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...
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...
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...
Swathed in the unlikely comfort of warm grey tones, Toronto-based musician Hiroki Tanaka (田中博基) can be seen on the album cover for his debut solo record, Kaigo Kioku Kyoku (介護記憶曲), looking fairly somber in a space accented by Japanese relics and the simple adornments of a lived-in home. Diving deeper,...
Photograph by Abe Mora Lightswitch, the six-track EP from New Zealand-based Persian rapper, CHAII, draws upon her visual art background and comes paired with six highly-stylized music videos that span continents. Including a three-part series shot in Oman -- which involves a rich roster of local residents and aims to portray...
In the directorial debut of their feature film, Borrufa, Portland-based artist, performer, and filmmaker Roland Dahwen presents a quiet portrait of the trials and tribulations faced by immigrant families in the United States. Poetically and ambiguously named, Borrufa is shot on Super 16mm film stock and unconventional by most mainstream filmmaking...
When Moroni Benally signs the paperwork to run for Navajo Nation president, he giggles. Moroni For President, a charming documentary profile of his 2014 campaign, captures the high stakes of the race to become the leader of the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American territory by landmass and population. Moroni,...
At The Atlantic Festival, a 2019 conference put on by The Atlantic, an interviewer asked Maria Ressa, CEO of the Filipino news site, Rappler, why Americans should care about the deteriorating political situation in the Philippines. Her response? "What happens in America happens in the rest of the world." Ressa...
In the cinematic music video for “Wine,” Canadian Chinese singer Carson Cheng — also known as KICCC (pronounced “kick”) — emerges from hot ashes like a phoenix and finds himself face-to-face with a white wolf in the woods. The dramatic result of a creative exchange between KICCC and director Brock...
For Seattle-based Black artist Zahyr Lauren -- also known as the artist L.Haz, or more concisely, Z -- discovering their personal connection to art came as an unexpected blessing. It was 2015 when the shift began; they were living in New York, working at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project as...
All May, posters have abounded in Seattle's historically gay-friendly neighborhood of Capitol Hill, advertising Transgender Arts Month. Lumped within that was Translations, a five-day Transgender Film Festival, now on its eleventh year. In smaller cities with a less prominent LGBTQ crowd, a Transgender Arts Month might be relegated to only having...