REVIEW: Censor (Sundance 2021)
Newsflash: All your favourite slashers are weaker than the censor. It matters not if you’re the next Jason, Freddy or Pinhead, or if you are them, with just one strike the censor can shorten, curb, alter or altogether eliminate their killing spree. And they can…
REVIEW: Pleasure/Violation (Sundance 2021)
Two takes on sexual subject-matters from women directors that are deliberately provocative, but with very different results. After decades of men directing films featuring women who are nude and in various sexual scenes and scenarios, it is refreshing that we’re starting to see some examples…
REVIEW: Cryptozoo/Strawberry Mansion (Sundance 2021)
Two weirdly wonderful and colourfully creative stories that brought a burst of unique invention to the fest. Cryptozoo is an animation-for-adults that seems very much a throwback to the late 60s/early 70s in its styling and its bizarre storyline. Strawberry Mansion is an indie romantic…
REVIEW: Flee/Captains of Zaatari (Sundance 2021)
Two documentaries that capture different stages in the journey of being a refugee and which blur the lines between documentary, drama and animation. Flee is about an Afghan refugee in Denmark, through the lens of a close friend who discovers his backstory as we do….
REVIEW: In the Earth (Sundance 2021)
It was inevitable that the pandemic was going to end up being a presence at Sundance 2021 and that it would be the first festival where the effects of Covid-19 would really be felt. It’s a festival almost entirely made up of films that were…
REVIEW: Street Gang – How We Got to Sesame Street (Sundance 2021)
It’s difficult to think of a show in the history of television that has amassed more good will over the years than Sesame Street. Honestly, it’s pretty much a tie between the Muppets and Mr Roger’s Neighborhood. And for a lot of viewers, especially younger…
REVIEW: Sabaya (Sundance 2021)
Soldiers are not the only ones scarred by war. A nation in conflict, especially when experiencing the unique trauma and destruction of civil war, is like a broken mirror. Tiny, jagged pieces of glass that can’t quite be put back to the way they were….
REVIEW: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World (Sundance 2021)
Child actors have long been a source of fascination, with a recent HBO documentary directed by Alex Winter (called Showbiz Kids) being the latest example of our need to understand “where did it all go wrong?” in many cases. Only a rarefied few successfully make…
SUNDANCE INTERVIEW: ‘Eight for Silver’ Director Sean Ellis
Eight for Silver is a period horror film and spin on the werewolf myth by British writer-director Sean Ellis, which stars Boyd Holbrook, Kelly Reilly and Alistair Petrie. Ellis’ previous feature films are Cashback starring Emilia Fox and Michelle Ryan, The Broken starring Lena Headey,…
SUNDANCE INTERVIEW: ‘The Unseen River’ Director Phạm Ngọc Lân
My eyes immediately caught it: a name, with diacritics and tones used in the Vietnamese language. The occasion is the all-virtual 2021 Sundance. A member of my community at a renowned film festival? It is precisely the kind of two-and-two that will place me over…
SUNDANCE INTERVIEW: ‘Mayday’ Director Karen Cinorre
Mayday, a dreamlike fantasy about a woman who wakes up on a mysterious shore where she encounters a group of female warriors engaged in a seemingly endless war, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It is the feature debut of director Karen Cinorre, and stars…
REVIEW: Mayday (Sundance 2021)
Feminist rage is not new: sirens lured sailors to their deaths in Greek mythology thousands of years ago, and the famous Amazonian warriers battled armies of men and matched them blow for blow. It’s with these stories in mind that Karen Cinorre makes her feature…
REVIEW: Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
I recently watched an interview with director Shaka King, talking about what defines his latest film Judas and the Black Messiah – history. It’s a great point of reference when placed in context. The stories we’re frequently exposed to, are stories we’ve grown accustomed to….
