Even before the current violence in Gaza, the history of Israeli-Palestinian interactions has been filled with violence and death in both groups. It is easy to forget that each of those deaths lead to a grieving family. In Mourning in Lod, documentary filmmaker Hilla...
”WE EXIST!” In the 1990s, the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago became a symbol of urban decay and danger. Yet for some it was the only home they knew. In We Grown Now, written and directed by Minhal Baig, we see this world through the eyes of two young boys...
People living with mental illness, may often feel isolated. In On the Adamant, from documentarian Nicolas Philibert, we see a refuge in the middle of Paris that attracts a people and provides a place of acceptance, dignity, and perhaps healing. The Adamant is a...
“Please, let it all out. That’s what I’m here for.” In The Listener, directed by Steve Buscemi, we eavesdrop on callers to an emotional support helpline. I view such services (and I have volunteered at one many years ago) as emotional first-aid. That is not meant to...
“How do I know what I want? But my future is not bleak.” Yuni, from Kamila Andini, is a coming-of-age story that deals with the conflict between personal aspirations and societal expectations. These are issues in nearly all cultures, but they seemed to be heightened...
“These are not just pictures; they are testimonies that will live forever.” I remember that, decades ago, I would enjoy looking through National Geographic magazines. I rarely read the text, but would often be enthralled by the photographs. They might have been...
A family living an idyllic life in the Norwegian countryside cherishes their freedom. When their world is turned upside down, they must deal with life in new ways. Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind of Wilderness is an intimate study of a family dealing with grief,...
“You’re special. You’re worthy. You’re you.” Love can be a difficult thing to define. The same is true with knowing who or what we are. Love Me, from Sam and Andy Zuchero, is a romcom that spans billions of years. It begins long after life on earth has ended. It gives...
“God isn’t civilized. God is chaos. Life is chaos.” I look at The Promised Land as the story of the Garden of Eden in negative. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel from a script by Anders Thomas Jensen (who often brings a theological sensitivity to his stories), the film tells...