What could the cinema do for us, in a year as violent and divided as 2024? It’s a lot to ask of art to save the planet, but it can at least, we hope, inform and educate, broadening our collective horizons – a salve in an age of misinformation, culture wars and starkly polarised political debates. The international diversity of this year’s winners and their subject matter, chosen by a global pool of critics, gives a heartening sense of broadened horizons. Cinema has always been the fastest way totravel.Our worthy winner is a film about love, but one that takes a clear stance against Islamophobia and other religious, caste and class prejudices that constrict real people’s lives. For its maker, love can be “both a form of resistance against society, but also [a step] towards having choice for women”. Such a feminist message sits comfortably at the top of this year’s poll. There are more female than male directors in the top ten, a feat that has only happened once before, in the pandemic y...
