‘The Legal’ versus ‘The Moral’; The Plight of the Family in Contemporary Japan —’Shoplifters,’ dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018June 2nd, 2020|Country: Japan|Facing crippling poverty, one family’s attempt to survive may be emblematic of wider societal problems plaguing a Japan that’s in a deep economic recession
Gasping at the Horrors of Past Internment Camps, as We Build More Prisons—‘Dead Souls’, dir. Wang Bing, 2018May 31st, 2020|Country: China, France, Switzerland|An exhaustive, gutting look at a Chinese internment camp allows us to learn from the survivors first hand. However, what exactly are we as a carceral society taking away from it?
Iron Horses, Flesh Elephants, and Human Survivors of Taiwan’s History—Wu Ming-yi, ’The Stolen Bicycle,’ 2015, trans. Darryl SterkMay 12th, 2020|Country: Taiwan|A highly imaginative novel rooted in the personal and historical comes together as a multi-faceted vision of Taiwan’s past and distills Taiwanese identity out of wars and calamities
Queerness, Gender Discrimination, and Cults on the Margins of the Chinese Dream—‘A Dog Barking at the Moon’, dir. Lisa Zi Xiang, 2019April 7th, 2020|Country: China, Spain|A taut, inventive drama dissects how preoccupation with gender fulfillment and marriage in the Chinese society can lead to alienation: an expectant mother rediscovers the misery in her childhood home
Meat, Lust and Madness Against the Bhutanese Greenery— ‘The Red Phallus’, dir. Tashi Gyeltshen, 2018March 31st, 2020|Country: Bhutan, Germany, Nepal|An emotionally intelligent, masterfully arranged film that explores the power-dynamics in Bhutanese society through the eyes of a traumatized, disaffected teenage girl
The Magnificent Pencil Pushers: The Planet’s Leading Miniature Carvers Working on the Sharp End, Part 2March 30th, 2020|Country: Bashkortostan, India, Russia, Taiwan, Tamil Nadu, USA, Vietnam|There is no topic that those micro sculptors with mad skills can't pencil in: from Baby Yoda to endangered species, from complex engineering to the taboo of menstruation.
The Many Facets of Kyrgyz Womanhood—‘Jamilia’, dir. Aminatou Echard, 2018 February 26th, 2020|Country: France, Kyrgyzstan|Ethnography meets experimental film in a stunning, sprawling study of Kyrgyz femininity and its relationship to the culture's defining novella about a rebellious woman
The Past, Present, and Future of Dance in the Muslim World—‘When Arabs Danced’, dir. Jawad Rhalib, 2018January 20th, 2020|Country: Algeria, Belgium, France, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco|Trailblazing performers from Arabic countries and Iran, as well as glimpses from the pre-hardline cultural landscapes in this tantalizing primer on the role dance plays in Islam-adjacent cultures
The Sheltering Power of Art and Pedagogy in Occupied Palestine—‘Hurdle’, dir. Michael Rowley, 2019January 19th, 2020|Country: Palestine, USA|An intimate documentary about two men who seek freedom from Israeli occupation through creativity and kinship unfolds into an antidote to toxic masculinity
One Afghan Family’s Clandestine Perspective of the Contemporary Global Refugee Crisis in ‘Midnight Traveler’, dir. Hassan Fazili, 2019January 14th, 2020|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, 2017January 6th, 2020|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, 2018December 15th, 2019|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, 2019December 8th, 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
Music: Senyawa, Sujud, 2018November 26th, 2019|Country: Indonesia|Dark experimental doom folk duo from the center of Javanese culture makes bringing music back to nature a visceral, earthy experience with handmade instruments and radical approach to vocals
Film: Mogu and Perol, dir. Tsuneo Goda, 2018November 11th, 2019|Country: Japan|A furry chef discovers that dinner doesn't taste as good when there's no one to share it with, in this adorable short with some of the best-looking stop-motion food from the creator of Domo-kun
Film: The Wandering Chef, dir. Hye-Ryeong Park, 2018November 8th, 2019|Country: South Korea|Chef Jiho Im doesn't discriminate against his ingredients, preparing elaborate dishes from scavenged, rare plants with healing power. But can the medicinal foods heal his soul?