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Sundance Review / Girls State: Gender Inequality in Politics Drives Doc Sequel

Taking the reins of representational government is a vital journey for all women in political leadership roles. But that campaign is especially essential for female students who are determined to improve gender equality in the present and future. The seven main girls who are fighting such disparity in the new documentary, Girls State, are confronting…

Sundance Review / Union: The Uphill Battle for Workers at Amazon

In the nearly three decades since its founding as a bookseller, Amazon has become a giant in the world. So many rely on two-day Amazon Prime free shipping for anything they could possibly need, and it’s become nearly impossible for brick-and-mortar establishments, not just bookstores, to compete with their prices and ability to deliver products…

Dario Argento Panico : Simone Scafidi Probes the Psyche of a Legendary Filmmaker

@The Courtesy of IFC Films  Dario Argento Panico is a documentary about the legendary Italian director of horror and slasher films who has been a master of the horror/slasher genre for half a century. Now in his eighty-fourth year, Dario Argento has always preferred to write his scripts in hotel rooms, which here provide a familiar…

Sundance Review / As We Speak: The Criminalization of Rap

Rap is a music genre like so many others, and yet it’s not regarded that way by some. An experimental survey that utilized a folk song from the 1960s got predictably skewed results when respondents thought its lyrics came from a rap song and assigned malicious real-life intent to many of its words. That rappers…

Sundance Film Festival’s Winner / ‘Daughters’ : A Heartwarming Reunion of Fathers and Daughters

©Courtesy of Sundance Institute Your relationship with your parents has a significant impact on who you became as an individual. Since most children can’t choose their parents when they’re born, it’s really impactful on a kid if their dad was incarcerated for a very long time. In “Daughters,” a heart-wrenching film that was recently shown…

Sundance Review / Ghostlight: Family, Grief, and Shakespeare

People process grief in different ways. Some may dwell on a loss without being able to process anything else, while others seek to bury themselves in work or other activity so they rarely have time to stop and remember what’s gone. Ghostlight showcases a family unit that’s grappling with a devastating tragedy and can’t quite…

Sundance Review / Black Box Diaries: Shiori Ito Leads a Brave Fight for Female Justice

Privately grappling with systemic iniquities that arise from their personal experiences linked to sexual assault is a harrowing enough experience for survivors. But journalist Shiori Ito is amplifying her courageous fight for justice for not only herself, but all victims, in the new biographical documentary, Black Box Diaries. Ito, who made her feature film directorial…

Sundance Review: “GAUCHO GAUCHO” Rides on Otherworldly Argentinian Beauty

In their last film, the acclaimed “The Truffle Hunters”, (2020) the American directors Gregory Kershaw and Michael Dweck travelled to Northern Italy’s Piedmont to capture a dying community. In that deliciously wonderful film, they pay tribute to the elderly men and their dogs who sniff out the rare Alba truffle in the forests, later to…

Sundance Review / Krazy House: Stay Far, Far Away 

Most movies have at least some redeeming elements. Even if not everything works perfectly, there can be a saving grace. But when a concept flails and it only gets more absurd as the film goes on, it can be hard to find something worthy of praise. Krazy House, screening in the Midnight section at the…

‘Perfect Days,’ Wim Wenders Makes Poetry Out Of An Ordinary Life

Courtesy of Neon The film directed by the illustrious German filmmaker was presented in competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Best Actor Award for Kōji Yakusho. Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days shows Japan through the eyes of a European, and was nominated for the…

Sundance Review / Love Lies Bleeding: An Extreme Yet Romantic Horror Film Noir

Compulsive love and the intense crimes that accompany it are two of the leading signs that a relationship is toxic in real life. But in a film noir piece like the new romantic drama, Love Lies Bleeding, those characteristics make such a connection titillating and exciting. The action-adventure movie is an intense, unconventional queer love…