This article appeared in the February 14, 2025 edition of The Film Comment Letter, our free weekly newsletter featuring original film criticism and writing. Attendees thus tend to have very different experiences at IFFR, depending on their interests and dedication to exploring the program’s furthest reaches. The filmmaking duo Artemis Shaw and Prashanth Kamalakanthan are uninhibited by such reservations: they’ve made a habit of putting their lives on screen. Jordan Cronk is a film critic and the founder of the Acropolis Cinema screening series in Los Angeles. In addition to his work for Film Comment, he is a regular contributor to Artforum, MUBI Notebook, Reverse Shot, Sight and Sound, and more.