Doc Corner: Tribeca '21 — 'Stateless' and other racial justice docs

By Glenn Dunks

The idea of statelessness is sadly a timeless one. In the last year alone there have has been Michèle Stephenson’s documentary Stateless (Apátrida) about Dominican-born Haitians, and the Australian refugee drama of the same name (yes, the one with Cate Blanchett as a cult leader). Plus you only need to turn read the news about Palestine or Syria or too many other places on this Earth to see it and it can often feel like there is nothing that can be done. Is it statelessness or hopelessness?

In the commanding Stateless, director and producer Stephenson—whose most noted film to date is 2013’s Emmy-nominated and Sundance-winning American Promise—ventures into the politically fraught island territory of Hispaniola. It is the home of both the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and the Canadian filmmaker of Haitian-Panamanian descent (who resides in the United States) has made a really quite remarkable work that is eye-opening for both its story as well as its rich visuals.

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Dorian TV Award Nominations

by Nathaniel R

Pose leads the nominations

The Society for LGBTQ+ Entertainment Journalists, previously known as GALECA, has announced their annual TV nominations ahead of Emmy balloting. A handful of us here at TFE are part of that organization so we had a chance to vote on this. The third season of FX's Pose and Disney+ & Marvel Studio's limited series WandaVision lead the nominations though curiously the latter is not up for the main award in its category. I May Destroy You, It's a Sin, and Mare of Easttown also secured plentiful nominations.

Without further ado the nominees...

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Emmy Ballots Are Here!

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

It’s one of the most enlightening days of Emmy season – all the ballots are now officially available. I’ve spent a good chunk of time perusing all the program and performers submitted, and you should feel free to do the same here. There’s plenty to unpack and so much that I’m sure I’ll realize I missed later on (including how many nominees there will now be per category based on math), but for now, let’s go through some highlights of what’s been confirmed, what’s changed, and what’s worth noting… 

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Streaming Review: "Changing the Game"

by Nathaniel R

Mack loves to wrestle but he's forced to do it on the girls team

It can take movies a long time to make it from regional cinephile parties (aka film festivals) to mass consumption via streaming services / movie theaters. Even longer if there's extenuating circumstances like, oh, a pandemic. Case in point, the trans youth sports documentary Changing the Game which just started streaming on Hulu. I first saw the film in the summer of 2019 at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival where I served on the jury (that's me waving at the end). We awarded it Best Documentary Feature. 

The conversations around trans youth, as well as trans men and women in sports, have only gotten louder in the intervening two years so in some ways it's right on time. Herewith from my original take...

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"Loki" Episodes 1 & 2

By Ben Miller

The runaway success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe inevitably spread to television earlier this year.  Following the smashing debut of WandaVision and the meh that was The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel turns their attention to everyone’s favorite God of Mischief, Loki.

Starring Tom Hiddleston as the titular God, the show picks up right where we last saw Loki alive: absconding with the space stone following the alternate timeline Battle of New York from Avengers: Endgame.

Let’s dive in on the first two episodes.  Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD

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