Criterion Designs
2014 · 2 min
Kogonada's video essay made in conjunction with the release of Criterion Designs, a 300-page book, which features highlights from cover art commissioned by the Criterion Collection, including never-before-seen sketches and concept art.
Directed by Kogonada
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Restoring the Apu Trilogy · 2015Restoring the Apu Trilogy
★ 8.02015
MovieDocumentary
In 1993, the original negatives of Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy were burned in a massive nitrate fire at a laboratory in London. Even though there were no technologies available at the time capable of fully restoring such badly damaged film elements, the Academy Film Archive held on to them. And now times have changed.
Pachinko · 2022Pachinko
★ 7.92022
SeriesDrama
This sweeping saga chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive.
What Is Neorealism? · 2017What Is Neorealism?
★ 7.52017
MovieDocumentary
Filmmaker Kogonada unpicks what defines the Golden Age of Italian cinema with a side-by-side comparison of two edits of the same film, one according to Italian director Vittorio De Sica, and the other according to Hollywood producer David O. Selznick.
Linklater: On Cinema and Time · 2013Linklater: On Cinema and Time
★ 7.22013
MovieDocumentary
If cinema is the art of time, Linklater is one of its most thoughtful and engaged directors. Unlike other filmmakers identified as auteurs, Linklater’s distinction is not found on the surface of his films, in a visual style or signature shot, but rather in their DNA, as ongoing conversations with cinema, which is to say, with time itself. A visual essay produced by Sight and Sound.
Columbus · 2017Columbus
★ 7.12017
MovieDrama
When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library.
Once There Was Everything · 2017Once There Was Everything
★ 7.02017
MovieDocumentary
In this Criterion Collection video essay, Kogonada explores how doors recur throughout the films of Robert Bresson. The short considers doorways as symbols of choice, consequence, and mystery, while also noting their physical presence within Bresson’s distinctive soundscapes.
BIFA: 15 Years · 2013BIFA: 15 Years
★ 7.02013
MovieDocumentary
A short commemorative video piece created by Kogonada for the 15th anniversary of the British Independent Film Awards, celebrating the legacy of British independent cinema.
Trick or Truth · 2014Trick or Truth
★ 6.82014
MovieDocumentary
A short video essay by kogonada reflecting on Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House and the filmmaker’s description of it as “a fantasy with the atomic bomb as the theme.”
Way of Ozu · 2016Way of Ozu
★ 6.82016
MovieDocumentary
Kogonada’s video essay showcases the similarities of the multiple films Yasujiro Ozu made in his lifetime. Ozu created a genre of his own – a way of filmmaking that was cultivated and nourished throughout Ozu’s career as a filmmaker.
Hands of Bresson · 2014Hands of Bresson
★ 6.82014
MovieDocumentary
A visual essay on the tactile world of Robert Bresson created for the Criterion Collection.
Godard in Fragments · 2016Godard in Fragments
★ 6.52016
MovieDocumentary
In the 1960s, pioneering French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard introduced the world to a new cinematic lexicon, generated from his innovative, auteurist style. Between 1960 and 1967 alone, he made fifteen features (beginning with his groundbreaking début, Breathless)—and it’s this period that regular Criterion Collection contributor Kogonada explores in a new video essay highlighting the iconic director’s signature themes and devices.
After Yang · 2022After Yang
★ 6.42022
MovieScience FictionDrama
When his young daughter's beloved companion — an android named Yang — malfunctions, Jake searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife and daughter across a distance he didn't know was there.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey · 2025A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
★ 6.12025
MovieRomanceFantasy
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
The Acolyte · 2024The Acolyte
★ 5.32024
SeriesMysterySci-Fi & Fantasy
A hundred years before the rise of the Empire, the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic have prospered for centuries without war. During this time, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past.
Zi · 2026Zi
★ 2.02026
MovieDramaScience Fiction
In Hong Kong, a young woman haunted by visions of her future self meets a stranger who changes the course of her night -- and possibly her life.
Elemental · 2015Elemental
2015
MovieDocumentary
40,000 years in the making: Kogonada's video essay created for The Connected Series.
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Andrei Rublev · 1966Andrei Rublev
★ 7.91966
MovieDramaHistory
An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.
The World of Apu · 1959The World of Apu
★ 8.11959
MovieDrama
Apu, now a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer, is invited to join an old college friend on a trip up-country to a village wedding.
Aparajito · 1956Aparajito
★ 7.81956
MovieDrama
Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.
City Lights · 1931City Lights
★ 8.21931
MovieComedyDrama
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.
The Gold Rush · 1925The Gold Rush
★ 8.01925
MovieAdventureComedy
A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.
Spartacus · 1960Spartacus
★ 7.51960
MovieHistoryDrama
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.
Paths of Glory · 1957Paths of Glory
★ 8.31957
MovieWarDrama
A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.
Sweet Smell of Success · 1957Sweet Smell of Success
★ 7.61957
MovieDrama
New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb · 1964Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
★ 8.11964
MovieComedyWar
After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.
Double Indemnity · 1944Double Indemnity
★ 8.11944
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An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, a claims investigator.
Mulholland Drive · 2001Mulholland Drive
★ 7.82001
MovieThrillerDrama
Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.
The Leopard · 1963The Leopard
★ 7.71963
MovieDrama
As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life.
The Hidden Fortress · 1958The Hidden Fortress
★ 8.01958
MovieDramaAction
In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
The Third Man · 1949The Third Man
★ 7.91949
MovieThrillerMystery
In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.
Au Revoir les Enfants · 1987Au Revoir les Enfants
★ 7.51987
MovieDramaWar
Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.
The Piano Teacher · 2001The Piano Teacher
★ 7.32001
MovieDramaRomance
Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.
Malcolm X · 1992Malcolm X
★ 7.51992
MovieDramaHistory
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me · 1992Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
★ 7.41992
MovieDramaMystery
In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.
Secret Sunshine · 2007Secret Sunshine
★ 7.22007
MovieDrama
Shin-ae moves to her recently late husband’s hometown. Despite her efforts to settle in this unfamiliar and too-normal place, she finds that she can’t fit in. After a sudden tragedy, Shin-ae turns to Christianity to relieve her pain, but when even this is not permitted, she wages a war against God.
