Making its U.S. premiere in the Sundance Kids slate this year, Binti, an insightful gem from Belgium, directed and written by Frederike Migom, touches on an immigration issue of sociopolitical urgency that resonates in the U.S. just as powerfully if not more than in the country in which the story is based. Binti, 12, a … Read more
If there was one episode from The Ren & Stimpy Show, the cartoon which aired on Nickelodeon in the first half of the 1990s, which encapsulated its creator’s mindset, it was the Christmas season episode Son of Stimpy. Stimpy breaks wind, convinced that he has given birth to ‘Stinky.’ Ren, of course, does not believe … Read more
Editor’s Note: This is Part II of The Utah Review curtain raiser feature for Sundance 2020. Part I can be found here. It is a fixture in the annual slate of films for Sundance that the Utah Film Center, its cofounder Geralyn Dreyfous and the group to which she belongs Impact Partners Film will be associated with some of … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I covers a broad overview of the state’s film industry and Part II focuses on 16 films with a significant Utah connection that are in the Sundance 2020 slate. On the eve of the most inclusive and diverse Sundance Film Festival in its history (Jan. 23 – Feb. 2 in Park City, … Read more
Several months before The Brink, Alison Klayman’s documentary about Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart News chair who served briefly as President Trump’s chief White House strategist, premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Errol Morris’ American Dharma was seen for the first time at the 2018 Venice Film Festival. Some dismayed critics were flabbergasted that … Read more
What does it mean to taste sound, or connect it to other senses besides hearing? Some individuals have synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon, in which music, for example, allows the listener to see musical notes in different shades of colors. Scientists also believe that even individuals who do not have synesthesia actually can experience similar effects … Read more
The ambitious objectives for all the student film teams participating in this year’s 17th annual PitchNic project for Spy Hop Productions paid handsomely in a solid quartet of short films, all of which are worthy to submit to competitive film festivals nationally and even internationally. The films premiered Nov. 7 at a sold-out house in … Read more
Cameron Baer, 19, a Provo High School graduate, nearly quit the PitchNic class at Spy Hop Productions this year. He had successfully pitched the concept for one of the short films to be made in the year-long class. It is a fictional narrative based in part about obsessions and anxieties that can skew one’s perceptions … Read more
At the center of Cole Sax’s short documentary Second Sight, the story of Virgilio and Joanly Lahioan and their four children in the Philippines eloquently conveys the human impact of broad questions that researchers have sought to answer by empirical evidence. Does poverty perpetuate poor health? Does poor eye health deepen poverty? How and why? … Read more
Continuing a month of free, public screenings dealing with big issues, two documentary films along with talkback sessions – one on white nationalism and the other about the traumatic impacts of child abuse – will be presented by the Utah Film Center. They are the award-winning White Right: Meeting the Enemy (2017), directed by Deeyah … Read more