Everybody is trying to convince you to buy a book for Christmas, so why don’t you watch a good movie instead? Here are some of our favorites from 2017.

1. Happy End by Michael Haneke (Drama) – A fearful new world of lives adrift.
2. The Great Buddha + by H. Hsin-Yao (Drama) – Neither new nor improved.
3. Motherland by Ramona S. Diaz (Doc) – Masterpiece of Filipino neorealism.
4. The Rider by Chloé Zhao (Drama) – Frail human nature in the “Wild West”.
5. Can’t Say Goodbye by Lino Escalera (Drama) – Debut film with great acting.
6. Just Like Our Parents by Laís Bodanzky (Drama) – Brazilian cinema at its best.
7. The Sea Stares at Us from Afar by Manuel M. Rivas (Doc) – Time and the land.
8. Faces Places by JR, Agnès Varda (Doc) – A very special journey in rural France.
9. Under the Tree by Hafsteinn Sigurðsson (Drama) – Pitch-dark Icelandic humor.
10. Taste of Cement by Ziad Kalthoum (Doc) – War as the only travel opportunity.

An acclaimed film director (Agnes Varda) and a young, brilliant photographer (JR) travel around rural France with no fixed plan in mind. To guide them is the power of images, which in this case serve to preserve the memory of the places.

Faces Places is an inspiring documentary/road movie of rare tenderness and gentle irony. The unusual couple works perfectly even though she’s losing sight and he always wears sunglasses like J. L. Godard. Past and future shake hands.