By Benjamin Akpan Time serves to remind us that women make the greatest sacrifices, yet are still the most disrespected. In her feature debut, documentary filmmaker María Paz González proves that these women can still have the last word in. With honesty and tenderness, Lina from Lima tells the stories of those who often face ungratefulness and isolation as they try to make their way in life. González brings to the fore the account of the laborers of the world who are most often never given the light of day in media.
By Benjamin Akpan One of the most poignant films to screen at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Rocks is a powerful coming-of-age tale exploring friendship, femininity, and youthfulness. Nevertheless, Rocks is nothing without the women who made it. When director Sarah Gavron, and writers Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson finally happened upon the concept that would eventually become Rocks, the seed had been planted for something unconventional.
By Benjamin Akpan Stories of war are ripe with accounts of courageous men – bloodied and pain ridden – weathering through the bombs, guns, and cannons of battle, emerging victorious with songs of triumph welcoming them back to their families that have been consumed by the grief of war’s uncertainties. We love these tales of conquest that permeate official narratives and cultural conversations, seemingly forgetting that women also went to war too. And so, Russian writer Svetlana Alexievich took it upon herself to collate rich, oral accounts of Russian women who fought in the Second World War in her book The Unwomanly Face of War. Completely void of the romanticism sustained by the male gaze, Alexievich’s book did not go unnoticed; her body of work compiling harrowing accounts from women struggling to survive during the war and rebuild their lives afterwards earned her the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015.
By Benjamin Akpan The last time Palestinian director Elia Suleiman appeared on our screens, he brought the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to our attention with beautiful imagery, music, and silent expressions. With barely a word spoken, he showed us his perspective of the violent relationship between both nations, just as perplexed by the conflict as anyone else. Ten years later, Suleiman returns with It Must Be Heaven to his mute character perplexed, this time around, by the absurdity of the rest of the world.
By Benjamin Akpan Thus far, 2019 has been the year for sophomore horror triumphs. In March, Jordan Peele brought his Lupita Nyong’o-led allegorical nightmare Us, which balanced wit, terror, intrigue, and action, to construct a petrifying narrative that was just as entertaining as it was socially reflective. Then, in July came Ari Aster’s Midsommar, a psychedelic cluster of blood-splattering barbarity that found humour in the physicality of grief and the turmoil of a relationship gone badly.
By Benjamin Akpan ‘Girls will be girls’ is a saying that’s seldom – if ever – heard. Yet, it perfectly encapsulates the themes of Sarah Gavron’s latest feature Rocks; because more than anything, girls are resilient, brave, and exuberant, even in the face of adversity. Exploring a world so complicated with striking deftness, Rocks is a 93-minute parade of friendship, femininity, and youthfulness.
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