Why the Fuss?

Senegalese-French filmmaker Maimouna Doucoure unwittingly stepped in the middle of the American Culture Wars.  Her small film has gotten a lot of attention.  “Cuties” is the story of a girl from a poor Paris neighbourhood trying to find her way in life.   Ignore the Outrage!  According to some, it promotes Child Sexuality. On social …

Venice Film Festival-Length

Lengths  One intriguing entry into the Venice competition program this year is Lahi, Hayop (Genus, Pan) by Lavrente Indico Diaz (better known as Lav Diaz). Those already familiar with the work of the Filipino director will know he is synonymous with slow contemplative cinema. His earlier films Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004) is ten hours …

Venice Film Fest 2020

The Shorts  Along with the more high-profile feature films, we should not overlook the short film entries in Venice.  I commend those that have been selected.  The short film competition in Venice has programmed a total of twelve entries this year.  The selection represents all regions of the world except South America.  Si  Two further …

SAMP-A Film Review

Imagine Frank Zappa (who was no stranger to acting, or the absurd) in his prime starring in a debut film like Peter Jackson’s Braindead(1992) combined with Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi(1992).  Chuck in  elements from the anarchy of El Topo(1970) by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Alex Cox’s Repo Man(1984), but with an original take on everything.  This pretty much sums up …

Borsalino City

Borsalino headwear and film history go hand in hand.  The 2015 documentary BORSALINO CITY is being released in an English version. Director Enrica Viola’s work weaves the story of  how 163 years ago Giuseppe Borsalino founded a hat atelier in Alessandria, Italy to becoming iconic parts of film history.  His style legacy has been worn …

Chat Cinema Stay In

In these times when we are being asked to “Stay Inside” it is important to still have connect with colleagues.  The Chat Cinema gang got together over Skype to have a conversation about films. Our stay home recommendations to watch until the crisis is over.  Some surprises happened over the course of the 4 way …