AFRICAN FILM

The Telugu film RRR is an incredible mixture of genres, influences, and ideas: a historical epic with obvious ahistorical qualities, a combat-heavy actioner with exuberant song-and-dance numbers, a homosocial friendship drama with recognizably romantic montages. Strong notes of melodrama accent its potent blend.

Used to be a time when there were worries that African films could hardly compete with their global counterparts. But as the Sundance entries prove, those days may be long gone. The critics have been near universal in their praise and so have the festival juries and industry awarding bodies.