Directed by Um Tae-hwa, Concrete Utopia tells the story of the residents of the Hwang Gung apartment complex as they navigate survival after an earthquake destroys all the other buildings and leaves theirs standing. Soon, they are also approached for shelter by people in the city who have lost their homes. The residents appoint Yeon-tak…
To say Miyazaki has a new classic seems both par for the course and wholly unexpected. Given his career full of films that will go down as some of the most influential and important works in art there has never been a doubt the man is a genius visionary. Still, at the age of 82,…
In I Do Not Come to You by Chance (directed by Ishaya Bako and based on the novel of the same name by Adaobi Tricia Obinne Nwaubani), Kingsley, the oldest son of a Nigerian Igbo family is tasked with taking care of his mother and siblings as his father suffers from a medical condition. He remembers his childhood…
There came a point in my life when I started to question why racial violence was happening. Every time I heard of a shooting; I would wonder, “what would drive a person to this point? Why is it so easy for other people looking in to justify the death of a person? And why does…
The Umbrella Men: Escape from Robben Island dives right into the action almost immediately after the events of the first film. After saving the Goema Club, Jerome, Keisha, Morty, Mila and Auntie Val have settled into the sweet life of success. However, Tariq has not forgotten their duplicity and vows revenge. Soon after, the men find…
Fitting In is one of the most honest coming-of-age movies to be made in recent memory. As Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) heads into her sophomore year of high school, social tensions are rising. She has a boy that she really likes, named Adam (D’Pharoh Woon-A-Tai) and is starting to get more serious with. What’s more, she…
Being all things to all people is an impossibility for anyone. Directed by Chloe Robichaud, Days of Happiness tells the story of Emma (Sophie Desmarais), an up-and-coming conductor with tremendous skill and promise. With a promising future in front of her, Emma’s career is (micro)managed by her father, Patrick (Sylvain Marcel). However, their relationship has always strained…
Living a humble life, Hirayama seems to have mastered his daily routine. He knows exactly how to do his work as the custodian of the Tokyo public toilets, enjoys his collection of music while he drives, showers at one of the public baths, has a small meal, and then goes home to read a new…
It’s nice when I can put groups together when writing about shorts, but today I’m bringing a bit of a hodgepodge of films that are showing at HollyShorts Film Festival. Sevap/Mitzvah, directed by Sabina Vijrača, tells the true story of two friends in Bosnia during World War II. Zejneba was Muslim, Rifka was a Jew….
Runs in the Family tells the story of River (Gabe Gabriel, who also wrote the script), a young trans drag man who is invited by his father, Varun (Ace Bhatti) to join him on a road trip across South Africa. Their mission? To break River’s estranged mother out of rehab. Things seem to be going their…
