In the first minutes of Copan, by Brazilian director Carine Wallauer, we watch her observe her prior empty apartment. Letters on the screen explain where she is. The Copan building in downtown São Paulo is a monument of Brazilian modern architecture. Designed by the legendary Oscar Niemeyer, it is a …
There are moments in human history that become monumental marks of passage. They shift the years to come and how humanity reacts to the world around it. However, the stubborn characteristics of the individuals ignore warnings that may protect them from a grander danger. In Blame, Christian Frei covers a …
In 1954, the General of the Paraguayan army, Alfredo Stroessner, performed a military coup in which he would become the country’s President. At that time, Paraguay would be an internationally unknown territory between two massive South American potencies: Argentina and Brazil. In Under the Flags, the Sun, the Paraguayan director …
Since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, film production has shifted to narrating the intricacies of geopolitical matters. The 2022 Russian aggression and declaration of war by invading the Ukrainian borders provided different approaches to the reality in filmmaking. Therefore, the major film festivals in the world became a …
During the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), cinema was a meaningful tool for propaganda and Soviet cultural identity development. As the USSR had a massive territorial length, each region would have a unique voice in its approach regarding filmmaking. Therefore, plenty of the productions from the Soviet period are …
The sophomore effort in the Napo River (Toroboro) in Manolo Sarmiento’s diptych about the local communities is La Consulta Popular, or The People’s Referendum. He focuses on the political aspect of the situation. With this film, he shifts his lenses to the isolated tribes, who decided to continue far from …
The Ecuadorian director Manolo Sarmiento is a crucial figure in the local documentary community. He is the co-founder and executive director of EDOC, Encuentros del Otro Cine, a singular festival for Ecuadorian cinema. Sarmiento produced a diptych, a two-piece work on the native people of the Rio Napo. The indigenous …
Lúcia Murat is a noteworthy filmmaker in Brazilian History. She engaged in an armed fight during the Brazilian dictatorship – She was jailed and tortured. Murat became a journalist and then a film director. Forty years later, she is still directing films and splitting her filmography between non-fiction and fiction. …
In 2016, the press revealed an espionage scheme for the asbestos industry. A hired person would infiltrate the anti-asbestos organizations and leak their plans to the hirers. That man is Robert Moore, a former TV producer of popular prank shows like Da Ali G Show and Candid Camera. After a …