The search for truth is at the heart of Hans Pools documentary Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World. It tells the story of a group that searches out the truth in news stories, even when powerful nations seek to hide behind lies. Bellingcat is a multi-national collective of citizen open-source investigative journalists. They are people…
What goes into a bottle of Champagne? Easy answer: grapes. But how do they get there? Laura Naylor?s documentary Vas-y Coupe! (English title: Wine Crush) is a very pleasant atmospheric look at the harvest at one of Champagne?s premier vineyards. The film really isn?t so much about wine or agriculture. It is about people. Much…
Each spring, I usually attend and cover the Newport Beach Film Festival. As with just about everything this year, the pandemic has affected many film festivals, including NBFF. The festival is now underway virtually. This year geography isn?t an issue for people who?d like to see the films that have been chosen for NBFF. Like…
A gifted educator can often make an important difference in the lives of students. My Name Is Pedro, from documentarian Lillian LaSalle, is the story of a charismatic school administrator who managed to turn around struggling schools through his belief in and interaction with students and teachers. Pedro Santiago grew up in the Bronx. He…
?You look like a fella who might be interested in scary stories.? Mary Shelley?s Gothic/proto-SciFi novel Frankenstein grew out of a contest between her, her future husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and their friend Lord Byron. The competition was to see who could write the best horror story. (I wonder if there is any record of…
The Turkish horror film The Antenna, directed by Or?un Behram, is more about creepiness that fright. It is also about a world that is trending toward the insidious control of day to day life. The film is set in a mildly dystopic Turkey. Mehmet works as the intendant of an apartment building in a remote…
Based on a true story, The Keeper, from director Marcus H Rosenm?ller, is the story of a German POW who in the post-war years becomes one of the most famous football (soccer to Americans) players in England. Along the way the story looks the difficulty of forgiving both our enemies and ourselves. And there?s a…
Yes, Ma?mouna Doucour??s Cuties (Mignonnes) has created a great deal of controversy. I wouldn?t categorize that controversy as a tempest in a teapot, because the film does revolve around the sexualization of young women, but in a reflective and critical manner, not in an exploitive or abusive manner. In fact, the film suggests an outrage…
?Fear has haunted Thomas to the very end.? Richard Wright?s 1940 novel Native Son is one of the standards of African-American literature. It has found its way to the screen a few times. The first such film, directed by Belgian director Pierre Chenal, was made in Argentina in 1951. The international flair is worth noting,…
Paris has been a haven for American expatriot artists of all sorts, but especially for African-Americans. In Myth of a Colorblind France, from Alan Govenar, we get to see that history in the 20th century and how it continues today. However, just because African-Americans found freedom there, doesn?t mean that there is no racism in…
