Film
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.
Ela Bittencourt
Ela Bittencourt is a critic and cultural journalist, currently based in Berlin. She writes on art, film and literature, often in the context of social issues and politics.
Art
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.
Film
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.
Film
Romance Turns Deadly in Three Movies About Love Triangles
These indie thrillers revive classic noir tropes with fresh, distinct approaches.
Film
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.
Art
Hannah Wilke's and Eva Hesse’s Irreverent Experiments in Abstraction
Erotic Abstraction revels in the subversive absurdity shared by both artists.
Film
The Cinematic Gems of the Czechoslovak New Wave
These classics were produced during Czechoslovakia’s brief political thaw in the 1960s.
Books
The Salacious and Scholarly Poems of Yusef Komunyakaa
The poet suggests his art’s highest calling isn't truth-telling but stirring our empathic imagination.
Film
A Mesmerizing Yet Frustrating Portrayal of Film Industry Exploitation
In its desire to avoid cliches, Nina Wu skips over some of the more complex fallout of sexual trauma.
Art
Lush Yet Crisp: Beatriz Milhazes’s Lively Abstractions
Avenida Paulista, Milhazes’s largest survey to date, offers an engrossing overview of how the artist cross-pollinates painting and printmaking.
Film
A Virtual Sundance Brings Movies About Isolation and Mediated Realities
The 2021 edition of the important film festival is open to viewers around the country.
Film
The Nostalgia of a Movie Theater’s Final Days
Tsai Ming-liang's newly restored film Goodbye, Dragon Inn flips the notion of moviegoing as a sanctified experience.