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 →

February 3, 2021

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 →

February 2, 2021

The Planters Take Root with Heart

It’s nice to see more female-led productions defying the odds these days. You'll find this with Alexandra Kotcheff and Hannah Leder's indie charmer The Planters, which captures loneliness and friendship in this time of isolation. Martha Plant (Kotcheff) lives by herself in her childhood home. Her parents died a year ago, and she’s a repressed,... Continue Reading →

October 12, 2020

In Plain Sight: Brown Girl Begins

Afrofuturism is a term coined by cultural critic Mark Dery, but I tend to lean towards writer and filmmaker Ytasha Womack’s definition which states: “Whether through literature, visual arts, music, or grassroots organizing, Afrofuturists redefine culture and notions of blackness for today and the future. Both an artistic aesthetic and a framework for critical theory,... Continue Reading →

June 8, 2020