Moral Lines Blur in Illegal Kenyan Elephant Poaching—‘When Lambs Become Lions,’ dir. Jon Kasbe, 2018

Country: Kenya, USA|

Director Jon Kasbe spent four years in Kenya befriending both elephant poachers and the rangers fighting to stop them. Together, they created a human and honest narrative of morality’s murkier areas

Water Tells Its Own Story–‘Aquarela,’ dir. Victor Kossakovsky, 2019

Country: Denmark, Germany, Greenland, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, United Kingdom, USA, Venezuela, Water|

An elegiac documentary with an urgent message about climate change centers the narrative around aquatic bodies and lets the environment speak for itself

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Moral Lines Blur in Illegal Kenyan Elephant Poaching—‘When Lambs Become Lions,’ dir. Jon Kasbe, 2018

Country: Kenya, USA|

Director Jon Kasbe spent four years in Kenya befriending both elephant poachers and the rangers fighting to stop them. Together, they created a human and honest narrative of morality’s murkier areas

Water Tells Its Own Story–‘Aquarela,’ dir. Victor Kossakovsky, 2019

Country: Denmark, Germany, Greenland, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, United Kingdom, USA, Venezuela, Water|

An elegiac documentary with an urgent message about climate change centers the narrative around aquatic bodies and lets the environment speak for itself

Wool Over the Eyes—‘This Magnificent Cake!’, dir. Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels, 2018

Country: Belgium, DR Congo, France, Netherlands, South Africa|

Whimsical felt puppet fantasy from filmmaking couple tackles colonization of Congo by Belgian King Leopold in a graceful satirical exploration of the chaos that ineptitude sows

A Dog’s Heart—‘Marona’s Fantastic Tale’, dir. Anca Damian, 2019

Country: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Romania, Spain|

Abstract art meets unconditional love in an animated film about a dog's history living with humans: a dazzling all-age feature from Romanian auteur and an international team of visual artists

An Anthology of the Best New Music from Burundi, Part III: East African Express

Country: Burundi, Rwanda|

Our last dispatch from the musical scene of Burundi, where genocide survivors, Christian youth ministers, and rural dwellers make fantastic music you know you want to dance to

6 Animated Shorts to See at New York City’s Animation First Festival 2020

Country: Argentina, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Tajikistan|

Family memories, heart-wrenching puppets, thrilling technological advancements and a lot of dark, delicious humor from the world’s finest animators, including two Oscars nominees

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Wool Over the Eyes—‘This Magnificent Cake!’, dir. Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels, 2018

Country: Belgium, DR Congo, France, Netherlands, South Africa|

Whimsical felt puppet fantasy from filmmaking couple tackles colonization of Congo by Belgian King Leopold in a graceful satirical exploration of the chaos that ineptitude sows

A Dog’s Heart—‘Marona’s Fantastic Tale’, dir. Anca Damian, 2019

Country: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Romania, Spain|

Abstract art meets unconditional love in an animated film about a dog's history living with humans: a dazzling all-age feature from Romanian auteur and an international team of visual artists

Shrouded in Hopelessness—‘The Swallows of Kabul’, dir. Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, 2019

Country: Afghanistan, Algeria, France|

The lives of two couples waiting for their real-life to begin in Taliban-run Kabul are entwined in a heart-breaking animated adaptation of Yasmina Khadra's novel

The Extremity of Loss—‘I Lost My Body’, dir. Jérémy Clapin, 2019

Country: France|

A severed hand seeks to be reunited with its body in a highly imaginative, morbid yet affable animated feature co-written by one of the authors of "Amelie" and nominated for the Oscars

Frank Walter, A Reclusive Antiguan Eccentric Who Became an Art Sensation After He Died

Country: Antigua and Barbuda|

Frank Walter spent his life creating a vibrant body of work that reimagined the existing social order. Posthumously, his art is a revitalizing deconstruction of race, history and the universe

AFRICA

DR Congo’s Urban Art Scene Is Pulsating with Politics and Perils—‘System K’, dir. Renaud Barret, 2019

Country: DR Congo, France|

The best art grows out of trash and danger: incendiary documentary profiles the courageous young artists making fierce political statements in the streets of Kinshasa

An Anthology of the Best New Music from Burundi, Part II: Keeping Up With Kirundi

Country: Burundi, USA|

Burundi has it all: afrobeat, gangsta rap, golden-voiced goddesses, bongo flava and boy bands. Come for them, stay for the zip bag suits and Cassava-themed trap anthems

An Anthology of the Best New Music from Burundi, Part I: Behold the Buja Beats

Country: Burundi, Sweden|

Crooners, rappers and comeback kids, a diva and a soccer hymn: our first dispatch of freshest tunes from Burundi will satisfy your Afrobeat, R&B and hip-hop cravings and lift you up

Namibian Artist Tuli Mekondjo Creates a Space Where Her Fractured Identity Can Be Whole Again

Country: Namibia|

Born in exile during the country's war for independence, the interdisciplinary artist seeks to find ways to belong and to explore trauma through works of striking beauty and proximity to the earth

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ASIA

One Afghan Family’s Clandestine Perspective of the Contemporary Global Refugee Crisis in ‘Midnight Traveler’, dir. Hassan Fazili, 2019

Country: Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey|

An urgent documentary about a family seeking asylum provides an intimate perspective of the way that countless people plea for state powers to recognize their humanity

Family Values, Fraud, Post-Colonialism, and Scary Healing Rituals in ‘Suleiman Mountain’, dir. Elizaveta Stishova, 2017

Country: Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Russia|

A husband, his two wives, and estranged young son grapple with opportunities and morals in rural Kyrgyzstan—a powerful road-movie from a young Russian director

A Lighthearted Lesbian Romcom With Serious Politics: ‘Billie and Emma’, dir. Samantha Lee, 2018

Country: Philippines|

A queer romance is blooming at an all-girls catholic school in rural Philippines in the 90s—but pregnancy puts the relationship, as well as the girls' agencies, to the test

Modern Technology Meets Archaically Pointless Deaths In the Devastating Frontline Documentary ‘People of the Wasteland,’ dir. Heba Khaled, 2019

Country: Germany, Kurdistan, Syria|

GoPro footage filmed by militants on the frontline of the Syrian War is arranged into an essay on deadly masculinity by female film director, who has lost her home and family members to the conflict

EUROPE

A Dog’s Heart—‘Marona’s Fantastic Tale’, dir. Anca Damian, 2019

Country: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Romania, Spain|

Abstract art meets unconditional love in an animated film about a dog's history living with humans: a dazzling all-age feature from Romanian auteur and an international team of visual artists

6 Animated Shorts to See at New York City’s Animation First Festival 2020

Country: Argentina, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Tajikistan|

Family memories, heart-wrenching puppets, thrilling technological advancements and a lot of dark, delicious humor from the world’s finest animators, including two Oscars nominees

Shrouded in Hopelessness—‘The Swallows of Kabul’, dir. Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, 2019

Country: Afghanistan, Algeria, France|

The lives of two couples waiting for their real-life to begin in Taliban-run Kabul are entwined in a heart-breaking animated adaptation of Yasmina Khadra's novel

The Extremity of Loss—‘I Lost My Body’, dir. Jérémy Clapin, 2019

Country: France|

A severed hand seeks to be reunited with its body in a highly imaginative, morbid yet affable animated feature co-written by one of the authors of "Amelie" and nominated for the Oscars

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Supamodu, Join Our Mailing List

NORTH AMERICA

Documenting the Growing Pains of Gay Parenthood Over the Decade—‘Fatherhood Dreams’, 2007, and ‘My Dads, My Moms and Me‘, 2019, dir. Julia Ivanova

Country: Canada|

Soon after Canada legalized same-sex marriages, Julia Ivanova filmed four gay fathers realizing their liberties. She returned a decade later to see how the dads, their co-parents and kids were doing

10 Years Of Shame and Guilt Turn into a Legacy for the Male Rape Survivor in ‘One Taxi Ride,’ dir. Mak CK, 2019

Country: Mexico, Singapore|

Erick was raped by a group of men when he was 17. A decade later he decided to get stigma and trauma out of his life. A refreshing, heart-wrenching documentary on an immensely important subject

Feminism’s Quiet Battle in ‘The Awakening of the Ants’, dir. Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, 2019

Country: Costa Rica, Spain|

A woman from a traditional Costa Rican family doesn't want to have another baby. A simple decision turns into an act of defiance in a smart, lyrical portrayal of Latina womanhood

Pretend It’s Summer Again: In Trinidad It Always Is—Trini Food at Pearl’s in New York City

Country: Trinidad and Tobago, USA|

A woman-owned place in Williamsburg dishes out bakes, rotis, curry stews and everything that has tamarind, coconut or rum in it by finding new heights for the diverse, flavorful Caribbean cuisine

OCEANIA

Film: Judas Collar, dir. Alison James, 2018

Country: Australia|

Look at the consequences of human interference with the camel populations of Australia in this powerful women-made narrative short that is currently contending for the Oscars' shorts nomination

Art: Fafetu, The Traditional Crocheted Patterns of Polynesia by Lakiloko Keakea

Country: New Zealand, Tuvalu|

Fierce, otherworldly pieces created by a 71-year old powerhouse of Pacific arts that raise many important questions on assessing art, gender and tradition in the post-colonial space

Art: John Pule, Hafata, 2016

Country: New Zealand, Niue|

Leading Pacific Islander artist captures the ambiguity and the splendor of his tiny, magnificent homeland in transformative, deeply spiritual paintings

Film: Eating Up Easter, dir. Sergio Mata’u Rapu, 2018

Country: Chile, Rapa Nui, USA|

Tiny nation in the middle of Pacific Ocean struggles with globalization and plastic pollution, in an illuminating documentary that is both a call to action and a fascinating piece of ethnography

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SOUTH AMERICA

Pain Is Stronger Than Homophobia—‘Tu Me Manques’, dir. Rodrigo Bellott, 2019

Country: Bolivia, USA|

A father seeks to get to know his dead gay son, as the son's ex creates a play that will change the country in a nesting doll of autobiographical narrative and fiction from Bolivia's leading director

Poet, Artist, Two-Spirit, Immigrant, Sex Worker, Human—‘The Journey of Monalisa’, dir. Nicole Costa, 2019

Country: Chile, USA|

Filmmaker tracks down her college friend from Chile in New York and creates a portrait of life full of integrity and dignity in circumstances which are not usually considered conventional

Film: Fabulous, dir. Audrey Jean-Baptiste, 2019

Country: France, French Guiana|

A transwoman who's made strides in New York and Paris returns to her home country to teach voguing to the locals in a fascinating study of gender and sexuality in French Guiana

Film: Before It’s Too Late, dir. Leandro Goddinho, 2019

Country: Brazil|

Staying tender while standing ground: teenage pop idols are drawn to each other at the advent of Bolsonaro's regime and decide to reinvent themselves against his homophobic agenda