Sundance: 'The Janes' Brings Context to Modern Women’s Struggles

by Eurocheese

"The Janes" are a popular topic at the Sundance Film Festival this year, and given the way women’s rights are under attack in the US today, their story remains relevant. Earlier in the festival, the fictional Call Jane highlighted one woman’s story when she became involved with this group. In The Janes, documentarians Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes show the real women who lived this history, detailing the backstory of this group and showing us what a future with restricted women’s rights might look like...

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Michael Douglas is the Guest of Honor for the 2022 Meihodo Film Festival

by Nathaniel R

Last year, you may recall, the Meihodo Film Festival honored Juliette Binoche. This year another iconic star, Michael Douglas will be doing double-duty as their Guest of Honor / Advisor. The Meihodo Film Festival, now in its fourth year, is an all streaming international short film festival focused on young visual artists...

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AFI Diary #4: "Jockey," Audience Award Winners and More

Christopher James wrapping up his 2021 AFI Fest coverage. 

JOCKEY wins the Audience Award

Phew! The AFI Film Festival is done. The weekend was full of lots of great movies from around the world and some high profile premieres, such as Swan Song, Tick, Tick... Boom, and Bruised ! Still, there are a few more reviews to wrap up the festival with including Jockey, starring Clifton Collins Jr, which took the Audience Award for Narrative Feature...

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AFI Diary #3: "Parallel Mothers" and "Petite Maman"

Christopher is covering the 2021 AFI Fest Film Festival. Follow along for his reviews.

The hits just keep coming during AFI Fest. Two renowned international filmmakers screened their new films this weekend - Pedro Almodóvar and Celina Sciamma. Check out the latest reviews below:

Parallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar)

Pedro Almodóvar is a genre unto his own. The legendary Spanish director has made dramas, comedies, thrillers and everything in between over his forty-plus year career. No matter the tone of the movie, there are certain colors, beats and stylistic choices that are undeniably Pedro. We don’t look at a bright, dark red color the same thanks to his work in cinema. One of the great joys in watching a Pedro Almodóvar film is watching the plot change from what you expected it to be and what it actually is. Parallel Mothers is top-tier Almodóvar, particularly because it subverts one’s own expectations and becomes a much more emotional, haunting and political picture...

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AFI Diary #2: "Red Rocket" and "The First Wave"

Christopher is covering the 2021 AFI Fest Film Festival. Follow along for his reviews.

It's hard not to be reminded of COVID as we return to festival season. It's a terrific pleasure to be back in theaters again (even in masks). However, it also makes me recall fighting with virtual platforms last year so I could watch movies alone in my living room. Day Three of the festival brough us two films that, directly and indirectly, were born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The First Wave obviously covers the harrowing first months of the pandemic in New York. Additionally, Sean Baker's Red Rocket stands as a testament to the nimble, persevering nature of art under lockdown, as the film was shot in August of last year. From searing documentaries to comedies about porn stars, two films could not be more different. So which was the best of the day? Let's dive in!

Red Rocket (Sean Baker)

With the success of Tangerine and The Florida Project, writer/director Sean Baker has found himself in a new echelon of indie filmmakers. What makes him such an interesting director is his ability to naturalistically present subcultures as they are without the artifice that comes from a more stylized director. The location and the people within it are the core of Baker’s projects. Each film represents its own strange ecosystem that we get to study. With Red Rocket, Baker has made his prickliest film yet. Even with that said, the film cares for its subjects, even if the subjects don’t care for one another...

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