The ghost story is common in the cinematic output of many countries. From the Mexican “The Devil’s Backbone” to the Spanish “The Orphanage” to the Japanese “Dark Water” and the British/Iranian “Under The Shadow,” as well as the renowned classics “The Haunting” and “The Innocents,” the ghost story has proven itself versatile and adaptable to…
The Light of Hope (La llum d’Elna), a Spanish-language film directed by Silvia Quer from a script by Margarita Melgar, begins in a celebratory mood, as Pat, a boy of nine or ten, runs through the grounds of an old estate in the French countryside, threading his way through a beehive of activity. What is…
Filmmaker Aldo Iuliano uses a portentous soccer match in his short film Penalty to highlight the hellish efforts of embattled Syrian citizens to flee their country across the Mediterranean. Iuliano’s aim is to put a human face on the refugee and immigrant crisis, where the political issues of the situation give way to a poignant…
“Heaven. Heaven is a place. A place where nothing, nothing ever happens” — Talking Heads, “Heaven” So, you’ve just been suspended. Suspended in time. In space. A literal suspension that leaves you wandering around everywhere and nowhere all at once. That prolonged feeling we sometimes, sadistically, seek (sick!) when watching a horror flick. True horror…
