Marie Adler’s story about an intruder raping her in the middle of the night seemed incredible. So impossible, in fact, that she later retracted her story, earning her the enmity of police, her friends and the entire community. The thing was, Marie wasn’t lying. The teen had, in fact, been violated in her own home by a man who bound her and took photos of her body amidst hours of torture. But so ... more >
NEWS
TALKING with Lisa Cholodenko and Susannah Grant of “Unbelievable,” which premieres tomorrow on Netflix
Making sense of the trauma of rape in a post-truth world
INTERVIEW with “American Factory” (premieres on Netflix today) filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar
Will America become more like China or the other way around?
Distributed by Netflix
Filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar have watched as the industrial Midwest has cratered around them. High-paying factory jobs once stretched from western Pennsylvania to Michigan, providing a comfortable working-class living enabling workers to buy a home, two cars and send their children off to college. All of that changed as plants closed and jobs outsourced to Mexico and China. Those ... more >
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 >
“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 >
MY DIRTY LITTLE SECRET: I LOVE WESTERNS (BUT “THE KID” MISSES THE MARK)
Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D'Onofrio all previously starred together in another western, "The Magnificent Seven"
Starring Jake Schur, Leila George and Chris Pratt
Directed by Vincent D'Onofrio
I must divulge two important facts. The first one is that the Western is my favorite film genre, and the second, my favorite Western (and third favorite film ever made) is Sam Peckinpah’s “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson (1973). I am of the opinion that Peckinpah’s work on that film is profound and special, and impossible to match. To this, I admit that ... 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 >
Chantal Akerman rising
In this male-dominated business women filmmakers have always been too small a minority. There is progress being made but women’s voices deserve better recognition. Chantal Akerman was a founder of the art-of-turning-traditional-narrative-on-its-head school of filmmaking. This is evident in one of her finest works, 1975’s “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Qai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.” This notable film ... more >
