AUGUST 2025

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It's the middle of the summer, which in Berlin often means tropical downpours at odd hours and the taste of warm (if we're lucky) summer rain. So while others are out there recommending beach reads, I thought I'd give you some indoor activities to keep cool and hopefully dry: MOVIES!

As you know, I love movies, and I always have some to recommend. Not all my picks are for everyone, but my taste is eclectic enough that I think you'll find something in my list to appreciate, even if obscure movies "aren't your thing." So welcome. Let me outsource your indecisive scrolling!

WHAT TO WATCH NOW

As a filmmaker in the process of releasing her own independent film, I've been thinking a lot about how people discover and decide to watch movies. While I'm busy lamenting the dearth of worthwhile films amid the vast landscape of super hero universes and franchise-inspired content, I know in the back of my mind that there are several hundreds (thousands?!) of films being quietly released into the world via Apple, Amazon, YouTube, community screenings, and library DVD sections every year. Not to mention the back catalogue of films I've missed in years gone by! (By the way, you will hear a whole lot more about Berlin Loop's visibility and distribution plans in September, so don't worry, I'm still on the case!)

If you're anything like me, you might be wondering... How do I discover indie films?! And even more to the point: Which ones are worth watching?

Read on to discover my not-so-meticulous formula for deciding what to watch...

RESEARCH

Maybe it's someone's IMDB, which will lead me down a rabbit hole of films I've never heard of. Or an article in IndieWire, a film magazine, or simply something on social media. Sometimes I look through old catalogues from film festivals to see something I missed, or just take note of films recommended by anyone I'm reading or talking to. Then, it's all about tracking the movie down somewhere...

This summer (for reasons I might someday explain) my research has taken me down the filmographies of three iconic stars: Kim Novak, Danny Trejo, and Werner Herzog. While the first two are American actors whose careers have spanned such diametrically opposed genres and time periods they hardly belong in the same sentence, the third, Herzog, is a German director whose legendary personality has always loomed larger for me than his actual films.

With that said, I want to recommend a film from each of them that you may not have seen:

Lo and Behold: Reveries of a Connected World, by Werner Herzog. (Available on Prime Video, Apple TV & Roku Channel)

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If you're not familiar with Herzog, it will suffice to say that he is a narrative and documentary filmmaker whose films are all a little bit mad. He's interested in extreme characters enduring extreme environments and responding in extreme ways -- probably because that describes him, too.

His documentary about the history (and future) of the Internet is no different. His interview partners are the most off-the-wall, socially inept super-nerds on the planet. They live in garages and sterile rooms humming with electronic noises, they profess their love to robot soccer players, they hack the CIA for intellectual stimulation, and they geek out about the vastness of the universe. In this doc, they also tell the history of the Internet and predict the future, with joy, humility, and wonder. This film will take you to the limits!

Bell, Book, & Candle, starring Kim Novak (AppleTV, Fandango At Home, Prime Video)

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My all-time favorite Hitchcock film, and one of my favorites of all time, is the haunting mystery of obsession and control, Vertigo. But until a month ago, I never knew that Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart starred in another film together, released in the same year! I had to see it!

In BB&C, the mysterious Kim Novak plays a modern-day witch who meets her unsuspecting neighbor, Jimmy Stewart, on New Year's Eve. When she discovers Stewart's fiancee is an old college "pal" that bullied her, she decides to take revenge by casting a spell on Stewart to make him fall in love with her. The wacky film delivers on that camp premise with silly spells, romantic joy, and plenty of on-screen cats.

Smile or Hug, starring Danny Trejo (JustWatchTV, AppleTV)

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You probably know Danny Trejo has a gangster, vampire, guy with a machete, or otherwise badass baddie, but that's not the real-life Trejo. (For more on him and a bonus cut, check out Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo.) Because of his tattoos and his tough-guy look, it's easy for him to play dark, but his life story has a serious redemption arc!

In Smile or Hug, he plays an isolated old man, a "mind painter," who gives the film's star, Chelsea Javier, a series of cassette tapes with guided meditations that lead her into a magical-realism world of art to help her overcome her inertia and depression. The film is funny, a little bit retro, and even empowering. It's sweet, and definitely worth a watch.

FRIENDS

My second and even more reliable method of discovering new films is my friends. The notes of my phone are filled with lists of movies friend have told me about, and whenever I'm at a loss, I consult these lists. Sometimes they are films someone saw recently, other times something from childhood, but always a film that made an impression on someone who has made an impression on me.

I know finding a movie is a daunting task, especially without the benefit of those old physical DVDs lining the shelves of a video store on a Friday night. But just consider your conversations with friends as an ongoing video store, giving you options for every mood. I promise you, your friends know more than the algorithm every time!

A recent recommendation which I've finally watched was the 2024 Sundance hit and frequent friend recommendation Thelma, from director Josh Margolin. (Find it on Amazon Video, AppleTV, or Hulu.)

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It stars June Squibb as a rambunctious granny who gets scammed out of $10,000 and takes a wild journey through the San Fernando Valley to confront the scammers. It's funny and sweet, earnest and spicy, all at the same time.

But friends can be more than just recommendation engines; often, they are filmmakers themselves, and watching their films is pure joy and inspiration!

A great friend film from a few years back that I love to recommend is Laguna Ave, directed by the brilliant and imaginative David Buchanan and written by the kinetic ball of pscyho-intelligent energy Paul Papadeas. Both friends. Their comedic, cyberpunk body horror about a man and his robotic arm was a major inspiration for me to make Berlin Loop -- not because of any tone or content similarities, but because of their inspiring, DIY "just-do-it" energy. It has wacky "dudes gone mad" energy, with a philosophical twist!

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Another great friend film comes from Samantha and Bertie Spears, who made a murder mystery movie in a black cab on the empty streets of pandemic-era London in 2021. Midnight Taxi was released last year (on AppleTV, Amazon, and Hoopla) to some great success and can be found in quite a few places all over the world! The film is tense, mysterious thriller with fantastic performances. Check it out!

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And for a more recent addition to the friend film canon: a few weeks ago, I got to see the debut film from Tanmaya Shakhar, a filmmaker I had met in Cannes whose film Nukkad Naatak played a festival in Berlin. It's a coming-of-age story about two college friends in India who are rudely awakened to the poverty just outside their ivory tower when they are challenged with trying to enrol some children from the nearby slums in school. The title, which in English is "A Street Play," refers to the popular educational street theatre that these students practice for fun and prizes at their university; but obviously they are going to need to take the "peoples' theatre" to the streets by the end of the film! The story is told with such charm and the characters are so relatable and real that you can't help but be moved, inspired, and challenged.

Unfortunately, the movie isn't out yet (oh, the distribution challenges of indie filmmakers!) so you'll have to put it on your long-term list for now.

HOW TO WATCH NOW

I know, it's confusing. There are so many streaming services, subscriptions, platforms, channels. It drives my crazy to think I have to subscribe to them all to watch movies, so I usually choose to rent or buy movies, and most of the options I've given you for the movies above are a la carte. Like going to a good old rental store, you can check out movies one at a time, for a singular price. And sometimes, even for free. (Check out Kanopy, Internet Archive, and your local library for details...!)

This also gets you away from the algorithmic recommendation machine and back into your own lists, choices, tastes, and discoveries. If you want to watch a movie, go seek it out. Chances are, it's probably somewhere...

(And ask your friends!)

And although it should go without saying, I'll say it anyway: the best way to watch movies is in a cinema. If you have a local, independent, small cinema, try to go! If they're screening a movie you've never heard of, even better. Honestly, most of the best films I've seen the past 10 years are ones I hadn't heard of before watching them. Sometimes they're relics of the past, sometimes contemporary undiscovered gems. Often, I find myself recalling and recommending these obscure cinema gems again and again.

That's what happened to me when I saw Memories of a Burning Body at Berlinale in 2024. It's a fully-narrated, visually transporting story of three women reflecting on their lives in their 70s. I kept on raving about the haunting camera work, the beautiful dovetailing of three stories, and the wisdom that each narrator shares. But all of last year, it wasn't available anywhere except a few festivals.

Now, you can finally watch it at home: HBO Max, Apple TV, or Amazon Prime. Do yourself a favor and check it out...

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NOW, FOR FINAL THOUGHTS...

There are so many great films out there that no one has heard of, and so many that could be your next favorite. I don't want to be defeatist about the entertainment marketing factory that's trying to funnel us all into the mainstream content machine, so I want to keep making new discoveries.

Perhaps, if you're reading this, you do too. So let's go find some good movies together. And please, send me your recommendations! Tell me about something I'd love to watch.

Until next time...

Emily

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