A long time ago, in what might as well have been a galaxy far, far away, Donya (Anaita Wali Zada) was a translator for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. Now, this young woman lives in the Bay Area town of Fremont, a stone’s throw from Silicon Valley and a dozen …
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Each year at Sundance, there’s one film that warms audience’s hearts so much they leap out of their seats when the credits roll and shower it with thunderous applause. Flora and Son, however, holds the distinction of inspiring not just a lengthy standing ovation but also a group sing-along, with …
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You can find hundreds of egotistical monsters who’ve graced movie screens (don’t get us started on the ones working behind the scenes; that’s a whole other piece), but few of them can compare to Tomas Freiburg. A renowned filmmaker who’s a tyrant on set — his volatile Rainer Werner Fassbinder …
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“My brain desperately wants to forget all of this. But the camera will not let it happen.” The voice on the soundtrack belongs to Mstyslav Chernov, a longtime war correspondent for the Associated Press. He had grown up in Ukraine, in the town of Kharkiv, and was part of a …
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The baby is gently cooing, nestled in a tiny bed against a cloud-flecked blue sky. Gia, a young woman, is tending to the newborn, adjusting clothes and tickling toes. The camera slowly pulls back, further and further. Soon, it becomes clear we’re in a photo shop, the kind you see …
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G reta Lee is squinting in the sunlight, staring intently at a street corner in the East Village. There’s a look of intense concentration on her face. “Wait, is that…” “Yeah, that’s the corner,” director Celine Song says. “I thought it was!” Lee replies, lighting up. “We’d just finished doing …
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Past Lives, writer-director Celine Song’s debut feature, opens with a guessing game: There are three people sitting at a bar, drinking in the wee hours. We’re observing the trio from a distance, unable to hear what they’re saying. Folks off-frame are making up possible back stories. The two Koreans are …
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“We’re so lucky,” Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tells her husband, Don (Tobias Menzies). He’s a therapist with a private practice in Manhattan; she teaches creative writing at The New School. Their son, Elliott (Owen Teague), is happy, healthy, and works at a weed dispensary, though Mom isn’t so jazzed about that …
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Sam Green wants you to stop and listen for a second. Like, really listen. The Bay Area documentarian wants you take in the world around you, one curated noise at a time. It might be church bells, cicadas, wind chimes, or rushing currents. He may throw a few sonic curveballs …
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Raine Allen-Miller’s feature directorial debut Rye Lane, out now on Hulu, is a firecracker of a film exploring modern-day dating (and heartbreak) mores while providing witty commentary on the borderline-absurd ways in which millennials and zoomers have latched onto social media buzzword culture. Running a brisk one hour and 22 …
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