White liberals and so-called progressives tend to have this fantasy about women of colour, specifically Black women, that when they are in trouble, women of colour will save them all, even if it destroys us.
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Writing with Fire is a documentary that highlights Khabar Lahariya, the only all-women news collective in India. They report on the problems in their society and attempt to make all the change they are collectively capable of. Living in a profoundly sexist caste system, these women take power for themselves, pointing fingers at their officials as they demand answers and solutions to greater problems for the sake of their communities. Now possessing over half a million subscribers on Youtube grown over the past five years of filming the doc, the group has taken to worldwide digital success in addition to that of their local print.
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In the sole Indian film premiering in the World Cinematic Dramatic competition, Ajitpal Singh's Fire In The Mountains tells a story about the universal complexities of motherhood and the singular experiences of village life in India. Its many subplots, conflicts, and even the cinematography carry the greater theme of disparity between worlds.
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Ailey's choreography somehow captures a uniquely black experience through his movements, angles, and lines that exist almost in a completely different world than that of how we usually perceive the world of dance.
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One of the most highly anticipated films of Sundance, 'Passing,' deals with the unique experience of being mixed-race in America in the 1920s, but also holds a mirror up to how we view being mixed race now. Rebecca Hall's debut film (adapted from the novel of the same name) centres housewife Irene (Tessa Thompson), who, despite her ability to "pass" for white, has a Black husband and Black children and lives in Black America. This is an important distinction considering the social and mental segregation of the time. She deals with society's racial tensions finding its way into her own home despite her best efforts to protect her children from the harsh realities.
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“If this rings a bell, it's because it's a bell that has echoed long past 1969. Whilst watching the Summer of Soul documentary and viewing footage of riots and protests, I was reminded of turning on my own TV during 2020’s summer and witnessing parallel scenes in the wake of George Floyd”
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“You never wanted to be anyone’s ‘girlfriend’ and now you’re somebody’s wife,” Tom says bitterly, to which Summer tries to argue, “It just happened. I woke up one day and I knew.”
“Knew what?” Tom asks, exasperated.
Summer delivers the final blow: “What I was never sure of with you.”
I’d heard the dialogue so many times that I had practically memorized it and yet, each time, I found myself receiving it differently. When I was 13, my heart went out to Tom who promptly complained about how much it sucked to realize that “destiny, soulmates, [and] true love” was a sham. When I was 16, I respected Summer for her genuine repentance despite having little to no fault; she kept her frankness up to the very end, acknowledging Tom’s pain without granting him any sense of false hope.
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My parents mystified love because they were so private in their own loving, and because of this romantic and intimate relationships were something I largely had to figure out on my own. Many parents have this attitude towards love, and this means that our concept of romantic relationships is largely moulded by movies, music and our peers. From an early age, we see Disney princesses being saved by love, warping our understanding. Suddenly we believe that everything will miraculously make sense in life when you find “the one.”
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As a distributor, it's Netflix’s job to preserve and protect the filmmaker’s intentions and vision all the way up to launch. In this case, they should've taken particular care because while some might say ‘all press is good press’, for Black women, this is often not the case. This is particularly insidious when considering the historical process of Black girls being over-sexualised in the media and how this narrative has a rippled effect in reality.
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I have a tendency, and I think it’s because I'm a dreamer (a daydreamer to put it more accurately), to listen to music and create movie soundtracks in my head, or think about what type of scene would fit this song. I even have a playlist on Spotify filled with songs I’d love to put in a TV show or film one day. So today I present to you a shortlist of songs that I’d like to put into a movie one day, inspired by Kaash Paige’s Teenage Fever.
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Literature has always heavily influenced film but in the 90s there was a wave of teen romantic comedies, most commonly known as “rom-coms,” based on classics. From Cruel Intentions to Clueless, these films were hugely popular, launched the careers of many of our most beloved actors today and made classical literature much more accessible for young people.
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The show handles intimacy in a way that I haven’t seen before. Not just the sex, although the realism of those scenes really grounded the story. But the camera gets us too close to the lovers, we are privy to their every emotion; the way they laugh together, their shared eye contact, their conversations. The unwavering focus on these two characters screams tenderness, never cutting away to someone else’s perspective or even making an effort to understand other characters gets us uncomfortably familiar with both and their inner selves. I just wish it wasn’t to the detriment of the show’s characters of colour.
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Love comes in many forms, but we have been conditioned to think that only romantic love can give us the intimacy we seek, even though we can also find it in friendships. Today’s society is in many ways just as much obsessed with marriage and the nuclear family as Jo and Alcott’s, and the fact that many still see these as obligatory accomplishments in a woman’s life is what keeps us from what we truly want: simply, to be loved and cared for.
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“Your final film was a love letter to life, so I only found it fitting almost a year after you have passed, to write a love letter back. Thank you, Agnès.”
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There is no denying the feelings they have after watching episode five of season three. They stare attentively at each other in seductive lighting while a Spanish love song is playing in the background. And when these two comics slow dance with each other, for once on the show, they can’t think of anything funny to say. That in itself is so telling. So why the hell aren’t they together?
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Netflix’s Klaus (2019) tells the story of a selfish rich boy Jesper who is shipped off to the isolated Smeerensberg as a postman. His only desire is to get the hell off this island where the locals are deadlocked in a centuries-long feud, and so convinces the children to write to the lonely old woodsman Klaus for a toy. However, what comes from it is a tale of deep and loving friendships.
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Closeted or not, there always seems to be some kind of boundary between queer people and having a fairy-tale Christmas complete with a romance. In a society in which the Christmas industry revolves around family and romance, it can be upsetting. beccs doesn’t expect to be a voice for everyone but the song removes that anxiety and pressure, choosing instead to focus on the warmth of finding love at Christmas.
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We love horror films because they’re harmless…right? The supernatural isn’t real so what’s the risk in indulging the fantasy? But the “what if?” is what gives us the thrill, is what charges the air on Halloween. The ghosts, vampires, werewolves and witches, we love being scared by the possibility of their existence. And so, we watch horror films.
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Good films don’t always mean “covered in so many layers of themes, it requires your brain to be on 10 to understand it”. As a film student, I’ve watched so many “classic” films that were just so fucking dull! Yes, I know they were groundbreaking and “important” for cinema, but I am bored!
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In 2015 a revolutionary web series created by Julie Andem premiered in Norway and changed the face of media forever. Like Beyoncé with her self titled album, this series was dropped with no previous promotion and like Beyoncé’s album, it broke records. The viewership on this premiere was extraordinary and proceeded to expand to the series as it went on.
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