Film Festival Coverage Hub - Reviews & Recaps

The Crossing (Burkina Faso) – Pan African Film Festival 2022

In 2021 there were an estimated 218,062 attempted crossings of the Mediterranean Sea from Northern Africa and Turkey to Europe. Whilst some make it undetected, many succumb to the perilous journey or are captured by border patrols and sent back to Africa. Djibi made the crossing 10 years ago. But he’s returned to Burkina after 10 years of toiling away in Italy. He knows how hard the crossing was and has paid the price of living far away from home. But, he’s returned home with full pockets and a mission to train a group of 6 young people to make the crossing to Europe.

You’d expect a drama called The Crossing that focuses on the often tragic Africa to Europe migration route would be tough to watch as African film’s that focus on the route usually contain tragedy – see The Pirogue, Atlantiques, or Tenere. However, The Crossing largely runs against expectations. Thanks to light humor and a leisurely pace, the movie is an easy to watch dramedy.

The relaxed tone of the movie is clear from the start as Djibi returns home to a warm welcome from his old friend Pronto. The camera follows them as Pronto tours Djibi around the city, introducing to his friends and neighbors. There’s no soundtrack, and very little sound from their environment, which gives the film a comforting silence that is only covered by their conversation. Each shot also seems to linger slightly longer than the length of their conversations, giving the viewer a bit of dead time for contemplation. Both these techniques emphasize Djibi’s immediate comfort back in Burkina Faso and set us at ease for the humor to come in the rest of the film.

The Crossing largely plays out as a hang-out movie from here as the focus turns to the 6 youngsters in training and the various tasks that Djibi sets for them that range from swimming lessons to provoking a local gang. Some scenes contain messages, but they never feel preachy or out of place. Plus, the overall message is a good pro-African one, even if film still feels strongly linked to Europe in its language (it’s mostly French). So if you’re looking for an African movie that looks at migration with a touch of humor, try The Crossing.

Check back to our Pan African Film Festival 2022 page for more reviews coming out of the 30th edition of the festival.

Stateless (Dominican Republic) – Pan African Film Festival 2021

In 2013, the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929. The ruling rendered more than 200,000 people stateless, without nationality, identity or a homeland. Stateless follows Rosa Iris, an attorney with family who have been exiled by the country’s recent laws, as she mounts a grassroots electoral campaign to advocate for social justice. But it also follows her antithesis, Gladys Felix, an outspoken supporter of the nationalist movement, fighting for for stricter immigration control.

Like Softie, Stateless is an observational documentary that captures an activist from outside of the system fighting against corruption. Through Rosa’s story we’re exposed to the emotional trauma of the country’s recent anti-immigration policies. Simply put, they’re racist, and this is obvious right from the opening scene in which Rosa is representing a client in a government office. Her client is applying for an updated citizenship card but is being denied by the officer because “he doesn’t speak clear Spanish”. This is not an isolated incident. Rosa’s activism is also justified by her personal stakes. She has the same Haitian lineage as the people she’s representing that the country is persecuting. So she runs for government to represent people like her exiled because of their race.

However, unlike Softie, which focuses solely on Boniface’s family life and his campaign for government, Stateless also documents the other side of the fight against racism by following Gladys Felix, a member of the country’s anti-immigrant nationalist movement. We follow her as she spews racist rhetoric about the nature of Haitian immigrants and gaslights the experiences of Haitians she meets at a government built camp for sugar cane workers near the border. Whilst it feels odd to have their stories running alongside each other, it makes Stateless stand out. It allows us to see how present the threat is – not just to Rosa and her cousin Teofilo, but to all Haitian immigrants and Black Dominicans. Gladys adds a face (and very present reality) to the sometimes invisible state sanctioned racism of the Dominican Republic. She gives the audience something visual to root against.

If you’re looking for a documentary that examines racism in the Dominican Republic’s past and present through two women campaigning at either end of the political spectrum, this is the film you’re looking for.

Check our Pan African Film Festival 2021 page for more reviews coming out of the 29th edition of the festival.

Le Pupille – AFI Fest 2022

Le Pupille brings you into a Catholic Orphanage during Christmas in the height of the Second World War. Despite the frugal times and strict Mother Superior, the girls find joy in a few magical scenes reminiscent of the wonder of early cinema.

In the Catholic Orphanage, objects are a scarcity. Unlike the often stuffy materialism of today’s modern world, the girls in Le Pupille live in large rooms with very few things around them. This partly emphasizes the frugality of the war period, and in turn, distinguishing any warm nostalgia for Italian fascism, but it also sets a blank slate for the rare objects included in the movie to star. The radio and the giant red cake are enhanced by the absence around them, making them seem much more luxurious than they should be.

The frugality in front of the camera is also seen in the film’s production. The director, Alice Rohrwacher, shot Le Pupille completely on film, and therefore all of the special effects are completely VFX free. This gives the film a playful magic that feels like the wonder of the Melies’ silent films. In one scene a baby appears out of thin air (from one shot to the next), whilst a freeze-framed shouting Mother Superior conveys shock from what feels like the kids perspective in another. Unlike the seriousness of modern VFX, that often strives for digital realism, the old school special effects used here add wonder and magic to film. It encourages wonder rather than inhibiting it.

It’s this simplicity both in front of the camera (with the limited objects and distractions) and behind the camera (in the production process) that makes this short Christmas film feel so playful and joyful.

Head to our AFI Fest 2022 Hub for more reviews from AFI Fest 2022.

The Best Families – Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival 2021

“Why work if we can do it for you?” are the words at the bottom of a billboard with a white woman floating on a pool that starts The Best Families. The billboard hangs ironically above Luzmilla and Peta’s humble neighborhood in the suburbs. We see it as they start their long commute to work, switching their barren neighborhood for two aristocratic family houses in central Lima.

The two families they work for are stereotypically snobby. They look down on Spanish people that don’t measure up to their lineage and direct plenty of snide comments at each other to try and establish their superiority. Their snobbery is the target of this satire. Today, at their birthday get-together, an unexpected bombshell throws the event into chaos as a long held secret involving both households, crossing class and race, is finally revealed.

Whilst the chaos is unfolding inside their upper class bubble, there’s also chaos outside. The city is being taken over by a mass protest. However, despite the news attention, these two elite families are completely oblivious of the protests. Aerial shots of their living complex (two large houses surrounded by green gardens) marks their position of privilege. Their complex is the only greenery in the shot, and it’s surrounded by cramped urban development and the many people protesting. The shots highlight the stark division between the privileged rich and the rest of the country. It also shows the bubble they live in – they’re not aware of the people outside their property because they don’t have to interact with them. This means that they’re also a bit out of touch with society, making the satire all the more funny.

The unfolding secret creates drama that reminded me of the family chaos in Knives Out. Just like a whodunnit, we want to keep watching to find out how each family member will react. After all, who doesn’t like laughing at the snobby rich? It’s always comforting to know that they have just as much drama in their family as the exploitative reality talk shows focusing on the underprivileged – and us. However, it does end with a small gut punch. Despite the big reveals and controversy the film exposes amongst the aristocratic family, the film ultimately ends on a book-ended shot of the maids carrying out the same life they started with. No matter what comes to light, the wealthy will always hold their power.

Head to our LALIFF 2021 Hub for more reviews from the 20th edition of LALIFF.

Clashing Differences – Outfest Los Angeles 2023

In Clashing Differences an international women’s rights group based in Germany changes its original white-women led panel to avoid being ‘cancelled’. The updated panel however sees through their attempts to fulfill the diversity checklist in this satirical comedy.

It’s hard to get a satire right, especially when you’re satirizing topics that you can easily get wrong (such as racism), whilst keeping the tone light enough to maintain the comedy. Clashing Differences doesn’t get everything ‘right,’ but it is a pretty good attempt. The fourth-wall-breaking monologues from each character all pack a punch whilst conveying a wide range of experiences. It also always feels like the film is told from a multi-cultural perspective, by centering the non-White characters (bar-one) over white characters. That being said, the film does feel like it falls into its own trap. In trying to expose the tokenization of the multicultural characters it almost tokenizes the same characters. Each one of the characters covers a different multicultural reaction to their own tokenization.

However, the larger problem with Clashing Differences is the relationships between the characters. None of them get along through the majority of the film’s run time, clashing because of past relationships, and not just their ideas for confronting the international women’s group they’re there for. The only thing that ultimately brings them together are literal Nazis which gives viewers an out for thinking about all of the more subtle racism that the characters talk about beforehand (as Nazis always surpasses more subtle racism). It also feels like a tool to help end the film too.

Despite the convenient ending, Clashing Differences is still worth a watch. You’ll likely get some enjoyment from the satire of well-wishing white-led feminist groups and the drama fired up by conflicting views.