Iron Horses, Flesh Elephants, and Human Survivors of Taiwan’s History—Wu Ming-yi, ’The Stolen Bicycle,’ 2015, trans. Darryl Sterk

By Katya Kazbek|May 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, 2019

By Katya Kazbek|April 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, 2018

By Katya Kazbek|March 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 2

By Katya Kazbek|March 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 

By Katya Kazbek|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, 2018

By Katya Kazbek|January 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, 2019

By Katya Kazbek|January 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, 2019

By Lora Maslenitsyna|January 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, 2017

By Katya Kazbek|January 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, 2018

By Katya Kazbek|December 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