A powerful symbolic image in Kim Snyder’s The Librarians documentary, which has received its premiere at Sundance this year, is a librarian who, at the start of the film, stays in the shadows of anonymity but as the stories about the alarming accelerated campaign to ban books from libraries around the country pile up, at … Read more
When the McMillan Library, the oldest in Nairobi and the second oldest in Kenya, was opened in 1931, it was never intended to be used by Africans. Not until Kenya established its independence in the 1960s did that change. Named for the American-born millionaire Sir William Northrup McMillan, who came to Kenya in the early … Read more
Among its fabulous strengths, Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, directed by Elegance Bratton and produced by Chester Algernal Gordon, presents a compelling portrait of the wistful utopian history tracking the transition in Chicago from a disco culture to the thriving house music scene that queer musicians, DJs, and producers of color propelled into … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part II summarizes the films and programs from Sundance 2025 that are part of The Utah Review coverage. For Part I which is an overview of the state of the film industry in Utah, see here. Among the Sundance feature-length films with a significant Utah connection is Omaha, a drama filmed in Utah … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I is an overview of the Utah film industry in the current moment. Part II (tomorrow) will offer a summary preview of the Sundance 2025 films, which The Utah Review will cover. For Part II, see here. This year, as Utah has fully begun its second century in the film industry, Sundance … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This review and interview feature of Porcelain War, the winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, was first published last year at The Utah Review. An outstanding and innovative take on war documentary filmmaking, Porcelain War, which premiered at last year’s Sundance Film … Read more
But I grew up in a landscape large enough to hold what I felt when the world of people pushed me away. There, where badgers roamed, where herons speared small fish in shallow pools, I found my place. I took my sketch pad and tackle box to the banks of that small creek and washed … Read more
PitchNic, one of Spy Hop Productions’ most exciting programs, returns for its 22nd edition this year and this year’s class of young Utah filmmakers is looking to build on a legacy where more than 95% of films that have been produced in the program have gone on to be screened at and win awards at … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This three-article package highlights the Utah Film Center’s Utah Queer Film Festival, which marks its 21st year. The second feature is a feature about the Life After Laramie concert of world premieres and the third feature is a detailed rundown of the 2024 slate of feature and short films. Entering its third decade, … Read more
The Utah Review has screened many of the films on this year’s slate for the Utah Film Center’s Utah Queer Film Festival. The following is a detailed run down of the entire slate of feature-length and short films. FEATURE FILMS Documentaries The ABCs of Book Banning 2023/ USA/ Documentary (Sheila Nevins) While this MTV Documentary … Read more