To say that Bethann Hardison has contributed to racial progress in one of the world’s most whitewashed realms is an understatement. But a new documentary about her life might have gone a step too far.
Eileen G’Sell
Eileen G’Sell is a poet and critic with regular contributions to Hyperallergic, Reverse Shot, The Hopkins Review, and The Riverfront Times, among other publications. In 2019 she was nominated for the Rabkin Prize in arts journalism. She teaches at Washington University in St. Louis. More on her writing can be found here.
Posted inFilm
Kokomo City’s Bawdy, Unflinching Feminist Message
D. Scott’s documentary on Black trans sex workers is as sunny as it is sobering, a film that refuses to moralize.
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Maybe Some Artists Don’t Make It For a Reason
Make Me Famous, a new documentary about East Village artist Edward Brezinski, does little to prove that its subject should have risen to the top.
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If Only Lynch/Oz Had More of a Brain
Alexandre O. Philippe’s documentary would seem a must-see for fans of the yellow brick road or the Great Northern Hotel of Twin Peaks. If only.
Posted inFilm
Netflix Documentary Exposes the Criminalization of Sexual Assault Victims
Victim/Suspect reveals the extent to which women are vulnerable to pressures to take the blame, and even serve time, for their own violent rapes.
Posted inFilm
The A-Lot-Ness of Little Richard
Little Richard: I Am Everything honors the a-lot-ness that made him a 20th-century pioneer, while acknowledging the bumps along the trail he blazed.
Posted inArt
Depravity and Delights in Nicole Eisenman’s Prints
If God (and the Devil) are in the details, the craft of printmaking proves a powerful outlet for exploring Eisenman’s most enduring themes.
Posted inFilm
The Anarchic Spirit of Nam June Paik
Amanda Kim’s documentary shows how Paik anticipated the dizzying ways in which electronic and digital culture would transform human discourse.
Posted inFilm
Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso Depicts a Bygone Oakland
Smith’s 1998 film exudes the DIY charm of a low-budget, first-time feature while keenly depicting the complexities of both race- and gender-related inequalities.
Posted inFilm
Achingly Intimate Doc About Ukrainian Orphans Insists on Hope
A House Made of Splinters bears witness not only to children’s ongoing trauma, but to their enduring ability to seek out and sustain their own support networks.
Posted inFilm
The Women Who Dominated This Year’s Sundance
At this year’s Sundance International Film Festival, more than half the feature-length movies were made by directors who identify as women.
Posted inFilm
Why The Rules of the Game Is Still Required Viewing
Jean Renoir’s newly restored 1939 classic proves that lawless wealth — then as now — makes a marvelous farce of us all.
