Black women and girls have a heavy load to bear. We are nurturers and fighters, supporters and innovators, working behind the scenes caring for families, lovers and doing the work. Often, we go unnoticed because that has been the narrative for so long. We can be rendered voiceless, and when we speak up, we are... Continue Reading →
Black Art: In The Absence Of Light Uplifts Black Artists
Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a father who was an artist, and I have fond memories of gazing at each brushstroke that made up his vibrant paintings hung all over our house. In general, however, black artists seem to be an invisible resource. They have always been here, creating anything from paintings... Continue Reading →
Final Girls Berlin Film Festival 2021: Buio (Darkness)
When the past and the future are forbidden, life in isolation becomes controlled repetition in Italian director Emanuela Rossi’s first feature film Buio (Darkness). Three sisters live a post-apocalyptic life in a large rambling house. Their father (Valerio Binasco) leaves them daily, returning at 7 pm on the dot with the spoils of his foraging... Continue Reading →
Final Girls Berlin 2021: Los Que Vuelven (The Returned)
Perspective is everything in Laura Casabé’s film Los Que Vuelven (The Returned). Julia (María Soldi) is the wife of a landowner Mariano (Alberto Ajaka), in 1919 Argentina. She hasn’t been able to have a live birth. When her third child dies, she begs her indigenous housekeeper Kerana (Lali González), to take her to a mountain... Continue Reading →
Final Girls Berlin 2021: Fellwechselzeit (Time of Moulting)
I don't think the word bleak covers the amount of quiet anguish in Sabrina Mertens' riveting debut film Fellwechselzeit (Time of Moulting). Stephanie (Zelda Espenschied and Miriam Schiweck as the teenage Stephanie) lives with her parents in 1970s Germany. As a girl, she is close to her mother (Freya Kreutzkam), who is depressed and cares... Continue Reading →
The Wanting Mare Sets the Heart Adrift
Many directors try to translate dreams onto film, perhaps writing down snippets of memories before they float away, leaving their minds just as they reach for pen and paper. Nicholas Ashe Bateman spent five years creating the vision of his first feature, The Wanting Mare, and instead of fleeting pages, he immerses the audience in... Continue Reading →
The Haunting Legacy of Sator
Jordan Graham took the history of mental illness in his family and created an unsettling journey in his latest film Sator. Siblings Adam, Peter and Debra (Gabriel Nicholson, Michael Daniel, and Aurora Lowe) are part of a haunting family legacy. Their grandmother Nani (June Peterson), has lived for many years with an entity called Sator,... Continue Reading →
Respite
Crime drama crosses cultural lines with Saro Varjabedian's Respite. Jimmy Baz (Monte Bezell) is a former cop turned private investigator who looks for people owing money to his dodgy clients and tracks down cheating husbands. He's rough around the edges, and his life is a mess. When he's asked to help a couple find their... Continue Reading →
Climate of the Hunter
It’s the late 70’s and sisters Alma (Ginger Gilmartin) and Elizabeth (Mary Buss) get together at the family cabin in the woods. Alma has decided to stay there after dealing with some mental health issues, and Elizabeth has come for a visit. Their childhood friend, Wesley (Ben Hall), has also come to stay at his... Continue Reading →