If you’re looking for transcendental film from Dominican Republic, the ritualized pacing of Verde carries the fire lit by Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias’ Cocote.

Verde is the first feature film set in Dajabon, a small region in the Northwest of Dominican Republic that borders Haiti. Like Cocote, the setting contains the streams, forests, and grassland that color the interior of the country instead of the pristine beaches and resorts you’d find in tourist brochures. It’s an open environment, a long way from sweltering urban Santo Domingo situated on the opposite side of the country. Here, the outside blends with the inside as the heat and sounds permeate through the walls and open doors of everyone’s houses. Because of Dajabon’s distance from the cities, there aren’t any signs of government of authority. Spiritual leaders and gangsters have taken their place as indigenous customs hold a similar power to the church and the gangs’ tit-for-tat retribution rules.

This has consequences for the three protagonists who’s attempted heist of a gold mine goes wrong. They don’t go to the police to hand themselves in, as there are no signs of the police here. Instead, they have to answer for their actions with the locals. They also don’t go to the church to ask for forgiveness, instead choosing to visit a shaman for a ritual to cleanse their sins. However, as their silence reveals, they already know the fate waiting for them.

Their march towards their inevitable deaths, payment for the man they killed during their attempted robbery, is reflected in the slow tempo of the film and their silence. Every shot, as common in transcendental cinema, lingers for longer than it needs to, forcing you to observe the characters for longer. With more time, Carmelo’s silence becomes more obvious and his actions appear more deliberate. He has the most screen time but does the least with it. His silence appears to honor the dead and repent for the crime he committed. His actions also appear willed by a feeling of guilt. However, he doesn’t appear to be in control, as if he has already given up his body to someone else. It gives the sense that he has already embraced his ultimate fate and is mourning for himself as well as the others.

In this way, Verde fits closest to Schrader’s meditative segment of transcendental film. It’s not simply observing the characters like a surveillance camera, and it’s not focusing solely on the look of the film. Instead Verde employs its slow tempo to hold viewers in a trance like state through the chapters of the film. We follow Carmelo’s repentant march through Dajabon and in it we are given time to reflect on our own lives as we move with him closer to our fate.

Verde is an impressive debut feature that you should look out for at a festival near you.


Head to our Pan African Film Festival Hub for more reviews from PAFF 2020.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

This film is like nothing I have ever seen. Who thought you could mix the Western genre with Vampires and end up with a decent film about Female empowerment. Add in the fact that it is shot in black and white film and in Farsi and you’ve found the most unique film out there to brag to your friends about. In case you’re still doubtful, I suggest you check out this film as soon as you can and make up your own mind.

Why Watch A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night?
  • Whilst there are a load of Farsi Vampire Western films, this one really stands out!
  • To see an old woman in a cowboy shirt dancing with a balloon.
  • For some bad-ass female empowerment!
  • For an example of a great foreign language film from the U.S.
  • Black & White films can still look cool (see Polish Academy-Award winner Ida and Embrace of the Serpent for more evidence)
The Breakdown

A man is smoking a cigarette by a fence. He leans towards a gap in the fence, looking to see if anyone is around. He finishes his cigarette, squashes it under his foot and disappears through the gap in the fence. A few seconds later he reappears carrying a cat and walks off. (And that is how you get yourself a pet cat).

Whilst the cat-stealing man takes the opening scene, the real star of the show is the main girl (she never reveals her name). She could well be a feminist icon. In contrast to the macho man (described in the next paragraph) she is a quiet girl who does what she wants. No one can control her, even though our macho man thinks he can. She’s a Vampire/Western superhero sticking up for prostitutes and deconstructing male power.

Our macho man, on the other hand, is an iconic idiot. He has a broken heart tattooed on the back of his neck, a goatee and a Fu-Manchu esque motorbike moustache. Don’t worry, you don’t even have to feel bad at judging his appearance as he is a moron. After his tells his prostitute to get lost without paying her, he encounters our heroine and takes her to his apartment. Here, he does the most obnoxious mating ritual you will see on film. First he snorts a few lines of cocaine. Then he opens a silver briefcase and counts out his stacks of cash. Next, he closes the case and picks up two dumbbells to do a few biceps curls. Finally, he does a few semi-erotic dance moves in front of our motionless (presumably shocked) heroine.

Conclusion

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is one of the most unique foreign films you will see. I haven’t seen anyone mix genres like Ana Lily Amirpour does in this film (Vampire and Western). However, if you liked this film, I’d suggest you check out the Iranian horror film Under the Shadow. Or if you’re looking for great Vampire films, check out What we do in the Shadows.

 

 

Jose Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Jose flew under the radar when it was released in a select few cinemas in the U.S. in early 2020. Perhaps not surprising given that this is a humble independent film about marginalized youth in Guatemala. It’s also characteristically understated. Close up shots and dialogue are equally rare as Li Cheng shoots the film more like an observational documentary than romantic drama, watching Jose move around Guatemala City from a distance.

Jose’s life is similarly humble; he lives with his doting mother in a dingy room and scraps together a meager living directing cars towards a fast food restaurant. Jose’s relationships with mother and lover provide the main drama in the film. His brief flings offer him brief moments of freedom to be himself, in a society where his sexuality isn’t welcome.

From: Guatemala, North America
Watch: Trailer, IMDb
Next: Dakan, Tremores, Call Me By Your Name
24

Snowden

Watch Snowden after watching The Lives of Others

 

Film Difficulty Ranking: 1

This film is a perfect companion to The Lives of Others (from Germany). It reveals that invasive state security is not an outdated institution confined to the old Soviet-bloc, but something that still happens today. Will whistle-blower Edward Snowden be celebrated in decades to come for his bravery or will he continue to be victimised?

Why Watch Snowden?
  • You’re a fan of 1984
  • You have heard of Edward Snowden but don’t know enough about him to keep a debate going
  • Do you want freedom or security? Watch this film to find out.
  • For a dramatized and Hollywood-friendly version of Citizenfour

Anyway, as this is not a foreign or indie film, I’m not going to write another small essay. But, as it’s relevant to one of the other films I have recommended on this site, I’ve included it here in case you want to follow up your interest! Plus it is a good film with a good insight into one of the most controversial figures in politics.

Inside Job Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

The global recession of 2008 affected almost every one of us on this planet in some sort of way, but do you know much about it? Here is your opportunity to learn how it happened, what it caused, and if it might happen again. Hear about Wall Street Traders hiring prostitutes, Iceland, and the banks that caused the financial meltdown. Plus, all of this is explained at a digestible pace, meaning that you will end the film with a strong understanding of it all!

Why Watch Inside Job?
  • You want to know why the 2008 recession happened
  • To learn a bit more about the current financial system of the world
  • It’s narrated by Matt Damon
  • It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010
The Breakdown

The global economics crisis of 2008 cost tens of millions of people their savings, their jobs, and their homes. This is how it happened.

Iceland. A country of just 320,000 people, a bunch of small towns, beautiful landscape, low unemployment and low government debt. There was lots of clean energy, well managed fisheries, clean air, and pride. But this all changed in 2000 with deregulation and bank privatization.

After Iceland, we zoom across the Atlantic, and back in time, to New York in the 90s. The finance sector is booming. We are shown a montage of New York City skyscrapers, businessmen, and snappy quotes from finance experts set to a poppy soundtrack. This montage offers a stark contrast to the peaceful beauty of the shots of Iceland from the opening scene. This is the place laden with greed. This is the place which has disrupted the peaceful beauty of Iceland and the whole world.

After the introduction to Iceland and the New York City montage we start hearing from those involved in the build up to the crisis. Luckily for me, the narrator firstly explains all the financial jargon extremely clearly and at a gentle pace (unlike the rushed explanations in The Big Short). With a clear understanding of how the recession happened, the documentary then starts questioning some of the culprits. At this point we can understand the questions being asked and know when the interviewees (the culprits) are avoiding giving proper answers. He gives us the basic understanding so we can make our own judgement.

Conclusion

For a good understanding of how the global recession happened, this film is the best I have seen. It also carries an impressive selection of interviewees (from Federal Reserve, IMF, and Academia). Some of the interviewees were in charge before and during the recession and defend their actions, and others fuel the fire. You’ll also learn what will happen next – will there be another recession?