Exclusive interview: performance artist Jibz Cameron aka Dynasty Handbag & director Mariah Garnett on Weirdo Night

Among the highlights at this year's Sundance was creator-writer-star Jibz Cameron and director Mariah Garnett’s Weirdo Night. It's a specially filmed version of the ordinarily monthly LA-based underground cabaret-style event that centres queer, female, and POC comedians, artists, and musicians, curated by Cameron and hosted with flair and a touch of filth by her performing... Continue Reading →

July 24, 2021 0

Exclusive Interview: queer Sundance award-winner Ma Belle, My Beauty filmmaker Marion Hill & stars Idella Johnson & Hannah Pepper “we created this really beautiful container in which desire & intimacy can live”

Writer-director Marion Hill's queer romance Ma Belle, My Beauty had its world premiere at Sundance, going on to win the Audience Award in the NEXT section of the festival. It's a gorgeously sun-drenched character-driven drama set in the South of France where Lane (Hannah Pepper) unexpectedly visits her ex-girlfriend Bertie (Idella Johnson) and Bertie's husband... Continue Reading →

February 23, 2021 2

Sundance 2021 Film Review: Flee ★★★★

Jonas Poher Rasmussen's remarkable Flee world premiered at Sundance 2021, winning the festival's World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary. As the film opens a caption tells us that this a true story and that some of the names have been changed to protect the subjects' anonymity. In present day Copenhagen, Denmark we meet 36... Continue Reading →

February 15, 2021 3

LGBTQ+ films Flee & Ma Belle, My Beauty among Sundance 2021 award winners

Last night's Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony, hosted by actor and comedian Patton Oswalt on great form coming live from his home screening room, saw CODA, Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), and Hive all receive multiple honours, with wins for festival favourite LGBTQ+ features Flee (The World Cinema Grand... Continue Reading →

February 3, 2021 3

Sundance 2021 Film Review: Weirdo Night ★★★★

Thanks to the programmers of Sundance's New Frontiers section for giving me the best night out I've had since last March (without having to leave my apartment or get out of my pyjamas) with creator-writer-star Jibz Cameron and director Mariah Garnett's Weirdo Night. Acknowledging, but not dwelling on, the lack of audience in the room... Continue Reading →

February 3, 2021 4

Sundance 2021 Film Review: Searchers ★★★

Filmmaker Pacho Velez, who made 2017's exceptional archive footage doc The Reagan Show, turns his camera on himself and a diverse cross-section of his fellow New Yorkers looking for dates online in Searchers. The film's effective visual conceit places us as viewers behind the screens that the subjects are looking at, as if we're curious... Continue Reading →

February 2, 2021 1

Sundance 2021 Film Review: Knocking (Knackningar) ★★★★

Based on the novella by Johan Theorin, Swedish filmmaker Frida Kempff's unsettling debut feature Knocking (or Knackningar in Swedish, such a delicious word) which premiered in the Midnight section at Sundance on Friday, is a sophisticated psychological horror and a masterclass in tension, spare dialogue, and intricate sound design. At its centre is a compelling... Continue Reading →

January 31, 2021 1

Sundance 2021 Film Review: Ailey ★★★★★

UPDATE: Ailey opens in New York on July 23rd, Los Angeles on July 30th and expands to theaters nationwide on August 6th via NEON. Emmy-winning director Jamila Wignot's feature documentary Ailey, which just had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, is a captivating and deeply moving portrait of the celebrated dancer and... Continue Reading →

January 31, 2021 2

Sundance 2021 Film Review: The Most Beautiful Boy In The World ★★1/2

Kristina Lindstom and Kristian Petri's The Most Beautiful Boy In The World, which premiered at Sundance today as part of the festival's World Cinema Documentary Competition, is a melancholy portrait of Swedish actor Björn Andrésen who was cast as a teenager by Luchino Visconti in his 1971 BAFTA-winning classic Death in Venice. Andrésen has had... Continue Reading →

January 29, 2021 0