Interview

By Matthew Fullerton.  Conceived in 1966 by legendary Tunisian film critic Tahar Cheriâa (1927-2010) to bring together Arab and African cinema, the Carthage Film Festival (JCC) has always had a reputation for breaking taboos: In its fifty years of existence, it has been a platform for filmmakers to question, confront […]

By Tom Ue. Selma Vilhunen earned an Academy Award nomination for her 2012 short film “Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?” In what follows, we discuss her new feature Little Wing (2016), which follows the twelve-year-old Varpu (Linnea Skog) in her search for her father. Varpu’s meeting will […]

By Anna Weinstein. Patricia Riggen has directed five features in the past decade. Her first feature, Under the Same Moon (2007), was a critical and commercial success, telling the story of a mother working illegally in the U.S. in the hopes of providing a better life for her son in […]

By Tom Ue. Ashley McKenzie is an emerging writer-director from Cape Breton Island, Canada. Her 2015 short “4 Quarters” screened at TIFF, VIFF, Stockholm IFF, Festival du nouveau cinema, and won Best Atlantic Short at the Atlantic Film Festival. With her previous work, “Stray” (2013), “When You Sleep” (2012), and […]

By Paul Risker. British filmmaker Sean Ellis’ Anthropoid (2016) tells the story of Operation Anthropoid, a daring chapter of the Second World War whose objective was the assassination of the Nazi third in command, SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. While the Second World War is a dark chapter of history that […]

By Tom Ue. Subject to Change is a new series that focuses on a group of LGBTI teenagers. Its first episode aired on YouTube, where it was warmly received. In what follows, I discuss the series with Daniel Mercieca, Thomas Buxereau, and Rory Delaney. Daniel, its creator and director, has worked […]

By Paul Risker. Indian musician, composer and producer A. R. Rahman has said: “Comedy is a universal language. I grew up watching Nagesh, Surilirajan, Thenga Srinivasan and S.V. Shekhar’s comedies. And, of course, Charlie Chaplin! These artists are so blessed: they can make other people happy.” One of the gifts of […]

By Tom Ue. Seek is the directorial debut of Eric Henry. The film, made and set in Toronto, follows the story of a young writer (Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski) who profiles a club promoter (Ryan Fisher). The film was an Official Selection of the Toronto LGBT Film Festival 2014. Congratulations on your directorial […]

By Gary M. Kramer. In The Tenth Man, Argentine filmmaker Daniel Burman returns to his favorite theme of absent fathers/put-upon sons, and to his favorite location, Once, a Jewish quarter in Buenos Aires. The film’s title comes from the Jewish tradition of having a minyan (ten male adults in the […]

By Paul Risker. There is an ironic thread connecting the childhood of Danish actress Iben Hjejle to her adult self. Describing herself as having an obsession with death as a child, she now finds herself cast in the lead role in a crime series caught in death’s shadow. Prior to Dicte […]