Film
The Indie Roots of Confessional Film
In the late 1980s and '90s, a wave of independent directors turned cameras on themselves, utilizing documentary as a mode of confession and self-reflection.
Film
Film
The Boys’ Club of Comedy and Its Machinations of Abuse
Implicit throughout Sorry/Not Sorry is the question of what it means for a White cis-het man to be “canceled,” and how claiming cancellation is often a route to reclaiming power.
Film
It’s Time for a Queer Comedy Revolution
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution drives home who is worth paying attention to if you want comedy to lighten your load, and your fellow humans'.
Film
Activists Interrupt Israeli Film Screening at Toronto Festival
Anti-Zionist protesters called out the film Bliss (Hemda), one of the centerpieces of TIFF this year, for its ties to the Israeli government.
Film
A Brooklyn Neighborhood Fights for Its Future in a New Documentary
Emergent City returns to the old-school “fly-on-the-wall” method of filmmaking to capture democracy in practice in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Film
The Dizzying Contradictions in Contemporary Classical Ballet
The dancers we grow to know (and love) in Swan Song are sweating, swearing, soaring women, at odds with conceptions of purity and frailness.
Film
Look Into My Eyes Is an Intimate Portrait of Psychic Healing
Uninterested in proving anything definitively, this film instead asserts the complicated humanity of psychic healers, their clients, and the practice itself.
Books
Agnès Varda, Pragmatic Dreamer
The first major biography of the film director, screenwriter, artist, and photographer is scrupulous and affectionate.
Film
Academy Stands By Emmy Nomination of Gaza Documentary
Bisan Owda's eight-minute film tells the story of the Israeli attack on the Al-Shifa Hospital, where she and thousands of others were sheltering.
Film
In Hummingbirds, Joy Is an Act of Resistance
The coming-of-age documentary is as full of whimsy and joy as it is packed with clear-eyed resilience.
Film
Five Video Essays to Watch in August
This month: Tetris competitions, “adulting” amusement parks, the pitfalls of activist art, and more.
Interview
A Deeply Personal Investigation Into Canada’s Residential Schools
Co-directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie discuss the making of their documentary Sugarcane, told from the perspective of Indigenous survivors.