How screwed up is America? In Annie Silverstein’s “Bull,” when young Kris (Amber Havard) gets arrested for breaking and entering and she’s offered a deal, she replies, “can’t you just send me to juvie?” The level of resignation that Kris, or other people like her in real life, must feel, is both baffling and dismaying. In Trump’s America, people like her who go through difficulties just shrug it ... more >
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Peter Fonda, emblem of the sixties generation, dead at 79
Obit
1940-2019
Things sometimes don't go as planned. Peter Fonda, the handsome actor who most famously starred in 1969’s "Easy Rider," along with co-star Dennis Hopper, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles, ahead of what would've been the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the film. Fonda was 79. The man who once said, "I feel like I'm about eight years old on most days" had a boyish charm and ... more >
From Bulgaria with love: “Aga” by Milko Lazarov
A family's tragedy set against the backdrop of nature coming undone
Running time: 96 minutes
Directed by Milko Lazarov
In a yurt on the snow-covered fields of northeastern Siberia, Nanook (Mikhail Aprosimov) and Sedna (Feodosia Ivanova) live following the traditions of their ancestors. Alone in the wilderness, they look like the last people on Earth. Nanook and Sedna's traditional way of life starts changing, slowly, but inevitably. Hunting becomes more and more difficult, the animals around them die from ... more >
“Aquarela,” a lyrical experience that ties humankind to water
Written by Victor Kossakovsky and Aimara Reques
Produced by Aimara Reques, Heino Deckert, Sigrid Dyekjaer
Directed by Victor Kossakovsky
“Aquarela” takes the viewer through visual imagery using the attaching beauty of water. It stands as reminder that humans are no match for the brute force and whimsy of earth’s most precious element. From the frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angel Falls, water is “Aquarela’s main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky ... more >
LOCARNO ’19: Hilary Swank to be honored, Bruno Ganz tribute in the works
The 72nd Locarno Film Festival will take place from the 7th to the 17th of August 2019
The official program of the 72nd edition of the Locarno Film Festival was announced at a press conference today, Wednesday 17th of July. Also announced were the Leopard Club Award to Hilary Swank, the Vision Award Ticinomoda to Claire Atherton, the Premio Utopia to Enrico Ghezzi and the Premio Cinema Ticino to Fulvio Bernasconi. The 72nd edition was presented by Locarno’s new artistic director ... more >
EXTRA! Rossellini’s “Europe ’51” or one woman’s journey from bourgeois ennui to personal fulfillment (1952)
Release year: 1952
Ingrid Bergman, Giulietta Massina and Ettore Giannini
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
In "Europe '51" Irene (Ingrid Bergman) is a society woman who searches for life’s meaning after the accidental death of her son. She’s a worldly and superficial woman, but her son’s death will push her to seek others and help those in need in a bid to achieve a kind of holy state. The first scene of the film is told in perfect cadence and Stendhalian efficiency : Irene, lady of the house, is ... more >
“WHEN THEY SEE US,” a sobering reminder of an America we’d rather not think about
Series stands as inglorious symbol of institutionalized racism
Jharrel Jerome, Jovan Adepo, Michael K. Williams and Logan Marshall-Green
Directed by Ava DuVernay
At the heart of Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us" is the fate of Antron McCray (Caleel Harris, Jovan Adepo), Kevin Richardson (Asante Blackk, Justin Cunningham), Yusef Salaam (Ethan Herisse, Chris Chalk), Raymond Santana ( Marquis Rodriguez, Freddy Miyares) and Korey Wise (Jharrel Jerome). The five black men from Harlem were wrong arrested and convicted for the supposed rape of the Central Park ... more >