The 2025 Cannes Film Festival kicks off today...and the question on everyone's mind is: what will be the great movies?

Mostly, people look to the Cannes Competition (the films that compete for the Palme d'Or) to find the best films. But it's a lesser-known fact that many amazing films screen in the festival's sidebars.

And many of the best films in cinema history have screened in the festival's sidebars. In fact, Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, which was named the greatest film of all time in the 2022 Sight & Sound poll did not screen in competition! It screened in the Directors' Fortnight.

So on today's episode, Alex peels back the curtain on how all the different parts of the Cannes Film Festival work together. And she talks about the amazing films you've heard of (and some you probably haven't) that have screened outside the festival's competition. And she talks about some of the films she's excited for this year.

Finally, Alex talks about some of the films she's excited for in this year's competition, and how they were already making fantastic films years ago that were hiding out in the festival's sidebars.

*** Become a Seventh Row Insider to stay updated on the best films at Cannes this year and in past years that you might not otherwise stumble upon

*** Interested in picking up Seventh Row's ebooks on Lynne Ramsay, Joachim Trier, Joanna Hogg, Debra Granik, or Céline Sciamma? They're available exclusively on Seventh Row. Peruse the collection here: http://seventh-row.com/ebooks

Listen to the Women at Cannes Podcast Season

Listen to the Women at Cannes episode on Kelly Reichardt

For detailed show notes, visit https://seventh-row.com/2025/05/13/ep-171-navigating-cannes-beyond-the-competition/

If you look back on the last year, how many African films have you watched?

And how does this compare to the other international films you've seen from other continents?

Chances are, you're seeing way more films from every other continent than from Africa. That's not your fault. That's how the film industry works.

So on today's episode, Alex talks about why it's so hard to see African films and what you can do if you'd like to add more of them to your cinematic diet.

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**If you'd like to join Reel Ruminators in May to watch an exquisite work of queer South African Cinema, sign up here: http://seventh-row.com/reelruminators

Today on the podcast, Dr. Angelo Muredda joins Alex Heeney to discuss one of the year's best films: David Cronenberg's The Shrouds.

We talk about why The Shrouds is a good entry point if you're new to Cronenberg, but will also please diehard fans. And we discuss how what we love about Cronenberg's films isn't necessarily the selling point you'll often hear.

Yes, he sometimes directs body horror, and he often makes movies about sex and the body. But we also love his films because they're talky chamber dramas with a wry sense of humour and great performances. Plus, Cronenberg has a unique angle on changing bodies, illness, and disability.

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**Purchase access to Angelo's talk "Does this look like a sick man? Disability, aging, and illness in David Cronenberg's The Fly": http://seventh-row.com/thefly

Alex reviews Andrew Ahn's 2025 adaptation of the 1993 film The Wedding Banquet, starring Lily Gladstone, Youn Yuh-jung, and Joan Chen (and many more). The film is about two queer couples who end up conspiring to marry one half of each couple in exchange for a green card and money for IVF treatments.

Alex discusses the film's unexpected delights — including the wonderful, tender sound design and lovely blocking — and how the film thoughtfully updates (and even queers some more) Ang Lee's classic queer rom-com.

**Stay updated on the best under-the-radar films that just might shift your perspective by joining the Seventh Row Newsletter: http://email.seventh-row.com

**Want to join Alex and a group of movie lovers to watch and discuss a Queer African film in May 2025? Join the waitlist for Reel Ruminators: http://seventh-row.com/reel-ruminators

**Want Seventh Row's ebook on Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire? It's available at http://sciammabook.com

Pope Francis died today, which means it will soon be time to elect a new pope. Instead of rewatching Oscar Winner Conclave, Alex recommends catching the delightful Italian comedy We Have a Pope.

On this episode, Alex talks about why watching Conclave made her immediately want to rewatch Nanni Moretti's We Have a Pope, and what Moretti's film has that Conclave lacks. 

If Conclave is a film about how everyone wants to be pope, We Have a Pope is a film about a man who has a panic attack as soon as he becomes pope...and then runs away from the Vatican while he has an existential crisis.

**If you want to stay updated on the best new under-the-radar films, become a Seventh Row Insider at http://email.seventh-row.com

What if one of the most important movies of this decade, maybe even this century, flew under your radar?

What if it won major awards in its country of origin, including audience awards at festivals, and yet you still hadn't heard of it?

Would you want to see it? 

We're watching one of those movies this month in the April 2025 edition of Reel Ruminators. 

On today's episode, Alex discusses the film we're watching — an Indigenous film from so-called Canada — without revealing the title. And she introduces four criteria the she used to define what makes this film 'important' and how the film meets these criteria. 

**If this movie sounds like something you'd like to see, join the April 2025 edition of Reel Ruminators: http://seventh-row.com/reel-ruminators

Today, Alex Heeney recommends Alain Guiraudie's multi-César-nominated erotic thriller Misericordia. Since the film takes many twists and turns that she doesn't want to spoil, she introduces the film briefly before delving into what we can learn from the opening sequence.

In excellent movies like this one, the opening scene can teach us so much about how to watch the film and what's to come. Alex teaches how to read a film's opening scene in Reel Ruminators: A Movie-of-the-Month Experience.

*** Want to watch an Indigenous film by an Indigenous woman director that's one of the most important films of the 2020s? And then dig into how it works and how it makes you feel? Join the waitlist for the April 2025 edition of Reel Ruminators: A Movie-of-the-Month Enrichment Experience https://email.seventh-row.com/reelruminators

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Today, Alex Heeney recommends Steven Soderbergh's new spy thriller, Black Bag, starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. It's the rare film for adults that's a taut 90 minutes, character-focused, heaps of fun, and also screening in cinemas.

Alex discusses why she's been a Soderbergh devotee for 25 years and how Black Bag showcases Soderbergh at his best.

*** Want to discover more fun movies for grownups from around the world? Join the waitlist for Reel Ruminators: A Movie-of-the-Month Enrichment Experience https://email.seventh-row.com/reelruminators

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Stay updated on Seventh Row

Follow Seventh Row on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram. Read our articles at seventh-row.com.

Follow Alex Heeney on Bluesky, Twitter and Instagram. 

Today, we're celebrating pioneering American woman director Joan Micklin Silver by looking at her biggest flop, the excellent Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), and her biggest hit, Crossing Delancey (1988). Although both films are over 35 years old, they mostly still read as very modern.

Woman in Revolt Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Pugh joins Alex Heeney to discuss why we love Joan Micklin Silver, why her films have aged so well (and the few things that haven't), and what makes her such a great filmmaker both as a visual stylist and a modern storyteller. 

*** Want to discover more recent restorations of films by and about diverse groups? Subscribe to the Globetrotting Watchlist: http://seventh-row.com/globetrotting

*** Wondering who will be the next Joan Micklin Silver? Alex programs some of the contenders in Reel Ruminators. Join the waitlist for Reel Ruminators: A Movie-of-the-Month Enrichment Experience https://email.seventh-row.com/reelruminators

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Stay updated on Seventh Row

Follow Seventh Row on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram. Read our articles at seventh-row.com.

Follow Alex Heeney on Bluesky, Twitter and Instagram. 

Now that the Oscars are over, the best movies of the year are heading to cinemas in the next 3-4 months. 

In this episode, Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney is joined by C.J. Prince of Acquired Cinema to discuss four must-see films coming to cinemas this spring.

This episode is an addendum to our two-part series on how the Oscars affect the international films you hear about in episode 160 and 161.

Listen to episode 160: https://seventh-row.com/2025/02/14/ep-160-how-the-oscars-affect-the-international-films-you-hear-about/

Listen to episode 161: https://seventh-row.com/2025/02/21/ep-161-beyond-the-oscars-world-cinema/

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DM the word 'explorer' to:

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Stay updated on the US distribution status of festival films at C.J. Prince's Acquired Cinema: http://acquiredcinema.substack.om