Set at a boarding school deep within Turkey’s Anatolian mountains, Ferit Karahan’s Brother’s Keeper is a sometimes droll, sometimes infuriating look at the bureaucratic ineptitudes of unqualified men in positions of power. But it’s also much more than that. Just under the surface, Karahan subtly tackles such issues as cultural erasure, forced indoctrination, and victim blaming as seen through the eyes of scared students and their self-serving administrators. 

When one of the students falls ill, school officials are slow to respond, and eventually act only when they realize their negligence could mean trouble for them. Thus begins a parade of blame-shifting as the staff continually minimize their involvement in why there’s an unconscious boy lying in a sparsely-stocked and unattended infirmary — all while never for a moment giving thought to the systematic nature of their complete incompetence.

What makes this conflict so interesting is the low-key disdain these teachers have for their students (based solely on their ethnicity) and how little regard they have for their well-being. They put on a good show when they find themselves blameworthy, but ultimately, those with power — however microcosmic — jump at the chance to place this blame back onto those with none and learn absolutely nothing in the process. It’s a maddening dynamic that Karahan captures with such an expert eye, one can’t help but wonder if he has first-hand knowledge of a comparable experience. Grade: B-plus —James Rosario (North American Premiere)

The disillusionment of a marriage doesn’t happen all at once. But for the central vacationing couple in Polish filmmaker Aga Woszczyńska’s Silent Land, it might be close. Their Italian beach house isn’t as perfect as anticipated and outside help is brought in for repairs. Things go downhill for everyone once work on the pool gets underway, and an unexpected event causes the couple to examine their marriage and who they are, not just as people but to each other. 

Silent Land is Woszczynska’s feature directorial debut, and her presence behind the camera certainly comes through as she crafts this intimate affair, particularly in beautifully composed shots that help frame the couple’s state of mind and emotional distance. It’s a strong first outing to be sure, but the slow burn in this adult drama is more of a snail’s pace burn, and even though the action is compelling at times, its overly plodding nature gets in the way. Grade: C-plus —Joel Winstead (U.S. Premiere)

The great Mia Hansen-Løve’s charming film about filmmakers visiting a place that inspired a great filmmaker and became his home gradually becomes a film about filmmaking itself. While watching Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps putter around and likely pay homage to numerous Ingmar Bergman films is more engaging than the Mia Wasikowska-achored film-within-the-film, the latter proves just as visually stimulating and likely as referential. And though the drama is accessible to Bergman newbies, I look forward to the inevitable side-by-side video essay comparing Hansen-Løve’s film with her numerous Bergman influences. Grade: B-plus —Edwin Arnaudin

(Photo by Diren Düzgün, courtesy of the Chicago International Film Festival)