By William Repass. In today’s economic and political climate, it can be tempting to dismiss film as merely spectacle: a flimsy replacement for or deflection from lived experience that nonetheless empowers and enriches the few at the expense of the many. Even accomplished films, if we step back and consider […]
Invincible to the Extreme: Meru
August 30, 2015
By Elias Savada. I like looking at mountains. From a safe distance. Or on my computer screen saver. Occasionally, from above, in a well-protected, warm airplane. And, of course, from the comfort of a nice secure seat in a earthbound movie theatre. I’ll leave the climbing of such extreme big […]
A Dark, Personal Path: Javier Diment on The Rotten Link
August 30, 2015
By Paul Risker. If a film is a journey that starts with a germ of an idea and grows into a fully formed creative and narrative entity, then Argentinian filmmaker Javier Diment’s The Rotten Link (2015) encapsulates this journey that every filmmaker is required to steer and guide their film […]
A Director’s Labour of Love Gone Wrong: Ketan Mehta’s Manjhi: The Mountain Man (2015)
By Devapriya Sanyal. Beginning in 2012, the Indian film audience has been treated on and off to a number of excellent biopics – the topics being covered in these films varying greatly, both in terms of subject matter as well as treatment. Ketan Mehta’s Manjhi: The Mountain Man is one […]
Honor the Benefactor: Aviva Kempner’s Rosenwald
August 28, 2015
By Elias Savada. Aviva Kempner has struck again. A Jewish liberal landmark in Washington for many decades, she has forged a multi-faceted career that includes making documentaries that focus on people and events Jewish. The Washington Jewish Film Festival was started by Kempner in 1990 (she’s still on its advisory […]
Spotlight on the “Final Girl”: Akasha Villalobos and Danielle Evon Ploeger on Last Girl Standing
August 28, 2015
By Paul Risker. Billy Wilder, during his conversations with Charlotte Chandler (Billy Wilder: Nobody’s Perfect: A Personal Biography (2004)) was undecided whether The Apartment’s (1960) romantic leads Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine would remain together. The contemplation alone, however, is enough to infer that a film continues to exist beyond […]
Letting Your Freak Flag Fly: Pat Mills’ Guidance
August 24, 2015
By Elias Savada. The more you laugh at David Gold, the more you want to smack him on the side of his loopy head. He’s the central character in Guidance — the feature debut from Canadian writer-director Pat Mills (who also stars) — and the world is his Goliath. His […]
Never Let Go: Not Your Typical Horror Fare
August 24, 2015
By Cleaver Patterson. It sounds odd that the screening for a film which is not primarily horror – at least in the generally accepted sense of the word – was the first to sell out at a festival dedicated to the genre. However that’s just what happened when tickets for […]
Strength and Tenacity: Why Giving Up Isn’t an Option for Angela Dixon in Never Let Go
August 22, 2015
By Cleaver Patterson. The sensitive subject of child abduction is brought to life in the new thriller Never Let Go. On the eve of its first European screening at this year’s FILM4 FrightFest, the film’s star Angela Dixon spoke to Cleaver Patterson about the challenges she, and its director/writer Howard […]
Split the Brew and Joints: Swanberg’s Digging for Fire
August 22, 2015
By Elias Savada. Joe Swanberg apparently hasn’t stopped mumbling yet. Known for his mumblecore films — micro-budget affairs shot on video with lots of actor improvisation — Swanberg has barely inched toward making more formal movies, starting with the craft beer romance Drinking Buddies a few years back. Growing more […]