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Introducing Our 2023 Masoud Yazdani Award Judges

Judging has begun for the 2023 Masoud Yazdani Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Film Scholarship. Articles under consideration are from the following notable institutions of higher education: And, of course, none of this would be possible without the tireless efforts … Continue reading

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One with the Whale. Reviewed by Dason Fuller

“We live in a modern world, in a remote area.” This quote from the film drives the overall message of One with the Whale. This documentary, directed by Peter Chelkowski and Jim Wickens, follows the life of a family in … Continue reading

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Playland (2023, dir. Georden West). Reviewed by K. A. Vale

Georden West’s Playland is a visually stunning blend of performance art and documentary that asks the audience to be witnesses of Boston’s oldest queer bar as it transcends time to tell the stories of its patrons, performers, and personnel through … Continue reading

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How to Have an American Baby. Reviewed by Zachary Eanes

An observational and sometimes borderline poetic documentary, How to Have an American Baby, directed by Leslie Tai, follows the lives of Chinese women who have already given or plan to give birth in the United States in order for their … Continue reading

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King Coal (2023). Reviewed by Kathryn Fulp

Much like the formation of coal deep within the earth, Appalachian native Elaine McMillion Sheldon forms an eloquently layered piece of creative nonfiction, weighed down under mountains of history and threaded by a river of shining narration in her documentary, … Continue reading

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SCALA!!! Revelry and Revolt: Cinematic Anarchy in the Heart of Rebellion. Reviewed by Lexi Collinsworth

In the era of Britain’s Thatcher administration, a repertory cinema emerged as a cultural phenomenon that would inspire a generation. SCALA!!!, directed by Ali Catterall and Jane Giles, unfolds the riotous inside story of the infamous Scala Cinema. Between 1978 … Continue reading

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Monkey Puzzle Shorts: Experiments. Reviewed by Luka Weinberg

Welcome to the Enclave Introduced as a virtual community for like-minded women, The Enclave exists as a haven enabling an escape from the mundane of reality. At once a safe neighborhood, now under siege from Reddit trolls, digital hackers, and … Continue reading

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Monkey Puzzle Shorts Block. Reviewed by Red Broadwell

The Monkey Puzzle shorts block of Cucalorus features experimental shorts existing in the limbo between dream and nightmare. These shorts use surreal imagery to convey indescribable parts of the human experience or fears we don’t dare speak of. This review … Continue reading

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Leaving Hollywood: Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth. By Callum McGrath

“You’re really happy driving this taxi? Is that your whole goal in life?” So asks Victoria, a Beverley Hills casting agent who has just offered her cab driver an acting role. Filmed with velveteen richness as dusk bleeds into night, … Continue reading

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Vanessa Zarm, Author of FM 13.2 (2022) Article “How Ordinary People Breaks the Stigma of Manila’s Street Children”

Film Matters: Please tell us about your article that is being published in Film Matters. Vanessa Zarm: My article centers around Eduardo W. Roy Jr’s 2016 Filipino film Ordinary People, which explores the central issue of street children and baby-snatching … Continue reading

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