Film Criticism
Hugo’s film writing includes theatrical releases, festival coverage, in-depth interviews and essays. He specialises in probing interviews with directors, cinematographers and composers that explore their craft and unique sensibilities in equal measure.
His English-language bylines include MUBI Notebook, Filmmaker Magazine, Documentary Magazine, Talking Shorts, Swissinfo, In Review Online, and the Locarno Pardo, of which he is Deputy Digital Editor. In Dutch, he is an editor of Filmkrant, the Netherlands’ leading independent film magazine.
For writing commissions and editorial collaborations, get in touch.
A Selection of Bylines
Sex and the City 2 and the end of America
Little White Lies — A contrarian defence of the film’s extravagance, arguing its excess is precisely the point. From the In Praise Of series.
Documentary Magazine — Tamara Kotevska on The Tale of Silyan, the Macedonian fable she transformed into a heart-wrenching documentary about environmental and economic collapse. Co-written with Sonya Vseliubska.
Documentary Magazine — Gianfranco Rosi on Below the Clouds, observation as method, and sculpting a microcosm of Naples under perpetual threat.
MUBI Notebook — Oneohtrix Point Never on scoring Marty Supreme: embracing naivety and challenging conventional time in music.
MUBI Notebook — Sergei Loznitsa on State Funeral: the archive as commentary on the stifled masses in Russia’s history of violence and repression.
Filmmaker Magazine — Kangding Ray on scoring Sirāt: embodying spiritual existentialism through decaying club music.
Filmmaker Magazine — Max Richter on scoring Hamnet: grief and empathy channeled through forward-thinking music stemmed from traditional musical principles.
“The Best Thing for Coppola Would Be to Have Zero Budget”
Filmmaker Magazine — Mike Figgis on Megadoc, his documentary about the making of Megalopolis — what happens when a legend goes big, while grand cinema can also be small?
Filmmaker Magazine — Cinematographer Jasper Wolf on shooting Babygirl: intimacy, the visual language of power, and how to film desire without sensationalising it.
“The Best is Always Zero Budget”
Filmmaker Magazine — David Verbeek on The Wolf, the Fox, and the Leopard: exploring isolation and post-modern ennui on a grand scale.
“Making films should be as easy as breathing”
Talking Shorts — Apichatpong Weerasethakul on his short films, his contemplative artistic practice, and the necessity for play and experimentation in film.
A tale of exploitation in Alpine ski resorts
Swissinfo — Dominik Locher and Honeylyn Joy Alipio on Enjoy Your Stay and the labour conditions hidden beneath the pristine surface of Swiss resort culture.
Sri Lankan artist challenges Swiss museums over looted heritage
Swissinfo — Gregor Brändli and Deneth Piumakshi Veda Arachchige on Elephants & Squirrels and the slippery process of decolonial restitution put to practice.
“My real job is watching movies”
Locarno Pardo — Alexander Payne on receiving the Pardo d’Onore at Locarno, his undying love for classic film, and the secret of making superstars disappear in a film role.
‘Filmmaking is an Instinctive Process’
Locarno Pardo — Alfonso Cuarón on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno, instinct over calculation, and the films that shaped his sense of what cinema can do.
‘A Transformation of Anger into Beauty’
Locarno Pardo — Mohammad Rasoulof on The Seed of the Sacred Fig, making films under threat, and how rage can be a force for good if channeled through art.
A Huge Shawarma With Everything
In Review Online — Radu Jude on Dracula: his most audience-friendly film that’s still wildly experimental and sometimes intentionally off-putting.
In Review Online — Kathryn Bigelow’s clockwork precision thriller on impending nuclear terror is the finest crystallisation of her obsession with the American Military Industrial Complex.
Between a Terrorist and a Saint
In Review Online — Óliver Laxe on Sirât: the film’s spiritual geography, what it means to wager your body against a landscape, and the line between devotion and self-destruction.
The Periphery is Never the Problem
In Review Online — Oleksiy Radynski on Special Operation: a surveillance doc at the verge of nuclear calamity that channels the mythology and iconography of Chornobyl.
In Review Online — The surprisingly affective new work by the Dardennes brims with precious and fragile life.