So it goes that another great first six months of cinema has and will continue to be overlooked in favor of the glut of prestige product coming down the pike. Sure, we at InRO are used to this by now, but it doesn’t take the sting out of knowing that some of the year’s best never travels outside New York, if it manages to find release on our shores at all. All fifteen of my selections below received at least a one-week run somewhere in the U.S.; for those not currently residing in one of the major metropolises, many of these films are now receiving Blu-ray and DVD release via a handful of companies dedicated to contracting the chasm between critical discourse and audience interaction. That’s a rather fortunate development for those curious about a number of the films we’ve highlighted at InRO—and even some of those that we haven’t—that are included below. Three films in particular feel like new benchmarks: Béla Tarr’s apocalyptic swan song "The Turin Horse," Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb’s inspiring, radically industrious experiment "This Is Not a Film" and, most impressively, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s ambitious curtailing of his primary thematic and narrative concerns, "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia." That said, these fifteen films aren’t even representative of how strong a year it has been for American film. In addition to those noted below ("4:44 Last Day on Earth," "The Color Wheel"), there’s also been wonderful work from contemporary mainstays Steven Soderbergh ("Magic Mike"), Wes Anderson ("Moonrise Kingdom"), Richard Linklater ("Bernie"), and Whit Stillman ("Damsels in Distress").

Films eligible for this list were theatrically released in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and June 31st, 2012.

1. •  4:44 Last Day on Earth / Abel Ferrara
   

2. •  Attenberg / Athina Rachel Tsangari
   

3. •  A Burning Hot Summer / Philippe Garrel
   

4. •  The Color Wheel / Alex Ross Perry
   

5. •  Crazy Horse / Frederick Wiseman
   

6. •  The Day He Arrives / Hong Sangsoo
   

7. •  The Deep Blue Sea / Terence Davies
   

8. •  Goodbye First Love / Maria Hansen-Løve
   

9. •  The Kid with a Bike / Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
   

10. •  Once Upon a Time in Anatolia / Nuri Bilge Ceylan
    

11. •  Oslo, August 31st / Joachim Trier
    

12. •  Post Mortem / Pablo Larraín
    

13. •  The Turin Horse / Bela Tarr
    

14. •  This Is Not a Film / Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
    

15. •  Whores’ Glory / Michael Glawogger
    

• For more Year in Review features, see our Feature Articles section.

Feature by:
Jordan Cronk