Autumn-time 1958, two individuals have broken into the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City and made off with thousands of dollars’ worth of luxurious Italian wigs. The accused are the two drag queens Claudia – Claude Diaz – and Josephine Baker – Robert Perez – who stole the wigs for their own drag acts…
Music for Healing: BTS MTV Unplugged Review
MTV Unplugged is a flagship MTV programme which was launched on 26th November 1989 with performances by Elliot Easton (The Cars), Syd Straw and Squeeze. With acoustic sets and stripped back, pared down. performances, Unplugged featured iconic sets by some of the most famous musicians of the time including Aerosmith, Elton John, Annie Lennox, George…
“I’m Quite Happily Living My Life Because I am Doing What I Want To Do.” – In Conversation with ColorTheBen
Let there be no mistake, becoming a singer isn’t an easy task. However, with a love for music, expressing one’s feelings and inspiring people to do the same, more people are encouraged to take on a new journey of becoming an artist, in whatever capacity it suits an individual. Born in South Korea, Ben Kang…
“You Have to Put Your Heart in the Project for Your Project to Have Heart.” – In Conversation with Kevin Derek, a Documentary Filmmaker and Producer
When your interview starts with lots of laughter, you know that the conversation is going to be a delightful experience. Kevin Derek is an interesting person; he is smart, humorous and self-critical. But, above all, he is a thoughtful and very passionate, award-winning documentary filmmaker whose latest production More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story…
BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Preview): “Cowboys” Review
In just a few years, there have been major steps forward in trans representation on screen. Complaints about cis gender actors signing on to play trans roles are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, whereas just five years ago it could have been a cynical way for an actor to get an Oscar nomination….
“Fashion Is a Method of Expressing Who I Am” – In Conversation with Kim Won-ki, a South Korean Model
From runways to magazine photoshoots, music videos to countless lookbooks, there is no doubt that Kim Won-ki, a South Korean model, is on a roll. Distinguished by his perms and babyface, Won-ki’s doe-eyed stare has no trouble grabbing the attention of fashion lovers as well as designers. Kim Won-ki has various campaigns and editorials under…
BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Preview): Poppy Field Review
Protests at screenings of LGBTQ+ films are a common sight in Eastern Europe. Most notably, a screening of the Georgian film And Then We Danced led to violent protests after debuting in Tbilisi cinemas, with arrests and hospitalisations as those hostile to the queer coming of age story burned pride flags on the streets outside….
“More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story” Review
“Wax on, wax off”, almost every single generation is familiar with Mr. Miyagi’s famous words from The Karate Kid. Pat Morita, often known for his memorable role as the above-mentioned sensei, was a man of many talents, and what he managed to achieve during his life was incredible. The Karate Kid made Morita into a…
“Space Sweepers” Review
The year is 2092. All of the forests on Earth have vanished and the planet is overrun with sprawling deserts and an acidic soil which causes plants to perish. An organisation titled UTS Corporation have stepped in to offer individuals refuge aboard their luxurious spaceship – that is, if you can afford it. UTS is…
Sundance Film Festival: “Pleasure” Review
Film festivals carry an element of prestige, despite being one of the worst possible ways to watch and assess movies. When you’re watching a minimum of four films a day, films that would otherwise captivate you under normal circumstances become schedule fillers, the festival experience making it easy to wax lyrical about the work that…
International Film Festival Rotterdam: “I Comete – A Corsican Summer” Review
Winner of one of the two Special Jury Awards at this year’s IFFR, I Comete – A Corsican Summer is an ambitious and intricate observation of life on the sun-soaked French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. The feature debut of director and writer Pascal Tagnati, I Comete is a lulling but earnest exploration of…
Sundance Film Festival: “Wild Indian” Review
Native American cinema (North American) has been present for over a couple of decades. However, it started to receive more attention when Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, directed by Zacharias Kunuk, became the first indigenous-language film to win the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2001. Acted entirely in the Inuktitut language, this extraordinary production, in some…
Sundance Film Festival: “Judas and the Black Messiah” Review
Structuring a biopic around a controversial figure is a near impossible art, with mixed results likely to stem from either leaning into or neutering their status. Judas and the Black Messiah opts to lean into the innate complications of William O’Neal, the informant who worked as a Black Panther mole for the FBI, transforming a…
International Film Festival Rotterdam: “Archipel” Review
The French noun for archipelago – an extensive collection of islands, Archipel is a murmuring and drifting exploration of the Saint Lawrence River that runs from The Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Archipel blends the real with the dreamed as it weaves history together with imagination in the form of…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 