Is there any room for mercy in justice? Is there any justice in mercy? What if we substitute “vengeance” for “mercy”? Jafar Panahi brings these issues to the fore in It Was Just an Accident. While the film, as with all Panahi’s films, is firmly footed in Iranian...
A popular poster in dorm rooms when I was in college read, “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” It seems so obvious. Yet each generation gets a new chance to realize the truth of that statement. Case in point: The Voice of Hind Rajab, from...
In Sherman Alexie’s The Business of Fancydancing, there is a scene in which the main character, Seymour Polatkin (Evan Adams) recalls coming out to his traditional Native American grandmother. He tells her that he has two spirits. Actually, I think he has many...
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...