With the COVID-19 pandemic has come many emotions, not least of which is grief. Grief in the sense of loneliness, loss, and confusion; grief in the sense of isolation. In her stop-motion music video for “Anhedonia,” Brooklyn-based artist Cressa Beer was inspired by work of artist and writer Blood Milk...
From 1960 to 1971, the FBI's Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO), collected files on more than 250 African American writers, artists, politicians, and activists who they perceived as domestic threats. Among the non-consensual participants of this illegal surveillance program were Malcolm X, James Baldwin, and Marion Stokes -- three key figures whose...
Emerging from Grand Soleil's aptly titled 2021 album, Human Error, the music video for "Round Round Round" uses raises ecological consciousness through a dreamy sci-fi frame. The music video is a work of art which personifies the French brotherly duo's driving basslines and was crafted in careful collaboration with director...
"By courageously looking, we defiantly declared: 'Not only will I stare. I want my look to change reality.'" - bell hooks Launched in February 2021, Our Right to Gaze: Black Film Identities is a short film distribution and mentorship series curated in joint partnership between Full Spectrum Features (Chicago), The Luminal...
Portland-based producer and musician Natasha Kmeto's third full-length record, 2020’s you’ve never danced alone, is a lighthouse for those who are lost, lonely and stressed on their journey, offering an alchemical perspective of empowerment that stems from undertaking shadow work in uncertain times. Released on Future Archive Recordings....
Hailing itself as Slamdance Film Festival's "largest and most accessible festival yet," Slamdance 2021 runs virtually from February 12th through 15th, and can be accessed with an impressively cheap $10 festival pass. With its long-time focus on emerging artists, the 27th edition of the festival boasts 25 features plus 107...
In the Criminal Justice Club at Horizon High School in El Paso, Texas, students bond and gain camaraderie while also rigorously training for careers in law enforcement. Horizon's program is the subject of At the Ready, filmmaker Maisie Crow's enthralling yet challenging documentary that premiered at Sundance Film Festival in...
In the music video for "All the Unknown" from instrumental Turkish-German and Swiss duo Grandbrothers, the band's long-time collaborator Manfred Borsch captures the track's delightfully melodramatic moods through one man's exploration of external landscapes and internal realms. Below, Grandbrothers and Borsch discuss the epic nature of how the music ties...
In her 2021 documentary, Film About a Father Who, filmmaker Lynne Sachs recalls how her dad, Ira Sachs, owned two identical red Cadillacs that he swapped out for each other, never letting his family in on his con. While benign, this secret was the first of many more, which were...
Written and compiled by Brooklyn-based artist, sound healing therapist, and meditation teacher Lavender Suarez, Transcendent Waves is a delightfully experimental new book which pays homage to the creative power of deep listening and the potential for sound to serve as a gateway towards transcendence....
frWe've finally made it to the bitter end of 2020, and believe it or not, human beings are still making amazing art in the midst of crisis and a pandemic. After a five-year hiatus, our Album Covers of the Year feature is back with a deep dive of artwork from...
In Through the Night, a lovely new documentary by first-time director Loira Limbal, daycare owner Nunu coaxes an anxious young boy to put aside his electronic tablet and be more present with the other kids. With a rueful laugh, she asks, "I'm down on my knees; are you going to...