Jaider Esbell showed us that future biennials will need to look to art activists and ethnic collectives not as contingent collaborators but as authoring agents.
Ela Bittencourt
Ela Bittencourt is a critic and cultural journalist, currently based in São Paulo. She writes on art, film and literature, often in the context of social issues and politics.
Posted inFilm
The Power of the Dog Is a Different Kind of Western Film
Acclaimed director Jane Campion returns to film with an all-star cast featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and more.
Posted inArt
Rosalind Fox Solomon Captures the Humanity of Everyday Lives
In a way, Solomon’s photo series The Forgotten harks back to a time when viewers believed that pictures told it all.
Posted inArt
The Jewish Immigrant Modernists Who Dreamed a Better Future in Brazil
As Jewish artists fled World War II, some settled in Brazil, where their resilience and desire for renewal shaped their art that looked hopefully to the future.
Posted inArt
The São Paulo Biennial Captures a Perpetually Discontinuous World
Many works take disruption and repetition as their themes, and many artists resurface in different sections, creating multiple affinities.
Posted inFilm
Don’t Miss These Experimental Works at the New York Film Festival
With films touching on protest in France, China’s one-child policy, and Indigenous life in Canada, the 2021 Currents program stays both culturally and politically forward-thinking.
Posted inArt
Huguette Caland’s Vivacious Takes on the Female Form
Robust, voluptuous, and sexually frank, the works in Tête-à-Tête showcase Caland’s outré sense of humor and vivacity.
Posted inFilm
A Mystical Masseuse Sends a Gated Community Into Upheaval
Director Malgorzata Szumowska uses fantasy to satirize the lives of the affluent in Poland’s official Oscar submission.
Posted inArt
Frank, Greek, and Gay: Modernist Painter Yannis Tsarouchis Is Finally Getting His Due
Dancing in Real Life makes a strong case for recognizing the Greek painter as a pioneer of queer art.
Posted inFilm
Experimental Animation Gems by Suzan Pitt, Walerian Borowczyk, and More
Here are some cartoons outside the mainstream, from a mischievously psychosexual short to an allegory for post-WWII Europe.
Posted inFilm
Romance Turns Deadly in Three Movies About Love Triangles
These indie thrillers revive classic noir tropes with fresh, distinct approaches.
Posted inFilm
The Post-Communist Cinematic Landscape of Eastern Europe
Sergei Loznitsa’s expansive filmography is a great entryway to films from Ukraine, Poland, Russia, and more which grapple with the legacy of the Warsaw Pact.
