I decided to extend my annual list this year, because I saw an inordinately large number of fine films. Links to my reviews will be up, in due time.

 

2015 TOP TWENTY-FIVE (world premieres only)

 

1. A Century of Energy (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal) [s]

 

2. Night Without Distance (Lois Patiņo, Spain / Portugal) [s]

 

3. The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson, Canada)

 

4. Engram of Returning (Daīchi Saīto, Canada) [s]

 

5. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand / U.K. / France / Germany / Malaysia / South Korea / Mexico / U.S. / Norway)

 

6. Something Between Us (Jodie Mack, U.S.) [s]

 

7. Over the Years (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Austria)

 

8. Experimenter: The Stanley Milgram Story (Michael Almereyda, U.S.)

 

9. Transport (Ernie Gehr, U.S.) [m]

 

10. The Exquisite Corpus (Peter Tscherkassky, Austria) [s]

 

11. Invention (Mark Lewis, U.K. / Canada)

 

12. El Movimiento (Benjamín Naishtat, Argentina / South Korea)

 

13. YOLO (Ben Russell, U.S. / South Africa) [s]

 

14. 45 Years (Andrew Haigh, U.K.)

 

15. Right Now, Wrong Then (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)

 

16. Mars Garden (Lewis Klahr, U.S.) [s]

 

17. Vivir para vivir / Live To Live (Laida Lertxundi, U.S. / Spain) [s]

 

18. Eisenstein in Guanajuato (Peter Greenaway, The Netherlands / Mexico / Finland / Belgium / France)

 

19. Arabian Nights: Volume 2, The Desolate One (Miguel Gomes, Portugal / France / Germany / Switzerland)

 

20. Chi-Raq (Spike Lee, U.S.)

 

21. Francofonia (Alexander Sokurov, France / Germany / The Netherlands)

 

22. Chevalier (Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece)

 

23. Traces / Legacy (Scott Stark, U.S.) [s]

 

24. Office (Johnnie To, Hong Kong / China)

 

25. Park Lanes (Kevin Jerome Everson, U.S.)

 

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2015 TOP ELEVEN RELEASES (poll-eligible only)

 

1. Hard to Be a God (Aleksei German, Russia)

 

2. The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson, Canada)

 

3. Horse Money (Pedro Costa, Portugal)

 

4. Experimenter (Michael Almereyda, U.S.)

 

5. Amour Fou (Jessica Hausner, Austria / Luxembourg / Germany)

 

6. Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, France / Germany / Switzerland)

 

7. 45 Years (Andrew Haigh, U.K.)

 

8. Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, Argentina / Denmark / France / Mexico / U.S. / Germany / Brazil)

 

9. Arabian Nights: Volume 2, The Desolate One (Miguel Gomes, Portugal / France / Germany / Switzerland)

 

10. Li'l Quinquin (Bruno Dumont, France)

 

11. Chi-Raq (Spike Lee, U.S.)