You finished the film. That was the hard part — and it’s also the point where most coverage stops paying attention.

Most outlets won’t watch an independent feature without a publicist attached. Aggregators need a critic count you’ll never reach from a festival run. And the places that will write about anything tend to produce writing that reads like it.

I read every submission myself, and I watch the films I take on start to finish, in one sitting. That’s the whole proposition.

What you actually get

  • A published review on CineCinnati — your title, year, director and poster on a real, indexable page that turns up when someone searches your film.
  • Criticism about craft, not plot summary. Direction, performance, editing, sound: what the film is reaching for, and whether it gets there.
  • A pull-quote you can use. If the review is positive, put it on the poster, in the festival deck, in the distributor pitch — just credit CineCinnati.
  • A straight answer either way, within 14 days, so you can plan around it.

What I’m looking for

International and independent cinema is the beat. That isn’t a polite way of saying “anything”:

  • Regional-language features from India — Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali
  • Korean and Japanese features and series
  • European arthouse and Latin American independents
  • Documentaries, particularly ones that didn’t land a festival slot
  • Short films and experimental work
  • Genre films doing something formally interesting

A first feature shot for very little money and a fourth film with a proper crew are equally welcome. Budget has never been the interesting variable.

What I’m probably not the right home for

Worth saying plainly, because it saves us both time:

  • Studio releases with a full press campaign behind them — you don’t need me
  • Films sent purely to harvest a quote, where the work isn’t really the point
  • Anything conditional on a guaranteed rating, or on copy approval before publication

How it works

  1. Send it. The form below takes about two minutes. A private screener link and the basics is all I need.
  2. I watch it. Properly. The whole thing, one sitting, phone in another room.
  3. You hear back within 14 days. If I’m covering it, I’ll tell you roughly when it publishes.

Screener links are never shared, forwarded or redistributed.

Not sure whether your film is a fit? Send it anyway and say so, or write to me directly at manish32112@gmail.com. If you are working to a festival date, a distributor deadline or a wider campaign, tell me what you are planning and we can work out the right way to cover it. I would always rather have the conversation than have you decide for me.