Islands, 2021. Directed by Martin Edralin. Starring Rogelio Balagtas, Sheila Lotuaco, Esteban Comilang, Vangie Alcasid, Pablo Quiogue, Isys Szuky, and Maximus Szuky. SYNOPSIS: Joshua, a shy middle-aged Filipino immigrant, has lived in the comfort of his parents’ home his entire life. As their health declines he longs for a partner, terrified of being alone after […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – The Lost Sons
The Lost Sons, 2021. Directed by Ursula Macfarlane. SYNOPSIS: 1960s Chicago, a baby is kidnapped from a hospital. Fifteen months later, a toddler is abandoned. Could he be the same baby? Ursula Macfarlane’s (Untouchable) new documentary certainly doesn’t leave viewers wanting for scandal, yet its intertwined tableau of stories and identities also feels worthy of […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Women Is Losers
Women Is Losers, 2021. Written and directed by Lissette Feliciano. Starring Lorenza Izzo, Bryan Craig, Chrissie Fit, Simu Liu, Steven Bauer, Liza Weil, Cranston Johnson, Alejandra Miranda, Shalim Ortiz, and Lincoln Bonilla. SYNOPSIS: In 1960s San Francisco, a once-promising catholic school girl, Celina Guerrera, sets out to rise above the oppression of poverty and invest […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Sound of Violence
Sound of Violence, 2021. Written and directed by Alex Noyer. Starring Jasmin Savoy Brown, Lili Simmons, James Jagger, and Tessa Munro. SYNOPSIS: A young girl recovers her hearing and gains synaesthetic abilities during the brutal murder of her family. Finding solace in the sounds of bodily harm, as an adult, she pursues a career in music […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Dear Mr. Brody
Dear Mr. Brody, 2021. Directed by Keith Maitland. SYNOPSIS: A psychedelic journey into the heart (and bank account) of Michael Brody, Jr., the hippie-millionaire who offered the world peace for the price of a postage stamp. The new documentary from director Keith Maitland (Tower) boasts an absolutely remarkable hook, but the initial fascination of its bizarre […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Fruits of Labor
Fruits of Labor, 2021. Directed by Emily Cohen Ibañez. SYNOPSIS: A Mexican-American teenage farmworker dreams of graduating high school, when ICE raids in her community threaten to separate her family and force her to become her family’s breadwinner. A perilous coming-of-age documentary from director Emily Cohen Ibañez, Fruits of Labor explores the daily struggles of America’s […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – The Oxy Kingpins
The Oxy Kingpins, 2021. Directed by Brendan Fitzgerald. SYNOPSIS: Covers the untold story of how a network of pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and retailers worked together to orchestrate and perpetuate the opioid crisis that has killed over half a million people in America. America’s opioid epidemic has killed 700,000 people over the last two decades, resulting in […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – We Are the Thousand
We Are the Thousand, 2021. Directed by Anita Rivaroli. SYNOPSIS: A thousand musicians gathered together with one mission – to get the Foo Fighters to perform in their small town. While there will certainly be more immediately “worthy” causes to get the documentary feature treatment in 2021, there’s also a lot to be said for […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break
Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break, 2021. Co-written and directed by Nick Gillespie. Starring Tom Meeten, Katherine Parkinson, Kris Marshall, Alice Lowe, Mandeep Dhillon, Johnny Vegas, Steve Oram, Craig Parkinson, Kevin Bishop, and Pippa Haywood. SYNOPSIS: A weedy charity-shop worker is set on winning the big national talent show. But when the actions of five selfish […]
2021 SXSW Film Festival Review – The Hunt for Planet B
The Hunt for Planet B, 2021. Directed by Nathaniel Kahn. SYNOPSIS: Taking us behind the scenes with NASA’s high-stakes James Webb Space Telescope, The Hunt for Planet B follows a pioneering group of scientists – many of them women – on their quest to find another Earth among the stars. The possibility of extraterrestrial life […]
