The Author's 10 Best Movies of 2016

(Click on the colored title to read the author's review of the film)

1. I, Daniel Blake (2016) (UK) dir. Ken Loach. Won the Golden Palm at the Cannes festival and audience awards at Locarno, San Sebastian, Stockholm and Vancouver film festivals. Winner of the Best British film at the BAFTAs (UK) and the Best Foreign film at the Cesars (France).
2. Paradise (Ray) (2016) (Russia) dir. Andrei Konchalovsky. Won the Best Director award at the Venice film festival  and the Best Screenplay award at the Mar del Plata film festival.
3. Daughter (Dokhtar) (2016) (Iran) dir. Reza Mirkarimi. Won the Golden Peacock at The International Film Festival of India at Goa, and Best Actor award at the Moscow international film festival.
4. On the Milky Road (2016) (Serbia) dir. Emir Kasturica. Won the Little Golden Lion award at the Venice film festival
5. Glory (Slava) (2016)  (Bulgaria) dirs. Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. Won the highest awards at the Kolkata International Film Festival (India) and the Hamptons film festival (USA).
6. Graduation (Bacalaureat) (2016) (Romania) dir. Cristian Mungiu. Won the Best Director Award at the Cannes festival, the Best Actor and Best Screenplay awards at the Chicago film festival, and the Critics' Award at the Hamburg film festival. 
7. It's Only the End of the World (2016) (Canada) dir. Xavier Dolan. Won the Grand Jury prize and the Ecumenical Jury prize at the Cannes festival, Won 3 Cesar awards (France) for Best Director, Actor and editing.
8. The Salesman (Forushande) (2016) (Iran) dir. Asghar Farhadi. Won the Best Actor and Best Screenplay awards at the Cannes festival, the best film award at the Munich and Valladolid film festivals, and the audience award at the Mumbai film festival.
9. Knight of Cups  (2015) (USA) dir. Terrence Malick
10. Neruda (2016) (Chile/Argentina) dir. Pablo Larrain. Best Foreign Film award at Woodstock film festival.