The feature debut of Mexican Ethiopian filmmaker Jessica Bashir, Faya Dayi immerses its audience in a visually rich, hypnotic world that feels as hallucinogenic, languid, and euphoric as a drug trip. Centered in rural Ethiopia, the documentary transcends traditional storytelling as it relays the hopes and challenges of Ethiopians trapped working in the Khat trade. The name …
One Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary order says in director Pedro Kos’s award-winning documentary Rebel Hearts, “What does Mary have to do with revolution? Only everything. I can’t believe that the mother of God wouldn’t be as concerned as a mother could be about the problems which brought her son to earth.” Therein lies …
“Instead of patronizing me, why don’t you give me an interview.” This is the sort of fearless response offered by one of the intrepid female reporters from the Indian newspaper Khabar Lahariya (Waves of News), which was started and is entirely run by Dalit women. The Dalit caste is considered the lowest, or ‘untouchable’ societal group in …
Director Maite Alberdi’s creative, captivating new film The Mole Agent feels like a rather slow narrative feature, in which not enough happens, until you remember it’s a documentary. Alberdi’s hybridization of staid drama and cinema vérité makes for poignant, intense viewing. The film will stay with you longterm, both as a bit of melancholia and as a …
Some directors are born to documentary filmmaking. To be able to build an arc through real-life events, to capture the essence of real people and their challenges, building enough trust with those subjects to get at deeper truths, to keep an audience connected to the subjects, these are what make a great documentarian. Benjamin Ree …
Anyone who has ever had one of man’s best friends knows just how easily they can transform a bad mood. With just a solicitous face lick or an enthusiastic greeting at the end of a hard day, they can make everything better. Lately there have been a lot of hard days in this country, …
I’m sure you all have heard about how audiences assembled for Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel superhero movie has broken the record for the biggest opening weekend ever. This weekend, another film, which features the closest thing to a real superhero we have in the US, is opening, and will make a great companion piece, …
New this week in limited release is a documentary from director/producer Amanda Lipitz called Step. In a new all female charter school called Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, or BLSYW, the step team is influencing the members’ lives both on and off stage. The film follows these girls as they are empowered by their …
Friday, April 6, 2012 The Weinstein Co. has made the choice to open the new documentary Bully on April 13th, the same day as Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods and Luc Besson’s Lockdown, hoping to appeal to the more sophisticated and socially aware film goers. In advance of this release, Cinema Siren thought …
