It has become a yearly tradition for me to publish my list of the best unreleased/undistributed films of the year. These past 12 or so months, with the pandemic going on, and cancel culture still vehemently out there, it turns out that my ten best unreleased selections were actually better than my official list of the best released movies of 2020. Go figure.
The top two films, both masterworks, are from directors (Roman Polanski and Abdelatif Kechiche) who will likely not see their films released in the United States, at least in the foreseeable future. Why must their art suffer? Well, for one thing, Polanski and Kechiche have both been become “persona non grata” in the States since the #MeToo era began back in 2017. Polanski’s J’Accuse, which despite winning the Grand Jury prize at Venice and being the best film the Polish filmmaker has given us since his 2002 Oscar-winner “The Pianist,” has been completely blacked out by U.S. distributors, there is not a single one of them who is willing to even risk touching this incredible statement from the 87-year-old director. Whereas Kechiche’s film, a more polarizing one than Polanski’s methodical mesmerizer, stands an even worse fate at ever being released here since it hasn’t even been released in its home country of France.
Other noteworthy films on my list include a film from Kazakhstan, the 2018 Cannes title, “Ayka” which, despite winning the Best Actress prize on the Croisette, has still not seen the light of the day Stateside. Another Cannes film from 2019, “Lux Aeterna,” this one from French bad-boy Gaspar Noe, is so batshit gonzo, not to mention just 51 minutes, that I doubt we’ll be seeing it theatrically or on VOD anytime soon.
I’m hopeful about the other six being distributed sometime in 2021, most of which have tentative release dates ready to go this coming year. These are all worth seeking out, if you ever get the chance to, they are rebellious statements that not only deserve to be seen, but add to the rich history of the medium. And so, without further ado, here is the third annual list of the best unreleased movies of 2020.
J'Accuse (Roman Polanski)
Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo (Abdelatif Kechiche)
Beginning (Dea Kulumbegashvili)
PVT Chat (Ben Hozie)
The Killing of Two Lovers (Robert Machoian)
Ayka (Sergey Dvortsevoy)
White Lie (Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas)
Lux Aeterna (Gaspar Noe)
Rocks (Sarah Gavron)
Dinner in America (Adam Rehmeier)
If the movie is as rough as some in the industry seem to fear, that teaser may have been less of a marketing campaign and more of a public plea for somebody to finally take the damn thing.