Posted inFilm

Solidarity in the summer

As has been the case for most of my adult life, I’ve also watched a lot of movies (and occasionally, some television) this summer. What’s been different this year is that I’m now thinking more about those who made what I’m watching, both in front of and behind the camera.

Posted inFilm

An artist in exile

Fazel Ahad Ahadi expected to spend his whole life in Afghanistan with his extended family. But in summer 2021, Ahadi found himself hastily dismissing class and speeding home to raise a bonfire of books in his backyard. The Taliban had reclaimed Afghanistan’s capital city, and a 20-year artistic renaissance had come to an abrupt and violent end.

Posted inFilm

Bound for the floor

Just as The Matrix invites a trans textual reevaluation—spurred from its creators coming out as trans women years after release—Bound subconsciously uses its genre-bending cinematic elements toward corporeal freedom and autonomy.