THE 11+1 BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS OF 2016
In an exceptional year for the seventh art with films of a high level of quality, we want to make a ranking of the 11 best independent films and the best commercial movie of 2016.
Our contributors have voted their favorite films, with and without order of preference according to some cases, and these have been the films chosen:
Eduardo Casanova (Contributor and Founder)
1. SUBURRA by Stefano Sollima.
2. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford.
3. SING STREET by John Carney.
4. THE OPEN DOOR (LA PUERTA ABIERTA) by Marina Seresesky.
5. THE NEXT SKIN (LA PRÓXIMA PIEL) by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo.
6. LA PUNTA DEL ICEBERG by David Cánovas.
7. WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE by Hiromasa Yonebayashi.
8. COME WHAT MAY by Christian Carion.
9. MAGALLANES by Salvador del Solar.
10. GOD WILLING (SE DIO VUOLE) by Edoardo Maria Falcone.
11. THE FENCER by Klaus Härö.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. MAY GOD SAVE US (QUE DIOS NOS PERDONE) by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
María José Sala (Content Manager)
1. SON OF SAUL by László Nemes.
2. JULIETA by Pedro Almodovar.
3. THE INVITATION by Karyn Kusama.
4. THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER (DER STAAT GEGEN FRITZ BAUER) by Lars Kraume.
5. THE WITCH by Robert Eggers / THE HANDMAIDEN (AGASSI) by Park Chan-wook.
6. COWBOYS (LES COWBOYS) by Thomas Bidegain.
7. THE NEON DEMON by Nicolas Winding Refn.
8. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford.
9. THE WAILING (GOKSUNG) by Na Hong-jin.
10. ELLE by Paul Verhoeven.
11. VIVA by Paddy Breathnach / THE NEXT SKIN (LA PRÓXIMA PIEL) by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo.
Commercial Film of the Year
EX AEQUO:
1. MAY GOD SAVE US (QUE DIOS NOS PERDONE) by Rodrigo Sorogoyen / SMOKE AND MIRRORS (EL HOMBRE DE LAS MIL CARAS) by Alberto Rodríguez.
Jaime Alonso de Linaje (Contributor)
1. THE HANDMAIDEN (AGASSI) by Park Chan-wook.
2. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY by Peter Strickland.
3. THINGS TO COME (L’AVENIR) by Mia Hansen-Løve.
4. THE TRIBE by Miroslav Slaboshpitsky.
5. ANOMALISA by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson.
6. THE INVITATION by Karym Kusama.
7. ELLE by Paul Verhoeven.
8. VIRGIN MOUNTAIN (FUSI) by Dagur Kári.
9. LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP by Whit Stillman.
10. MUSTANG by Deniz Gamze Ergüven.
11. ROOM by Lenny Abrahamson / HELL OR HIGH WATER by David Mackenzie.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. ARRIVAL by Denis Villeneuve.
Iulia García (Contributor)
1. BOY AND THE WORLD (O MENINO E O MUNDO) by Alê Abreu.
2. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford.
3. THE NEON DEMON by Nicolas Winding Refn.
4. THE OPEN DOOR (LA PUERTA ABIERTA) by Marina Seresesky.
5. THE MOTHER (LA MADRE) by Alberto Morais.
6. THE TRIBE by Miroslav Slaboshpitsky.
7. SING STREET by John Carney.
8. THE RECONQUEST (LA RECONQUISTA) by Jonas Trueba.
9. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY by Peter Strickland.
10. EVERYBODY WANTS SOME by Richard Linklater.
11. RUMBOS by Manuela Burló Moreno.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. GHOSTBUSTERS by Paul Feig.
Sandra Gonzálvez (Contributor)
1. BLACK by Adil El Arbi and Billall Fallah.
2. CAPTAIN FANTASTIC by Matt Ross.
3. ANTHROPOID by Sean Ellis.
4. I, DANIEL BLAKE by Ken Loach.
5. IDOL by Hany Abu-Assad.
6. VIVA by Paddy Breathnach.
7. THE FENCER by Klaus Härö.
8. HELL OR HIGH WATER by David Mackenzie.
9. THE OPEN DOOR (LA PUERTA ABIERTA) by Marina Seresesky.
10. SING STREET by John Carney.
11. TRUMBO by Jay Roach.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. ARRIVAL by Denis Villeneuve.
Alejandro Martínez (Contributor)
1. AFTER LOVE (L’ÉCONOMIE DU COUPLE) by Joachim Lafosse.
2. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford.
3. THE WAILING (GOKSUNG) by Na Hong-jin.
4. THE BOY AND THE BEAST by Mamoru Hosoda.
5. ROOM by Lenny Abrahamson.
6. SING STREET by John Carney.
7. THE GIFT by Joel Edgerton.
8. SON OF SAUL by László Nemes.
9. MUSTANG by Deniz Gamze Ergüven.
10. THE INVITATION by Karyn Kusama.
11. JULIETA by Pedro Almodóvar.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. ARRIVAL by Denis Villeneuve.
Alejandro Serrano (Contributor)
1. THE ACADEMY OF THE MUSES (LA ACADEMIA DE LAS MUSAS) by José Luis Guerín.
2. THE DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN (EL CIUDADANO ILUSTRE) by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat.
3. YOUTH by Paolo Sorrentino.
4. ELLE by Paul Verhoeven.
5. ROOM by Lenny Abrahamson.
6. SING STREET by John Carney.
7. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford.
8. I, DANIEL BLAKE by Ken Loach.
9. CAPTAIN FANTASTIC by Matt Ross.
10. A QUIET PASSION by Terence Davies.
11. BONE TOMAHAWK by S. Craig Zahler.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. MOANA by John Musker, Ron Clements, Don Hall and Chris Williams.
Irene Subiela (Contributor)
1. YOUTH by Paolo Sorrentino.
2. SING STREET by John Carney.
3. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford.
4. THE WITCH by Robert Eggers.
5. TRUMBO by Jay Roach.
6. THE COMMUNE (KOLLEKTIVET) by Thomas Vinterberg.
7. EVERYBODY WANTS SOME by Richard Linklater.
8. PATERSON by Jim Jarmusch.
9. FRÁGIL EQUILIBRIO by Guillermo García López.
10. THE MOTHER (LA MADRE) by Alberto Morais.
11. SUBURRA by Stefano Sollima.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. ARRIVAL by Denis Villeneuve.
Christian Salom (Contributor)
1. AMERICAN HONEY by Andrea Arnold.
2. YOUTH by Paolo Sorrentino.
3. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford.
4. BONE TOMAHAWK by S. Craig Zahler.
5. GREEN ROOM by Jeremy Saulnier.
6. HITCHCOK / TRUFFAUT by Kent Jones.
7. THE RECONQUEST (LA RECONQUISTA) by Jonas Trueba.
8. SON OF SAUL by László Nemes.
9. HARDCORE HENRY by Ilya Naishuller.
10. THE TREASURE (COMOARA) by Corneliu Porumboiu.
11. THE OTHERS MIRROR (EL ESPEJO DE LOS OTROS) by Marcos Carnevale.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. THE BIG SHORT by Adam McKay.
Vicky Díaz (Contributor)
1. THINGS TO COME (L’AVENIR) by Mia Hansen-Løve.
2. FRANTZ by Fraçois Ozon.
3. GENIUS by Michael Grandange.
4. PATERSON by Jim Jarmusch.
5. IN BETWEEN (BAR BAHAR) by Maysaloum Hamoud.
6. THE INNOCENTS (LES INNOCENTES) by Anne Fontaine.
7. ROOM by Lenny Abrahamson.
8. THE INVITATION by Karyn Kusama.
9. THE INFILTRATROR by Brad Furman.
10. THE WITCH by Robert Eggers.
11. HELL OR HIGH WATER by David Mackenzie.
Commercial Film of the Year
1. THE HATEFUL EIGHT by Quentin Tarantino.
Eduardo Llorente (Director and founder)
In my personal choice, it has been very difficult for me choose a single listing of 11 independent films and a commercial movie, so I had to use the “Ex aequo” resource so used in the different film festivals, to indicate that there is a technical draw as a preference for one or another film.
1. SON OF SAUL by László Nemes.
2. AMERICAN HONEY by Andrea Arnold / THE NEON DEMON by Nicolas Winding Refn.
3. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford / HIGH-RISE by Ben Wheatley.
4. YOUTH by Paolo Sorrentino / COWBOYS (LES COWBOYS) by Thomas Bidegain.
5. THE WITCH by Robert Eggers / THE INVITATION by Karym Kusama.
6. EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE) by Ciro Guerra / HITCHCOK / TRUFFAUT by Kent Jones.
7. VIVA by Paddy Breathnach.
8. THE HANDMAIDEN (AGASSI) by Park Chan-wook / ELLE by Paul Verhoeven.
9. JULIETA by Pedro Almodovar / THE NEXT SKIN (LA PRÓXIMA PIEL) by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo.
10. GREEN ROOM by Jeremy Saulnier.
11. THE WAILING (GOKSUNG) by Na Hong-jin / OUR LITTLE SISTER (UMIMACHI DIARY) by Hirokazu Koreeda.
Commercial Film of the Year
EX AEQUO:
1. ARRIVAL by Denis Villeneuve / MAY GOD SAVE US (QUE DIOS NOS PERDONE) by Rodrigo Sorogoyen / THE HATEFUL EIGHT by Quentin Tarantino.
After the count of all the films of the different rankings of the web’s contributors, a tie of eight films with three votes has been found, reason why it has had to make a final tie-breaker, after which we already have the ones that are for Ineditofilms the 11 best independent films and the best commercial movie of 2016:
1. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS by Tom Ford (8 votes)
2. SING STREET by John Carney (6 votes)
3. THE INVITATION by Karyn Kusama (5 votes)
4. SON OF SAUL by László Nemes (4 votes)
5. THE WITCH by Robert Eggers (4 votes)
6. YOUTH by Paolo Sorrentino (4 votes)
7. ROOM by Lenny Abrahamson (4 votes)
8. ELLE by Paul Verhoeven (4 votes)
9. THE NEON DEMON by Nicolas Winding Refn (3 votes)
10. THE HANDMAIDEN (AGASSI) by Park Chan-wook (3 votes)
11. THE OPEN DOOR (LA PUERTA ABIERTA) by Marina Seresesky (3 votes)
Commercial Film of the Year
1. ARRIVAL by Denis Villeneuve (5 votes)
Finally, great films have been left out of the final list of the best films chosen in the independent and commercial categories, which reflects the very good level of films that has had this past year, excellent feature films like: “Viva” by Paddy Breathnach, “Julieta” by Pedro Almodóvar, “The Next Skin” (“La próxima piel”) by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo, “The Wailing” (“Goksung”) by Nah Hong-jin, “Hell or High Water” by David Mackenzie, “Cowboys” (“Les Cowboys”) by Thomas Bidegain, “American honey” by Andrea Arnold, “High-Rise” by Ben Wheatley, “Embrace of the Serpent” (“El abrazo de la serpiente”) by Ciro Guerra, “Hitchcok / Truffaut” by Kent Jones, “Green Room” by Jeremy Saulnier, “Our Little Sister” (“Umimachi Diary”) by Hirokazu Koreeda, “I, Daniel Blake” by Ken Loach, “Captain Fantastic” by Matt Ross, “Bone Tomahawk” by S. Craig Zahler, “Mustang” by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, “The Mother” (“La Madre”) by Alberto Morais, “The Tribe” by Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, “The Reconquest” (“La reconquista”) by Jonás Trueba, “The Duke of Burgundy” by Peter Strickland, “Everybody Wants Some” by Richard Linklater, “Suburra” by Stefano Sollima, “The Fencer” by Klaus Härö, “Trumbo” by Jay Roach, “Paterson” by Jim Jarmusch, “Things to Come” (“L’Avenir”) by Mia Hansen-Løve, “The People Vs. Fritz Bauer” (“Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer”) by Lars Kraume, “May God save us” (“Que Dios nos perdonde”) by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, “The Hateful Eight” by Quentin Tarantino, among others.
Although many have not been in the final ranking, are not exempt from treasuring an excellent quality in a great 2016 that has been especially good for independent cinema and for cinema in general.
Traducido por: Eduardo Llorente.
