My therapist introduced the idea of “the story we tell ourselves.” What they mean by this is that individuals have a tendency to create a version of the truth that fits within the framework of information that they have. Someone… Read More ›
film festival
“Lucha: A Wrestling Tale” captures the ways lessons work on and off the mat. [SBIFF]
In American high school sports, for most schools, it’s football, basketball, and maybe soccer as the big three. Sure, you can run cross country, maybe play tennis, but down on the lower rungs of high school competition (in terms of… Read More ›
Grief-based horror short “Above & Within” captivates with its storytelling, performances, and cinematography. [SBIFF]
Death, grief, isolation, and the horrors within them all are universal. The question of what gives life meaning when it all comes crashing to a halt, sometimes, unexpectedly, tends to send a chill running down our spines at the mere… Read More ›
Documentarian Dan Partland’s “God & Country” deftly lays out the historical evidence that explains the current rise of Christian Nationalism. [SBIFF]
E Pluribus Unum. This brief Latin phrase meaning “one from many” was first added to United States coins in 1795. It’s a motto that speaks to all citizens of the United States of America, even in an era when those… Read More ›
Documentary “The Movie Man” deftly reminds that filmgoing is a social experience that requires social responsibility to maintain. [SBIFF]
Though the first moving pictures were shown in the 1800s and began as a sideshow, they transformed into a main event with the advent of the movie theater. No longer having to go into a tent or side space, people… Read More ›
Wrestling doc “The Death Tour” is more than about heels, faces, or even the pop – but why the audience matters. [Slamdance Film Festival]
In the United States, names like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Assault Championship Wrestling (ACW), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) may come to mind when bringing up sports entertainment. But wrestling isn’t a U.S.-based sport, with countries… Read More ›
New Disney+ documentary “Madu” breaks tradition as it follows a gifted dancer from Nigeria to England. [SBIFF]
Photosensitivity Warning: There are a few scenes of refracted light that may be triggering for sensitive viewers. In August 2020, a video of 11-year-old Anthony Mmesoma Madu dancing outside of his ballet school went viral, garnering attention not just from… Read More ›
Filmmaker Omar Kamara explores the rich complexity of sibling relationships in dramedy “African Giants.” [Slamdance Film Festival]
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Sir Isaac Newton With all of the discussion of borders — who’s securing them, who’s refusing to do so, what do we do with the… Read More ›
First-time documentarian Ryan Jacobi explores the man behind the improv character in “I’m ‘George Lucas’: A Connor Ratliff Story.” [Slamdance Film Festival]
Before there was The Mandalorian (2019-??), Andor (2022), The Book of Boba Fett (2021), or Ashoka (2023), before there was either a Prequel or Sequel Trilogy, there was only Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of… Read More ›
Don’t miss out on Rasheed Stephens’s best day of his life in the mixed-format dramedy “All I’ve Got & Then Some.” [Slamdance Film Festival]
“Best Day of My Life!” When asked how he’s doing by friends, colleagues in the comedy realm, passengers in his latest pick-up, and everyone in between, Rasheed Stephens (himself) replies with the same answer: “Best day of my life.” It’s… Read More ›
A Conversation with “I’m ‘George Lucas’: A Connor Ratliff Story” director Ryan Jacobi and producer Patrick Cotnoir. [Slamdance Film Festival]
EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning recently spoke with some of the team behind the documentary I’m ‘George Lucas’: A Connor Ratliff Story, which premiered at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival. Director Ryan Jacobi and producer Patrick Cotnoir discuss their doc’s… Read More ›
Filmmaker Rafael Toledo is set to make an explosive impression with his short film “Blockbuster.” [Slamdance Film Festival]
In an era where it seems like most major studio releases are one giant computer-generated sequence after another, there’s something desirable about watching a film with practical effects. Realism is overrated when there’s something tangible before us, even if it… Read More ›
Filmmaker Pete Ohs’s satirical comedy “Love and Work” utilizes laughter as a gateway for much-needed introspection. [Slamdance Film Festival]
Exacerbated by a variety of global conditions due to COVID-19, the United States is now a society in which working is the prime directive. Not creating art, not engaging with cultures or communities beyond ourselves, just working in order to… Read More ›
Filmmaker Daniel Robbins’s new doc “Citizen Weiner” encourages audiences to make the change they want to see in their local government. [Slamdance Film Festival]
In the ‘80s, there was a trend of films that built up their own cliché — the rag tag group of kids going up against the big city conglomerate, usually to save a community center. Do keep in mind that,… Read More ›
Xun Sero’s documentary “Mamá” covers a lot of ground in its simple premise of a mother/son conversation. [imageNATIVE]
When we’re children, we look to our parents for our needs. We rejoice when we get what we ask for, and we encounter terrible pains when we don’t. That pain can turn into resentment to the point where it festers… Read More ›
Charming play-turned-film “Inky Pinky Ponky” is a star-making vehicle for co-writer/lead Amanaki Prescott-Faletau. [imagineNATIVE]
As children, there’re all kinds of games available to entertain and to instill a little competition. The trick is that some of those games can end up with some players feeling a little left out, especially when the point of… Read More ›
Filmmaker Jules Arita Koostachin offers optimistic resistance while exploring generational trauma caused by religious violence in her documentary “WaaPaKe (Tomorrow).” [imagineNATIVE]
In May of 2021, news broke worldwide of a discovery in Canada of a mass grave containing the bodies of 215 Indigenous children. This would be shocking to many, the idea that schools created by the Canadian government would so… Read More ›
Erica Tremblay’s family drama “Fancy Dance” is a fictional tale baring the scars of real trauma. [imagineNATIVE]
There are the stories we tell and then there are the stories beneath them. These are sometimes stated outright, bubbling to the surface, unable to be contained, while others are told via pieces of dialogue or in the negative spaces… Read More ›
Writer/director Pierre Creton’s “A Prince (Un prince)” utilizes an observatory documentary-like approach that disconnects the audience from his coming-of-age tale. [New York Film Festival]
When we think of coming-of-age tales, there are certain staples that come to mind: youth, love, introspection, heartbreak, and maybe a little absolution. Writer/director Pierre Creton (A Beautiful Summer (Le bel été)) disregards almost all of these in his recent… Read More ›
Filmmaker Miko Revereza’s “Nowhere Near” is an experimental documentary capturing the scars of a life lived in waiting. [New York Film Festival]
There’s a strange hypocrisy to the American Dream. Citizens of the United States of America have called their country the greatest in the world, touting its various freedoms (perceived or law-based), all while going to other countries to spread their… Read More ›