Sundance 2022: Maika, Vietnam’s first science fiction film, generous warm-hearted addition to Sundance Kids program

Yes, spicy kimchi is a very good foil when youngsters are trying to fend off the goofy yet sinister bad guys. In Maika, the generously warm-hearted science fiction film premiering in this year’s Sundance Kids program, the characters shine with delight, as they easily transcend some of the film’s madcap chase scenes, making Vietnam’s first … Read more

Sundance 2022: The Mission documentary balanced, enlightening, realistic chronicle of four LDS missionaries in Finland

There are more Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) living in tiny Nephi, Utah than there are in Finland. Kai, one of the missionaries profiled in Tania Anderson’s feature-length debut documentary The Mission (Danish Bear Productions) mentions that 1 in every 57 Finnish citizens is a Mormon. Ahead of his … Read more

Sundance 2022: All That Breathes exceptional documentary testament to human-nonhuman interaction in the midst of Delhi

Of numerous remarkable moments in the exceptional documentary film All That Breathes (Kiterabbit Films and Rise Films production), India’s sole entry in this year’s Sundance, among the most unforgettable are those portraying the psychological and philosophical attitudes of brothers Nadeem and Saud, who have put their heads down in total focus for nearly the last … Read more

Sundance 2022: Six documentaries, two narrative films highlight Utah connections to festival; other documentaries highlight impact of urban smog in Delhi, LDS missionaries in Finland

EDITOR’S NOTE: Part II summarizes the films and programs from Sundance 2022 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 films The Utah Review is covering this year are films about expectant Black mothers who deaths from … Read more

Sundance 2022: Utah’s film industry continues to grow; finds solid representation in slimmer festival slate

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 2022 feature-length and short films, which The Utah Review will cover. It was so close. Three weeks before Sundance 2022 (Jan. 20–30) was slated to open, organizers had … Read more

NOVA Chamber Music Series ‘Songs of Perseverance’ concert to feature Utah premiere of Wang Lu’s Rates of Extinction

When composer Wang Lu moved to New York City’s Upper West Side, she was impressed by the amount of nearby green space in one of the world’s largest metropolises.”It was so clean and quiet,” she says. In the 1990s, when she was a student at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, Wang remembers how quickly … Read more

Featuring music from the 1930s, 1940s, Repertory Dance Theatre set to open 2022 portion of season with Emerge: Sounds Delightful

Some of the most familiar music of the 1930s and 1940s comprises a delightful panoply of styles and genres, with names such as Artie Shaw, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Billie Holliday and composers including Carl Orff and Samuel Barber. To highlight such memorable Music, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) will celebrate the start of … Read more

Lots of new energy: The top 10 moments of The Utah Enlightenment in 2021

INTRODUCTION It has been an enormous project to regain the spirited momentum that many arts and cultural organizations in Utah’s creative industries had amassed before the pandemic brought everything to a ground stop in the early spring of 2020. With resilience and durability exercised to their intrinsic advantages for respective organizations, many creative producers also … Read more

Still time to catch several impressive exhibitions at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art before year’s end

While downtown Salt Lake City is the hub of many holiday activities and the season’s hospitality and retail commerce, one ideal respite for some quiet enjoyment and contemplation is the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, where several outstanding exhibitions still are available for viewing through the end of the calendar year. Among them is Her … Read more

Achieving community in the art of Woodshedding for aspiring songwriters in Spy Hop program

Y’all just better be just turnin’ back if you want this boy to win ‘Cos practice is the only cure for the predicament he’s in Now devil, it would be a sin for you to get my bow You go on back to hell and to the woodshed I will go Johnny, are you practicing … Read more