Alison Jean SmithWhen documentary filmmaker Tzewoon Chan began making his genre-bending film Blue Island 憂鬱之島 (2022) in 2017, Hong Kong was between social movements. Coming out of a previous project, Yellowing (2016), which explored the explosive 2014 pro-democracy...
Vee Hua 華婷婷When it comes to the current state of identity politics, Belgian musicians Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul check a lot of boxes of diversity and representation. Both have immigrant backgrounds — with Adigéry being of Guadeloupean and French...
Arami Ullón Interview: Nothing But the Sun Chronicles Colonization’s Damage to the Indigenous Ayoreo
Nothing But the Sun (2020), a searing documentary from Paraguayan-Swiss filmmaker Arami Ullón, explores the plight of the Ayoreo, an Indigenous group living with the aftermath of colonization. Translated from its Spanish title, Apenas el Sol, the...
Almost immediately after I conclude my interview with Seattle R&B singer Olivia Thomas — who goes by the name LIVt — a crew of people flood into the small basement green room at Barboza. They’re members of the opening bands...
Supreme Short Films at Slamdance 2022: Top Picks in Narrative, Animation, Documentary & Experimental
Slamdance 2022 returns virtually for yet another year in 2022, with access to over 100 films for only $10! Streaming from January 27 to February 6, the 28th edition of the festival yet again commits to supporting independent, emerging artists. In...
Early on in Beans— a coming-of-age film written and directed by Quebec-based Mohawk filmmaker Tracey Deer — a teenage girl and her mom shimmy under their seatbelts and sing along to Snap!’s “The Power” on their way to a...
Dos Santos Band Interview: City of Mirrors Dynamically Reflects U.S. Latin American Musical Identity
On City of Mirrors, the fourth full-length record from Chicago’s Dos Santos, the five-piece band once again showcases their musical expertise by presenting a rich, multicultural melting pot of sounds. Coming from wide-ranging diasporic...
Building off a longstanding friendship, Portland-based queer, nonbinary musician Jan Julius and Baltimore-based animator Nick McKernan explore their second collaboration together with the textural, collage-heavy music video for “Manor Holes...