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This last year has been a drought for movie-lovers by most standards. But if you\u2019re looking for silver linings, you could do worse than noting that there\u2019s a fresh edition of the New Directors/New Films festival happening a mere four months after the 2020 edition.\xa0This year is extra special: it returns the festival to theaters alongside virtual screenings, and it also marks the 50th anniversary of New Directors/New Films. It\u2019s a nice reminder that despite all the doom-saying, cinema\u2019s future remains as vibrant as its past.\xa0To preview the lineup, FC editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute were joined by critics Vadim Rizov and Chloe Lizotte\u2014both veterans of our 2020 New Directors talk\u2014 for a live taping of the podcast. The four discussed festival highlights including Amalia Ulman\u2019s El Planeta, James Vaughan\u2019s Friends and Strangers, Fern Silva\u2019s Rock Bottom Riser, Salom\xe9 Jashi\u2019s Taming the Garden, Mani Kaul's Duvidha, and more.\n\nThis episode of the Film Comment Podcast is sponsored by MUBI. Film Comment readers and listeners can get 30 days of great cinema free at mubi.com/filmcomment.