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Chat Cinema

The Hollywood Strikes are over. Awards Season has started. New episodes of Chat Cinema Podcast are in the pipeline with global filmmakers who may make the final cut for the Oscars this year.

Chat Cinema Podcast
Chat Cinema Podcast
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A Belarusian Spirit

I admit when I first interviewed Aliaksei Paluyan about his film COURAGE I was a bit nervous for him. Our conversation happened after a plane was “diverted” to Minsk with a Belarusian dissident. Mr. Paluyan has a defiant spirit considering there is a nemesis only a few hours away with a long arm, thin skin with a thirst for pay back.

At the Berlinale the filmmaker introduced the new Belarusian Independent Film Academy with his fellow creative colleagues.

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Cinema podcast

Which Decisions?

Iranian Luxembourg filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad’s work THE RED SUITCASE recently received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Short Film. The Paris educated director’s somber story of forced decisions builds a subtle rush.

Click below for the Chat Cinema podcast.

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Cinema entertainment news

On Tap at IFFR 2023

I never know what to expect at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The Dutch fest always provides twists and turns with a program that challenges my views on cinema.

IFFR
Numb
Le spectre de Boko Haram
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Cinema entertainment news

The Oscar Race For Short Films in 2022

Presenting varied International Short films that are Oscar eligible. The standard of these films are original and mostly excellent.

Starting with Tech to the Future by Sandro Monetti, not surprisingly, it is something otherworldly. The only non-fiction film here, the mood is like a news item straight out of Robocop. On-screen narrator Francis Hellyer proclaims that technology will lead us to a brighter future. His defiant sound bite: “Forget all the dystopian doom and gloom.” Subsequently, he visits various innovative tech industries. These range from a flying car development to AI digital replicas – a cloned Bruce Willis anyone?

Nakam from Ukraine is based on a true story in World War Two. It cultivates a good use of period setting, atmosphere and mise-en-scene. Ultimately it seems to question the circumstances and morality of killing, regardless of justified conviction.

The Bangladesh entry Moshari (a Mosquito net) hauntingly builds up suspense and tension well. This is achieved by allowing the psychology and paranoia its own freedom of projection. Most importantly, it pulls back from the border of implausibilities. These mature qualities serve the denouement well.

Meanwhile, The Silent Echo is a bitter-sweet snapshot of aspirations to escape remote life. A young Nepali singer travels by long-distance bus for a music talent contest. However, his performance does not get the response he hoped for. His dedicated efforts in vain, he travels back home, to the beginning again. Silent Echo won London’s Raindance Film Festival Shorts in 2021.

The Tommaso Acquarone-directed I miei occhi (My Eyes) concerns a woman caught up in traffic. Speaking on her mobile phone, she is already containing private tension. Soon, she offers a lift to a street performer she has seen before. The rest of the film promises greater suspense but ultimately reaches a juncture. Therefore, a good idea gets stuck in a dead end.

A wayward teenager in The Wake is frustrated by his live-wire father and passive mother. Accompanied by his deaf younger brother he seeks an outlet for his emotions. Breaking into houses and stealing token items he dubiously achieves this aim. However, an inexorable trajectory occurs after he finds a gun in a local house. The somewhat unexpected ending rounds off an original take on the suspense drama.

Finally, War of Colors is a heartfelt plea for sympathy for those born with the albino condition. A pretty, intelligent, and sensitive young woman finds discrimination even within her own race. Her brave and disheartening struggle for acceptance is both compelling and thought-provoking. Diandra Forrest excels as the central character in this another worthy Oscar short contender.

~ By Steven Yates entertainment contributor.

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Cinema entertainment news

Tribeca Fest Likes

The New York City Film Festival unspooled its usual cinema fair of polished works by filmmakers from around the world. The mixture of physical and virtual continued this past June for ten days.

God Said Give Em’ Drum Machines is the story of how a sound was created in the Detroit music scene. Check out the Chat Cinema interview with director Kristian Hill.

McEnroe, director Barney Douglas’ story of the legendary “Superbrat” John McEnroe is a compelling documentary on a great tennis star. A humanising portrait of a man coming to grips with his illustrious yet troubled past.

Story of Bones from Tribeca Film Festival
Story of Bones
All Male-The Story of International Male at Tribeca Film Festival
All Male-The Story of International Male

All Man-International Male Story from Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed is for anyone who remembers the sensual if not soft porn International Male Catalogs of the 80’s and 90’s. From humble beginnings flying by the sit of the pants to global success the documentary charts the raise pages sent to men all over the world.

Britain has always considered itself on the moral side of the Slave Trade having abolished the institution in 1807. The Story of Bones by Joseph Curran and Dominic Aubrey de Vere asks many unsettling questions about the country’s role with the treatment of human cargo. The effects of this are felt today on the isle of St. Helen.

Leave No Trace has generated a large amount of trace. Rightfully. Watching Irene Taylor’s devastating accounts of sexual abuse cover up in the Boy Scouts of America left me raw. For decades the civic organization knew their All American Clean image was a cover for attracting sexual predators. Anger, regret, sadness with a lost of trust combine to make this powerful documentary a raw emotional watch.

Sophia is Timely

Google whistleblower told the world the tech giant has an AI sentient, a shutter went around the world. So happens at this time I screened Sophia. A passionate inventor or mad scientist, Jon Kasbe and Crystal Moselle’s documentary on David Hanson is a character study of a brilliant man on a mission to change the way we interact technology.

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady took a high morale approach to the documentary work Endangered. Produced by Ronan Farrow, the 4th Estate is under global threat. I can’t say I 100% liked this slickly produced myopic morality tale on journalism considering with public distrust of media at an all time high. Grady and Ewing never why? Frankly, YouTube commentators taking a stand against news censorship are more interesting than this victimhood tale.

The Belgium dark comedy Employee of the Month by Veronique Jadin gets a mention. Who does’t want to kill their work colleagues? Ines, played by Jasmina Douieb, answers the question further.

Check out our Chat Cinema Podcast for news, interviews and reviews regarding filmmaking.

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Cinema

2022 Cannes Gets HEAVY

The 2022 Cannes Film Festival went with heavyweights this year unveiling a star studded line up. Competition for the Golden Palm include features from directors David Cronenberg and Claire Denis along with sixteen other works.

Big Hollywood titles unspooling on the French Riviera include TOP GUN sequel MAVERICK and Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS.

Cannes Film Festival starts May 17th.

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Cinema

4 out of 5 from Ryusuke

I screened Ryûsuke Hamaguchi‘s three episode Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy last year. To my amazement, I liked it, giving the film 4/5 stars.

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Fashion

Reaching Out

Chat Cinema talks to filmmakers Tom Berkeley and Ross White about their ROY. The duo give us insight on making the timely film starring David Bradley.

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Cinema podcast

New Chat Cinemas Coming Soon

Stay tuned for the podcast conversations with the creative teams of some two acclaimed short features.