An Iranian woman and her daughter hope for a new life while in an Australian women’s shelter. Noora Niasari’s Shayda is a story about escaping fear and finding new beginnings. It is also a story about finding strength and confidence to buld that new life. Shayda is Australia’s submission for Best Foreign Feature consideration. Shayda…
“Next time is next time. Now is now.” Those who have read many of my reviews will know that I have a special affinity for Ecclesiastes, a wisdom book in the Hebrew Scriptures. That book tells of the Teacher’s (aka Qoheleth) search for meaning in life. Films are never “about” Ecclesiastes, but several manage to…
“I found my voice now – a voice with murder as its means.” Something about the Irish experience has melded their idea of comedy with the darker side of life. (Note such films as Waking Ned Devine or last year’s Banshees of Inisherin.) That blend of humor and depressing may seem odd, but the two…
In 2017, a mosque was destroyed by fire in the South Texas city of Victoria. It became a national news story. There were obvious questions to be raised by those events—questions of racism, immigration, Islamophobia, and what it means to be an American. Lu Li’s A Town Called Victoria is a three episode series on…
Anna Hints’s Smoke Sauna Sisterhood provides a glimpse into the lives of a group of Estonian women. Their lives are shared with humor, sorrow, and compassion. The documentary won the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award and is Estonia’s entry for Best International Feature consideration. The smoke sauna is included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of…
Timm Kröger’s The Universal Theory (Die Theorie von Allem) opens with a brief segment of a 1974 TV talk show on which Johannes Leinert, an author of a new book with the same title as this film, is the guest. While the host talks of the book as science fiction, the author is adamant that…
Roger Ross Williams opens (and will close) his adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s history of racist thought, Stamped from the Beginning, with the question: What is wrong with black people? The query is addressed to Dr. Kendi, and a group of black women academics and activists from whom we will hear throughout the film. It…
When we visit a school in İlker Çatek’s The Teachers’ Lounge (Das Lehrerzimmer), we discover a microcosm for society. It is not just a story of teachers, students, and parents. It is a reflection of many of the issues that must be dealt with in many settings each day. The Teacher’s Lounge is Germany’s official…
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy. November 23, 1963, is one of those dates that is unforgettable for Americans who lived through it. Comparable dates would be December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001—dates that are forever seared into our national collective memory. National Geographic is bringing out…
“We go forward because we know freedom is ahead.” A corrupt and oppressive president seeks to hold on to power. Those who try to bring freedom to the nation face violent retribution. In Moses Bwayo and Chrispher Sharp’s documentary Bobi Wine: The People’s President, we see the struggle for democracy in Uganda, a country that…
