Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries” is a Triumph
Sexual assault is sadly the most inclusive crime there is. I don’t know a single person, man or woman, who has not been somehow, whether they know it or not, affected by rape and sexual assault, and the impact of it is often intergenerational. Nancy Miller (Nancy Miller on “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark”, […]
Sundance 40: Mel Eslyn’s coming-of-age debut series “Penelope” will have you yearning for simpler times
Have you ever stood on a bridge and been tempted to throw your phone down into the water? Or chuck it right out the car window, letting it smash into little pieces behind you? When’s the last time you hugged a tree, or felt grass beneath your fingers? Living in a constant state of technology […]
Sundance 40 Wrap-Up
25 features, 10 interviews, 12 reviews, and two profile pieces. That might not seem like a lot, but with a team of 4, that’s a lot! What I value the most out of our experience covering the 2024 Sundance Film Festival is the community that supported us along the way, starting with the Siskel Film […]
Sundance 40: Kelly O’Sullivan hopes you see empathy in her directorial feature debut, “Ghostlight”
O’Sullivan and Thompson gently fold their story together, finding humor and heart at every turn, leading to the kind of ending that somehow inspired the film’s very first audience at Sundance to laugh and cry. Again, we know how this sounds, but — it’s funny! and good! And a reminder of how bright a light one story can shine […]
Sundance 40 Review: “Good One” Chronicles The Dark Side of Female Adolescence
A teenage girl goes on a camping trip with her father and his oldest friend. Typically, this type of movie would be a coming of age film, focusing on the ways in which the main character matures throughout the film. India Donaldson’s feature debut “Good One” is anything but that. Sam (Lily Collias) is about […]
Sundance 40 Review: Haley Elizabeth Anderson’s “Tendaberry” is a Sacred Portrait of Personal Memory
Haley Elizabeth Anderson’s feature debut, “Tendaberry,” is a narrative document on change. Dakota (Kota Johan) is a 23 year old New York City transplant, somewhat estranged from her family, but passing the days with her boyfriend, Yuri (Yuri Pleskun). When he is called back to his native Ukraine to care for his sick father, Kota’s […]
Sundance 40: Haley Elizabeth Anderson pens a love letter to Brooklyn in her feature debut, “Tendaberry”
Haley Elizabeth Anderson’s feature debut, “Tendaberry,” moves you, not just on a visceral level, but a deeply human level. I felt the same way after I watched “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” directed by Raven Jackson. Noise is a powerful element in both of these films. As Raven’s film is mostly quiet, its sound […]
Sundance 40 Review: A Multifaceted Exploration of Personal Girlhood in “Suncoast”
It is 2005 and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston have just split up. While the pop culture world cries out in despair, Doris (Nico Parker) recites the news to her mother Kristine (Laura Linney) as they move her brother into a hospice care center. It is apparent this was an outcome the two had been […]
Sundance 40 Review: Pathos lands poignantly in Alessandra Lacorraza’s “In the Summers”
“In the Summers” won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance 2024 film festival for Dramatic. Alessandra Lacorraza Samudio’s semi-autobiographical film, “In the Summers,” is a portrait of sisters Eva and Violeta through glimpses of their summertime visits to their father in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The film takes place over four summers […]
Sundance 40 Review: Theda Hammel’s head-spinning pandemic-themed comedy “Stress Positions”
Theda Hammel’s directorial debut, “Stress Positions” is a head-spinning comedy that takes place in the throes of pandemic hell. Terry (John Early) is a recent divorceé holed up in his ex-husband’s dilapidated party house while taking care of his 19 year old nephew, Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), a Moroccan model and the son of his estranged […]
Sundance 40: Co-directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie capture the generational impacts of Native boarding schools in their award-winning doc “Sugarcane”
Co-directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie won the jury prize for directing in the U.S. documentary category for their debut feature as collaborators. A well-deserved award, NoiseCat and Kassie delicately weave together a multigenerational story about the long-lasting effects of Indian boarding schools on Native peoples. “Sugarcane” takes place largely on a reserve in […]
Sundance 40 Review: The beauty of pain is captured through Frida Kahlo’s art delicately and seamlessly in Carla Gutiérrez’ feature debut
I’ve been embarking on a new frontier in my self-journey. I’ve started to go through fertility treatments because my husband Matt and I want to try to have a biological child. I’m 41, and in a way, I feel it is exactly the right time in my life to get pregnant. It’s also scary as […]