By Ellie Dean. Unusually for a film (ostensibly) produced for the American audience—it is the Filipino perspective that is most often preferenced. The emotional authenticity of Ortaliz’s performance as Dalisay is consistently accentuated in long, thoughtful takes and intimate close-ups.” New Jersey. Mid 1990s. A gruff ex-merchant marine sits in […]
A Microcosm of Oppression: The Survivors (Sobreviventes)
By Yun-hua Chen. A fable and a metaphor about coexistence in isolation at the time of slavery and colonialization.” A fable and a metaphor, The Survivors is a tale about coexistence in isolation at the time of slavery and colonialization. Set in the mid-19th century, survivors from a wrecked slave […]
Now is the Time! Med Hondo’s West Indies (1979)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Proof positive that a musical can simultaneously educate and entertain, excite and incite.” France’s imperial history is portrayed through experimental musical theater in Med Hondo’s West Indies (1979). Based on Daniel Boukman’s 1971 book Les Negriers and subtitled The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty, the film is […]