What are the hallmarks of a martial arts film? There’s the main character: usually a spunky young underdog who believes that he’s invincible. There’s the sifu (teacher), the zen master that guides him through his ...
Lingua Franca is many things: a narrative that spotlights the many untold stories often left in the margins, a lyrical polemic on trans sexuality and desire, an expression of the anxieties induced by Trump’s America, ...
How does one define sexuality? Ask a million different people, and you’d probably get a million different answers. It’s only been a few years since sexual fluidity has become a widely accepted concept, but even ...
Directed by Kathy Meng, “My Boyfriend’s Daughter” is a short film that follows Essie (Claire Hsu), a young Asian American woman engaged in a relationship with the significantly older Karl (Guy Ventoliere). However, despite dating ...
“This is not a love story. I hate love stories. If you’re single in this city, it’s the worst place to be.” From the opening narration, Mayumi Yoshida’s “Tokyo Lovers” makes it clear that loneliness ...
True to its kooky title (and even kookier titular character), Birds of Prey: And The Emancipation of One Harley Quinn was always going to be a wild card. Hailing from the ill-fated and infamous DCEU, ...
When writer-director Danny Madden was asked about why he decided to create Beast Beast, a film based off of his SXSW winning short “Krista,” he mentioned how working with lead actress Shirley Chen largely drove ...
“The Happy” is a comedy short film pilot written, directed, produced, and starring Par Parekh. Playing a fictional version of himself, recent Los Angeles transplant Par is the silent protagonist and witness to the absurdities ...
Someone in the front row was snoring. Forty minutes into the film, the sound of heavy exhales from the audience slowly but surely grew to a crescendo a few scenes later. At first, it was ...
It’s often such a shame that shorts programs generally get shafted by the general nature of film festivals. That’s just usually how it goes. Next to feature-length films directed by more established filmmakers and the ...