Slamdance Film Festival has made what they call “Unstoppable” into an important part of the festival’s DNA. These films are made by or about people with disabilities (whether visible or not). These sections (feature and shorts) have films that provide an outlet for...
Slamdance Film Festival has often looked to distinguish itself by providing an outlet for filmmakers who see the world a bit differently. One of the ways it does that is through the “Unstoppable” sections, both for feature films and shorts. These films are made by or...
The thirtieth edition of Slamdance Film Festival is underway. Slamdance shares Park City, Utah, with its more famous sibling Sundance this week. While Sundance will gather more attention, Slamdance is, at times, edgier and also exemplifies the power of films made by...
How does one speak of losing not just one child, but two? In Four Daughters, Kaouther Ben Hania takes us into a family that has suffered such a loss—but not as we might think. She takes us back to see the family’s life before and after the loss. It is such an intimate...
Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias is essentially a way for the filmmaker to get a better understanding of her roots. But, as we watch, we also get to understand a bit about life as exiles (be it involuntary or the result of personal choice). It brings a decidedly female...
“Things are only simple when you choose not to examine them.” September 3, 1939. Britain has declared war on Germany. The world is filled with fear and uncertainty. That is the setting for Matthew Brown’s Freud’s Final Session, in which we watch an imagined meeting...
“It’s not about you; it’s about the boat.” The most prevalent trope for sports film is overcoming adversity. The Boys in the Boat, directed by George Clooney, certainly fits that pattern. Based on the book by Daniel James Brown (adapted into a screenplay by Mark L....
As I watched Carl Joseph E. Papa’s animated film The Missing, I spent most of the first half writing down questions. That could be the sign of a sloppiness, but here it is the way we get pulled into the story so that in the second half of the film the story can slowly...
ISIS (or Daesh or the Islamic State) often seems like a monstrous evil. I’m not saying it isn’t, but it is made up of people. Rojek, from filmmaker Zaynê Akyol, gives us a chance to meet some of these people. They provide an interesting insight into the mindset that...