the story, but in the small details. And that's why the camera move away from the action so often. That's what i get from her presentation. The story want to make us think about the animals stories, and not about the human story.

The main idea is original, but the final result is not that good, in terms of story telling. The cinematography and the directing is decent. It's a difficult film and i want to hear further informations from the director. Hopefully, i will get the opportunity in the directors talk that the festival organizes.

Η προτελευταία σκηνή είναι βιγκαν Ρόι Άντερσον.

Appropriately for a film about the unspoken connection between humans and animals, Kala azar seems to invent a new cinematic language. Set in a desolate, perhaps post-apocalyptic landscape in which people and their dogs, cats, and fish live together in a kind of liminal state, Greek director Janis Rafa’s first film, a top prizewinner at this year’s Rotterdam International Film Festival, surveys the grim but matter-of-fact day-to-day lives of a young, unfettered couple who work for a crematorium service. As they pay house calls to people who have lost their pets, helping to give their animals respectful send-offs, their own relationship begins to fracture. Rafa focuses on tactile surfaces and bodies rather than conventional narrative beats; her film is a sobering, poignant vision of the cohabitation of different species on our endangered planet.

See the full festival lineup in our Virtual Cinema. See more and save with an All-Access Bundle.

I know that my first watch was just a few hours ago, but since the film festival I am participating in is online and and I have 24 hours with the film, I had to give another watch because it didn't want to leave my head.
This greek love story between humans and the fauna is really sad. It talks so much about our civilization, how we are close to deterioration. And the connection between the title and the whole film is quite heartbreaking.
I wish I could express more into words what I felt, but I can't. I giving this rewatch a 5 out 5 stars, because I have nothing bad or wrong to point out here.
Also the film features one of my favourite scenes of the year, the moment has a rollerblade involved, that's all I have to say.

love is caring for another's wound and breaking eggs to feed them with

Kala Kraziar

almost gave this one star, almost gave it four. i truly don't know where to file this thing in my head. an undeniably miserable, immaculately photographed, aggressively audience unfriendly film that, i think, does eventually justify itself, if only for a couple of sublime moments.

do not watch if you aren't ok with dogs dying, constantly, all around you

One of the newest additions to the Greek New Wave of Extremism, Kala Azar, one I believe more than one occasion, shows a character peeing on his own wounds. There's not much else to be said beside the film is filled with little interesting plot and human and animal decay that it does little to stress it's importance or quality.

Bizarre and atmospheric film about troubled people and their romantic relationships. Occasionally cinema is slow, and can feel like watching grass grow or paint dry (whichever you prefer). However, this particular screenplay felt like observing the gradual deterioration of an animal carcass - slow and deeply disturbing. Why would someone object themselves to this? Not sure, but the Greeks continue their infamous reputation creating weird cinema with purpose. Unfortunately this particular feature is painfully monotone and never achieves the desired moments of elation

#TIFF61
Κλασσικο μιζερο ελληνικο περιβαλλον συνδεδεμενο αμεσα με την Αττικη το βλεπουμε πως αναποφευτα εχει επηρεασει τον ανθρωπο που ζει σε αυτο. Παρων σχεδον σε ολες τις ελληνικες ταινιες μεγαλου και μικρου μηκους.
μια απο τις σπανιες ταινιες που υπηρχε παντελη ελειψη ταυτισης και εμπαθειας με τους χαρακτηρες. Επισης trend της εποχης η τεχνη να δημιουργει τεραστιο αισθημα discomfort η ταινια δημιουργουσε συνεχως εντονα ενστικτα αηδιας. Την παρακολουθεις ως το τελος γιατι εχει μια καλη σκηνοθεσια και cinemapography. Oι vegans και οι σκυλοφιλοι θα τους αρεσει..... πολυ σκυλο παρα πολυ σκυλο.

leishmaniose contemporânea 　 meio desnecessário às vezes mas mt bem fotografado gostei da provocação da camera escondidinha e míope assim como a historia tb míope

Solitária....visceral....parasitário......tênia lumbriga e todos os vermes possíveis...controle de zoonose vem aqui por favor

Somos bichos dentro deste mundo austero cheio de mistérios e encantos. Construímos uma civilização, um artifício coletivo. Entretanto, nossos corpos não estão distante dos cães e dos bichos que vivem e morrem.
Um filme belamente estranho

Kala Azar se interesa en lo táctil; en el cuerpo que queda después de la muerte; en sangre y dientes, carne y huesos. La pareja central de esta cinta hace un acto tierno, desinteresado, al recoger cuerpos: tejen, entre hombres y animales, una relación carnal, un vínculo profundo.

One of the newest additions to the Greek New Wave of Extremism, Kala Azar, one I believe more than one occasion, shows a character peeing on his own wounds. There's not much else to be said beside the film is filled with little interesting plot and human and animal decay that it does little to stress it's importance or quality.

2020 New Directors / New Films

poetic juxtaposition of bodies, both of humans and animals

The most original film since Dogtooth. Greece is pushing the boundaries of society through cinema.

Full Review at In Review Online, part of ND/NF 2020 — Dispatch 3

"Kala-azar is the Indian name for Black Fever, a potentially fatal parasitic disease, and according to the official synopsis for the new Greco-Dutch co-production Kala azar, the feature debut of writer-director Janis Rafa, the title “describes a place that cannot sustain animal life any longer.” Kala azar also refers to a film so pretentious that even its press materials can barely hide a contempt for the finished product, one that in fact has its head so firmly planted in its own ass that to describe it as the work of a particularly precious first-year film major with a minor in philosophy would be generous" ✏️Steven Warner

An obvious, stultifying, and facile lecture masquerading as art cinema. Read my full review over at In Review Online: inreviewonline.com/2020/12/17/kala-azar/