Kaleem Aftab

Movie critic on BBC Radio London ( Robert Elms) Talent Editor @Galeriefilms Fulham Fan Views my own

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@ChrisHarihar Celebrity isn't dying, it went online. Actors can build audiences just like directors now. What changed: studios can't manufacture it anymore. Individual reach is the currency.

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

Internet creators like Kane Parsons (Backrooms) and Curry Barker (Obsession) are not reinventing cinema. they're changing the algorithm.
studios are finally learning: pair web creatives with A-list actors, and you win at the box office.
here's the pattern. 1/9

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

I'm so excited that a film I produced Memory of Princess Mumbi is Coming to America on August 14... https://t.co/DAClw0Eu2c

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@ChrisHarihar Backrooms has two actors who have been Oscar nominated! But I take your point on board and thank you for engaging, It's appreciated, I just feel that with actors you recognise something goes from being on the internet to broad appeal.

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

Listen to Emma Jones and myself discuss Backrooms on Cinema In One Take Podcast on Apple → https://t.co/08t6yxCxL0 and Spotify → https://t.co/1vAKBufVLj 9/9

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

Read the full breakdown on Substack. the Saudi Arabia precedent, how Cannes is adapting, and why this matters for what cinema becomes next. Link → https://t.co/5gBEmNxKPN 8/9

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@TalapSiur Clockwork Orange is actually different. That's state punishment disguised as care. The ones that actually parallel Fjord are the ones about systems genuinely believing they're helping (Cuckoo's Nest, Ladybird Ladybird) but harming through their logic. That is where I'd agree

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

The Palme d'Or used to critique traditional institutions. Patriarchal families. Authoritarian states. Oppressive churches. But Cannes 2026 went somewhere different. Fjord critiques progressivism itself. And it's divisive for a reason.

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@TalapSiur Cuckoo's Nest exposed explicit cruelty. Fjord shows how genuine care, when fused with certainty, becomes oppressive. Same critique of institutions, but the mechanism is fundamentally different—not bullies, but benevolent certainty.

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@TalapSiur You're right. The essay notes this is a cinema tradition. The shift is what we now see as oppressive. The 60s/70s critiqued systems built on force and hierarchy. Now we're questioning systems built explicitly to protect and care.

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

and for those who prefer to listen on the Apple platform https://t.co/JpVOrqQD6u

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

For everyone asking for more on Fjord. We did a full podcast discussion about the film, the Cannes shift, and why it's the thought-provoking movie that both liberals and traditionalists need to watch today. https://t.co/ar3yiz9xNQ

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@paintedstork_ Thanks for engaging did you read the article as well?

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@sperling @OwenGleiberman Link to piece for those interested https://t.co/QFEIqwBrgD and to our podcast https://t.co/PRlgACx53A

[Kaleem Aftab @aftabamon]

@sperling @OwenGleiberman Thanks! Means a lot coming from you