Best of 2025: Critics' Picks
Now that we’ve shared our staff recommendations and what you loved the most this year, it’s time to turn to the critics. Our mission has always been to bring outstanding films—new, old, and undiscovered—to audiences hungry for unique and unforgettable cinematic experiences. We’re thrilled to see some of the films that we’ve been championing all year long receive recognition from the industry. These are more than just titles in our library; these films represent visions, messages, and stories that deserve to be seen. Here are five films that critics and awards voters agree were must-watches this year.
Souleymane’s Story
Racing through the streets of Paris making food deliveries on his bicycle, Guinean immigrant Souleymane (Sangare) is struggling to stay afloat. In two days, he has to report for an asylum application interview, where he must plead his case to an immigration officer (Nina Meurisse) who will determine his future in France. As he rides, he repeats his story. But Souleymane is not ready. Drawing inspiration from Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and evoking the humanist films of the Dardennes, Boris Lojkine’s urgent, propulsive third feature never leaves Souleymane’s side in a deeply affecting account of the daily trials and uncertain futures faced by migrants in France and around the world.
Souleymane’s Story was named one of 2025’s best films by the following outlets:
The New York Times (honorable mention)
Time (honorable mention)
Boris Lojkine’s film has also racked up a slew of awards, including:
Gotham Awards – Winner: Breakthrough Performance, Abou Sangaré
Cannes Film Festival – Winner: Un Certain Regard Jury Prize
Cannes Film Festival – Winner: Un Certain Regard Best Actor, Abou Sangaré
Cannes Film Festival – Winner: FIPRESCI Prize
César Awards – Winner: Best Original Screenplay
César Awards – Winner: Best Editing
César Awards – Winner: Best Supporting Actress
César Awards – Winner: Best Male Revelation
San Francisco Film Festival – Winner: Audience Award
Lumière Awards – Winner: Best Actor
European Film Awards – Winner: Best Actor
European Film Awards – Winner: Best Sound
Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) – Winner: Breakthrough Performance, Abou Sangaré
Riefenstahl
Filmmaker and Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl is considered one of the most controversial women of the 20th century. Her films Triumph of the Will and Olympia are defined by their fascist aesthetics, perfectly-staged body worship, and the celebration of all that is "superior" and victorious, simultaneously projecting contempt for the imperfect and weak. But Riefenstahl – who first broke into the German film industry as an actress – spent decades after the war denying her association with Nazi ideology, and claiming ignorance of the Holocaust. How did she become the Reich's preeminent filmmaker if she was just a hired hand? Riefenstahl examines this question using never-before-seen documents from Leni Riefenstahl's estate, including private films, photos, recordings and letters, uncovering fragments of her biography and placing them in an extended historical context. During her long life after the fall of Nazism, she remained unapologetic, managing to control and shape her legacy; in personal documents, she mourns her "murdered ideals." Meanwhile, her work would experience a renaissance, gaining esteem for its masterful technical skill. Today, Riefenstahl's aesthetics are more present than ever. Is that also true for their message? In an era where fascism is on the rise again, fake news is prevalent, and the meaning of political imagery is constantly dissected and debated, Andres Veiel's mesmerizing new film shows that Leni Riefenstahl is more relevant than ever.
The chilling and urgent documentary has been recognized as one of the year’s best by:
Riefenstahl has been awarded and nominated by several festivals and award ceremonies, including:
Venice Film Festival (2024) – Winner: Cinema & Arts Award
AARP Movies for Grownups – Nominee: Best Documentary
Cinema Eye Honors – Nominee: Editing
Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Nominee: Best Documentary Feature
Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Nominee: Best Archival Documentary
Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Nominee: Best Historical Documentary
European Film Awards – Nominee: Best European Film
European Film Awards – Nominee: Best European Documentary
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle – Nominee: Best Documentary
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
In 1987, at the age of just 21, Marlee Matlin shattered expectations as the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award® for her groundbreaking performance in Children of a Lesser God. Catapulted into the spotlight, she seized the moment to challenge an industry unprepared for her immense talent, emerging as a trailblazer not only as a performer but also as an author and activist. Matlin's incredible journey continued with standout roles in acclaimed projects such as The West Wing and the Oscar®-winning CODA, all while relentlessly advocating for greater inclusion and accessibility both within Hollywood and beyond its borders. Matlin opens up about her personal and professional struggles – her meteoric rise to fame, the challenges of navigating a predominantly hearing industry, the pain of a tumultuous high-profile relationship, getting sober and years of being overlooked by Hollywood – alongside her many triumphs. Director Shoshannah Stern reimagines traditional documentary storytelling, elevating ASL as the film’s heart and soul while removing conventional voiceovers and including open captions, creating an authentic and visually immersive experience. Through split-screen interviews with both Deaf and hearing contributors, the film weaves a poignant and inspiring narrative of Matlin’s legendary career, highlighting her tireless fight for inclusion and representation in an entertainment world that at first had no place for her.
Matlin’s story has been included in the following best of 2025 lists:
The New York Times – (honorable mention)
Entertainment Weekly – (honorable mention)
The documentary has also been recognized by several festivals and awards. Here is a sampling:
Cleveland International Film Festival – Winner: ReelWomenDirect Award for Excellence in Directing by a Woman
Nantucket Film Festival – Winner: Maria Mitchell Visionary Award
Sundance Film Festival – Nominee: Grand Jury Prize
SXSW – Nominee: Audience Prize
Cinema Eye Honors – Nominee: Audience Choice Prize
Cinema Eye Honors – Nominee: Best Debut
Cinema Eye Honors – Nominee: Best Sound Design
The Annihilation of Fish
Winner of an Honorary Academy Award® for lifetime achievement, Charles Burnett remains one of our country’s most celebrated independent filmmakers. In his charming The Annihilation of Fish, Lynn Redgrave plays Poinsettia, a former housewife with an imagined lover in the form of 19th-century composer Giacomo Puccini. She moves into a Los Angeles boarding house with an energetic landlady (Margot Kidder) where she meets a Jamaican widower, Fish (James Earl Jones), who has recently been released from a mental institution despite his continued battles against unseen demons. In the face of personal challenges and differences, the couple grows together and begins to discover new things about themselves and the nuances of love and happiness.
Twenty-six years after Burnett made The Annihilation of Fish, we were honored to give the film its long overdue theatrical and home entertainment release this year. These critics also loved rediscovering the film:
The New York Times (honorable mention)
Film Comment (honorable mention)
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk offers an intimate, first-hand perspective on life under siege in Gaza, captured through video calls between director Sepideh Farsi and 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and poet Fatma Hassona. Combining raw immediacy with deep humanity, the film captures daily life during the conflict through the eyes and unwaveringly optimistic presence of Fatma, a talented photographer whose generation is trapped in an endless cycle of war, famine, and resistance. Her conversations with Farsi bring us into the heart of the conflict, even while their physical distance underscores the dire situation inside Gaza. Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk is an essential document that now stands as a heartfelt memorial and final testament: Fatma and her family were tragically killed by a targeted Israeli airstrike on April 16, one day after the film was announced as a selection of the Cannes Film Festival.
Farsi’s stirring documentary has been named one of the year’s best films by the following outlets:
The Hollywood Reporter (honorable mention)
Besides landing on top critics’ lists, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk has also garnered some well-deserved accolades and nominations. Here are just a few:
National Board of Review – Winner: The NBR Freedom of Expression Award
Chicago International Film Festival – Winner: Best Documentary
Festival de Nouveau Cinema – Winner: Winner of the Audience Prize
Cinema Eye Honors – Nominee: Unforgettables Honoree
Cinema Eye Honors – Nominee: Nonfiction Feature
Gotham Awards – Nominee: Best Documentary Feature
COMING TO KINO FILM COLLECTION JANUARY 22