Throughout the decades, the prominence of Native American men and women has declined. Undoubtedly, this is because of the horrific suffering they have endured due to colonization, as well as the widespread struggles on reservations nowadays. While foreign colonizers tried hard to strip away the culture of Native Americans, the people fought hard to preserve…
Category: Film
Fragments Festival: “Pure Grit” Review
Horses have been a part of Native American culture for a very long time, and most of their cultural iconography is filled with equestrian imagery, making a clear distinction in Indigenous art. Pure Grit, a documentary directed by Kim Bartley, depicts the story of Sharmaine, a young Native American woman who lives in the Wind…
Fragments Festival: “Framing Agnes” – Trans Lives Through the Lens – Film Review
Chas Joynt’s award-winning, solo documentary debut, based upon his 2018 critically acclaimed short of the same name, casts a critical eye over trans histories as marked out by the singular, exceptional, trans person in the popular domain. This follows the documentary No Ordinary Man based on the life of Billy Tipton that he co-directed with…
Fragments Festival: “To Kill The Beast” Review
To Kill The Beast is the first feature film of Agustina San Martin, whose short films have garnered prestigious awards at film festivals including Cannes with Monster God (2019). The Argentinian director has also worked as a screenwriter, colourist, and cinematographer. Between 2020 and 2022, she was mentored by Lin-Manuel Miranda, actor, singer, songwriter and…
When is a Zombie not a Zombie: “The Retaliators” Review
A word to the wise, never show characters watching a seminal film that is far better than the one they are in (here the film is Romero’s classic The Night of the Living Dead). A pastor, Bishop (Michael Lombardi), loses his eldest daughter as a result of a drug exchange that goes wrong and must decide…
79th Venice International Film Festival – “Burning Hearts” Review
Deep in the Apulian countryside, resides two powerful families with a venomous hatred of each other – the Malatestas and the Camporeales. It’s been around 40 years since their last bloodshed and ever since both families have been stuck in a tense stalemate with each other. All until the young Malatesta heir Andrea (Francesco Patanè)…
79th Venice International Film Festival – “World War III” Review
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Houman Seyedi’s World War III starts with this quote oft-attributed to Mark Twain. One of the four Iranian titles premiering at Venice this year and the director’s sixth feature, the Orizzonti section finalist proves a bracing slow-burner that leaves you gaping by the time the credits start…
“Laundromat on the Corner” Review
The Laundromat on the Corner is a 17-minute short film and the directorial debut of Japanese producer and writer, Tetsuki Ijichi. While it takes the form of a traditional “Asian” ghost story, it uses this form to relate an intercultural love story, which crosses not only cultures but also the boundary between life and death….
“A Wicked Tale” Review
A Wicked Tale is an experimental film that reworks the cautionary story of Little Red Riding Hood. With a running time of just over 44 minutes, Singaporean director Tzang Merwyn Tong’s debut feature premiered at the 34th Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2005. While there are numerous versions of Little Red Riding Hood across cultures,…
“The Roundup” Review
When The Outlaws, written and directed by Kang Yoon-sung, came out in 2017, the film became the third highest-grossing film of that year in South Korea. The production had enough thrills and suspense to satisfy even the most jaded sensation-seekers. It took a few years before the second instalment, The Roundup, was released onto the…
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