What do you do when you need someone to be a mourner, or a groom, or a father, or a companion? What if you need someone to apologize to a spouse? Why not hire an actor to fill the role? That is the basis of Hikari’s film, Rental Family. Phillip Vandarpleog (Brendan...
“In our society, a woman can’t just do anything she wants.” The rights of women continue to evolve around the world. (We should keep in mind that in the US, women’s right to vote has only existed for about a century, and the ability to get credit far less than that.)...
“Life is short. So sing.” Music is an emotive art. It can convey joy, sorrow, grief, patriotism. The act of singing can often bring people—even whole communities together. The Choral is the fourth collaboration between director Nicholas Hytner and screenwriter Alan...
“The world needs a hermit in the woods as much as a preacher in the pulpit.” What is the meaning of a life? That is the underlying question in Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams. The film is a based on a Denis Johnson novella. While it is the story of a single person, set...
As this edition of AFIFest Presented by Canva comes to a close, I want to share my appreciation of the AFIFest staff for allowing me to take part in the festival again this year. I also want to mention the wonderful work done by volunteers who take care of all of us...
The T-shirt for this year’s AFIFest Presented by Canva has a quotation from the Guest Artistic Director Guillermo del Toro, “The love of films heals you.” It points to the way that in film we can see ourselves and others in ways that can bring us together. The...
Welcome back to Hollywood and AFIFest Presented by Canva. Today I encountered the first film that didn’t really work for me. For some reason this is a day that didn’t really have much that appealed to me for scheduling. So I kind of went with potluck. Of course,...
“Welcome, film lovers. You’re in good company.” These words come up on the screen before every screening at AFIFest presented by Canva. That is not just a way of welcoming those who are attending, but noting what it means to be at a film festival. Festivals are always...
Time again for AFIFest Presented by Canva—five days of some of the best films of the year. This is AFIFEst’s 39th year. There are over 160 films, representing 56 countries, including 19 that are Official Best Foreign Language Oscar submissions. Over the next few days,...