Pay it No Mind is a loving documentary tribute to the late queer rights activist and ‘saint’ Marsha P. Johnson, built around archive footage of a 1992 interview with the legend herself. ‘Pay it No Mind’ is what Marsha P. Johnson would answer whenever asked what the ‘P.’ stood for. It is no coincidence that the songs of Antony and the Johnsons are used on the soundtrack of this soulful (…) Continue Reading »

’American Idol’ owes me, big time. Whilst they didn’t clip my wings during an audition by highlighting my average singing talent, their on-screen auditions showcasing amazing, (allegedly) undiscovered vocal talent has served to divert my attention from the lives of amazing, discovered vocal talent that still has not ’made it’. ’20 Feet from Stardom’ is a documentary profiling background (…) Continue Reading »

Robin French writes for theatre and television. He wrote the script for the short film Crocodile, directed by Gaelle Denis, that was screened at La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes and subsequently won the Short Film Prize. French’s first play, Bear Hug won the Royal Court Theatre Young Writers Programme. His play The Red Helicopter was performed at the Almeida theatre in 2010. He also (…) Continue Reading »

Hong Khaou’s study of love and loss opens with shots of 1950s patterned wallpaper and lilting background music, before panning to a vase of freshly cut hydrangea – their blue friendliness blackened by shadow. In this ‘old people’s home’, Junn, the Cambodian – Chinese mother of the tale, has been ‘imprisoned’ by her loving son Kai– “Why did you put me here?” she asks when he visits. Yet (…) Continue Reading »

Now here is a Canada that we don’t see on postcards. Or in scenes of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ when Robin visits Canada for the weekend. On the Red Crow Indian Reservation in 1969 teenage Aila and her uncle, Burner, run a quaint weed dealing business to supplement the family’s income, which also allows Aila to save to leave the Res. But living isn’t easy, primarily because rogue Indian agent (…) Continue Reading »

La Distancia is fantastically serene, profoundly tactile and deeply pleasurable to both eye and ear. A garden of eerie, earthly delights. Sergio Caballero’s post-industrial Siberia is a land haunted by radiation and inhabited by foxes, rabbits (…) Continue Reading »

Pour dénoncer les injustices du quotidien, CamClash propose de les mettre en scène en caméra cachée. Dangereux mais irrésistible, comme un plat de fugu. Lire la suite »

Linda Västrik’s ‘The Forest of the Dancing Spirits’ is an ethnographic documentary which attempts to represent the daily life of the Aka community while resisting the urge to romanticize their beliefs or universalize their experiences. The Aka live in the Congolese rainforest where Västrik joined them for extended periods, filming (and eventually editing) their daily lives. The film is shot (…) Continue Reading »

Léo Soesanto is a film critic for culture magazine Les Inrocks, artistic director of the Bordeaux International Film Festival and a member of the selection committee for the feature film competition at La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes. How did you get involved in Semaine de la Critique? Well, I’m a critic and and a member of the film critics union — two conditions which are required in (…) Continue Reading »

While not all films starring black people are ’black films’, Alexandre Moor’s "Blue Caprice" has been billed as an exploration of the African American ’experience’ .It’s also been described as analogous to ’Precious’ and ’Boys in the Hood’. How does a film about a young person trafficked from Antigua and brainwashed by a sociopath to murder innocent people capture the African American (…) Continue Reading »