— by BEV QUESTAD — I loved every minute of this delicate story of a young village woman who was widowed at 19. She leaves her husband’s family and becomes a servant in Mumbai with dreams to educate herself as a dress designer. Her employer is in despair as his dreams have been dashed. [...]
Archive for the ‘Posters & Trailers’ Category
Trailer: What is Democracy?
— by BEV QUESTAD — “…until political power and wisdom unite… there can be no rest from troubles” (Plato, The Republic, Book V). From the brave art of Ambrogio Lorenzetti in 1338 to the always insightful challenges of Cornel West, Astra Taylor investigates ideas of democracy. What[...]
Trailer: Miss Kiet’s Children
— by BEV QUESTAD — This film gets an A+ and an encore on March 4 at the Portland International Film Festival. A microcosm of the world is captured in Kiet Engels’ primary classroom in a Dutch village. Her focus is on order, getting along, work ethic and overcoming adversity. While the [...]
Trailer: Her Love Boils Bathwater
— by BEV QUESTAD — One of eight films chosen for an encore performance at the 2018 Portland International Film Festival (PIFF), “Her Love Boils Bathwater” is about resilience and fortitude in the face of great challenges. It is also about mothering. Futaba, a single mom, is surrounde[...]
Trailer: Spoor
— by BEV QUESTAD — The environment of this film – its lighting, cinematography, music and woods in lush Polish mountains – reveals the story just as much as the words, expressions and actions of the outstanding cast. A movie especially for members of the NRA, it tells of hunters and [...]
Trailer: For Ahkeem
— by BEV QUESTAD — It’s Missouri, October 2013 to March 2015. Barack Obama is president and a Missouri courtroom has exonerated a policeman of shooting an 18-year old African-American. It is a time of both hope and despair in our country and also in the life of Daje Shelton, a teenage [...]
Trailer: Makala
— by BEV QUESTAD — This is the story of Kabwita Kasongo, a poor man living with his beautiful family in a mud brick hut in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Makala is word for the charcoal he makes. Emmanuel Gras, the film’s creator, lets you can walk in Kabwita’s shoes for abo[...]
Trailer: The Rape of Recy Taylor
— by BEV QUESTAD — Oprah Winfrey announced the December death of Recy Taylor during her powerful 2018 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech. She let the world know of Taylor’s gang rape by white boys, her courageous accusation, her connection to Rosa Parks and how that [...]
Steven Soderbergh goes mobile with Unsane
— by CRAIG SMITH — Steven Soderbergh is no stranger to the Oscars thanks to his slick Hollywood fare, as fans of “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Erin Brockovich” will be quick to tell you. But his latest movie, the horror thriller “Unsane,” was shot entirely on iPhones. What’s more[...]
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: First Trailer
— by JASON CULLEN — “Jumanji” (1995), directed by Chris Columbus and starring Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt, was one of the best-loved family films of the ’90s, and people have fond memories of the safari-themed adventure. Some purists may think that classics such as t[...]
I Am Not Madame Bovary: Official Trailer
— by BEV QUESTAD — The fabulously diversified Portland International Film Festival has been extended to Feb. 27. An example of one of PIFF’s exquisite foreign films is the picturesque Chinese blockbuster by Feng Xiaogang. Known as China’s Steven Spielberg, he uses a unique screen[...]
Starless Dreams: Trailer
— by BEV QUESTAD — Award-winning director Mehrdad Oskouei was given access to an incarceration facility for girls 18 and under in Iran. Gently asking them why they were there and what their hopes for the future were, he discovers a greater societal transgression than the girls’ crimes.[...]