Happy International Women’s Day!
Helke Misselwitz: Moving East to West Amidst the Sperrmüll
Reflections on Bulky Trash (Helke Misselwitz, 1991) by Elspeth Vischer Reflections on labour and parenting in the final days of the GDR are framed within an interesting dichotomy […]
Around The World in 14 Films: ‘When The Waves Are Gone’, ‘EO’ and ‘Trenque Lauquen’
by Florian Weigl One way to test the cinephile mettle of a country is to go to its most prominent festival of festivals. Canada and Toronto have TIFF, […]
“10 Years Down the Drain”—Glocca Morra’s ‘Just Married’ (2012)
An appreciation of Glocca Morra’s album ‘Just Married’, for its 10-year anniversary
Contemporary Limbo: Albert Serra’s ‘Pacifiction’
“The thrill of seeing bastions of society crumble in real time, the pervading sense of quiet reluctance as the doomsday clock moves forward, the grimy and unkempt edges of a world whose hope of subsisting is quickly fading away…”
Ghost in the Machine: ‘Hole in the Head’ (2022)
Hole in the Head, the new feature from Dean Kavanagh, is a wonderfully labile rendition of cinematic obsession as a simultaneously profound, absurd, deracinating, and visceral experience.
The Uses of Myth | Spectral Grounds: Black Experimental Film
“Not all featured works are formally experimental, but presented as experimental ontologically: the landing page of the website bears a curatorial statement that calls this practice “part of an endless repertoire and arsenal of Black survival.””
Cinema is an Open String: Two Early Shorts by Isiah Medina
“Looking at Medina’s earliest work, specifically Semi-auto colours and Time is a sun (2012) reveals much of his ambitious form and preoccupations already set in motion.”
Exposed Plywood: Lin Tuan-chiu’s ‘The Husband’s Secret’ (1960)
“When Le-hun sobs in the artificial rain, back pressed to a plywood facade, the plainness of the wood’s grain brings the audience closer to the material rather than adding distance: the production and the resulting film seem one in the same, part of an enthusiastic defiance of mass-market cinema in favor of local storytelling.”
“Are You Waving The Flag At Me?”—Sly and Prurient Americans at the Berlinale
Ruairí McCann looks back at two distinctly American titles from this year’s Berlinale, one new and one old.