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25 Watts may be an ode to Linklater and Jarmusch, but the film is more than capable of standing on its own.  A worthy addition to that sub-genre of low-budget, seemingly low-effort, films that defined the independent film scene during the 90’s and early 2000’s, 25 Watts (2001) was shot and released as the trends that inspired it began to sputter out. A loving homage to the likes of Linklater, Jarmusch, and even Kevin Smith, the film isn’t radical revolutionary cinema, but it is skillfully crafted and, just as importantly, fun to watch.  One of less than two dozen films made in and by

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In The House is Black, Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad presents the lives of leper colony inhabitants with empathy and grace.  “On this screen will appear an image of ugliness, a vision of pain no caring human being should ignore.”  The image in question is that of a woman standing before a mirror, staring straight at her reflection. Her face is a worm-riddled apple. And yet the camera zooms in closer. Director Forough Farrokhzad refuses to allow her audience to look away until they can see their shared humanity in the leper’s eyes.  Thus begins The House is Black (1963), an empathetic, often harrowing glimpse into the world of a leper colony, and

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On July 6, 2019, FACETS’ founder, Milos Stehlik, passed away after a six-month battle with lung cancer. His legacy will forever impact film culture in Chicago and beyond. Founder and director of FACETS, Milos Stehlk, legacy left far reaching changes on the world of independent and international film. FACETS carries on his vision of pushing audiences of all ages and backgrounds to use film as a way to engage and explore the world around them. Milos Stehlik devoted his life to film. With his passing, we have truly lost a legend. The vast amount Milos accomplished and the intense passion he

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Made up of only twelve very long takes,  Miklós Jancsó’s film transforms a classic myth into a powerful political fable.  Miklós Jancsó’s Electra, My Love (1974) is very much a film of its time, an artistic reaction to Soviet oppression in the years following the 1959 Hungarian revolution. Yet, the film is also a retelling of an ancient story that predates the Soviet Union and Hungary by thousands of years. A stunning amalgamation of ancient myth and modern history, its message is somehow still pertinent today.  The film, itself an adaption of a 1968 play by Làszlò Gyurkò, tells the classic tale of Electra

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Raymundo Gleyzer attacked the authoritarian Argentinean government with revolutionary cinema.  “I don’t believe in revolutionary cinema. I believe firmly in the revolution.”  Here we have, in writing, the artistic philosophy of radical Third Cinema pioneer Raymundo Gleyzer. The Argentinean filmmaker spent his career telling stories on shoestring budgets and evading the censorship of an authoritarian government. A rare artist who lived without vanity or the need for self-expression, his films were the ammunition of a revolution fated to fail him.  Armed with only a 16mm camera, Gleyzer dropped out of film school in the early 1960s and set out to make his own documentaries. Focusing his lens on small peasant

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The Sieges of Alcazar and The Man of the Badlands bookend the fascinating career of Luc Moullet.  Though he may be one of the less-decorated foot soldiers of the French New Wave, Luc Moullet is an integral member of that legendary legion of artists. His decade spanning career was hatched in the classic incubator of the French New Wave, Cahiers du Cinema, where Moullet wrote criticism that angered Françoise Truffuat and impressed a young Jean-Luc Goddard. At the start of his directorial career, his politically charged shorts failed to rustle up much attention, but he continued to release films at a steady rate from 1966 onwards.  His films are stamped with a

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As an aspiring filmmaker, you can learn a lot from these iconic local artists. We tend to think of filmmaking as something exclusive to Hollywood. But plenty of directors from the Chicago area have made their best work while living in the city. All of these artists started somewhere small, and have plenty of thoughtful advice for aspiring filmmakers everywhere. The Wachowski Sisters: The Wachowski sisters, who wrote and directed The Matrix (1999), may have spent plenty of time in Hollywood, but for years they kept a studio running in the Chicagoland area. Even their biggest Hollywood blockbusters are influenced by their Midwestern

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Fill the Void depicts the Chassidic world from a female perspective with sensitivity and artistry.  Orthodox Judaism is typically represented in cinema one of three ways: There’s the “Yentl” approach, in which the Orthodox world remains frozen in Old Country Shtetlach even as their inhabitants sail to new opportunities elsewhere. If our story takes place outside of pre-WWII Europe, Orthodox Judaism is often presented as an oppressive institution that prevents a film’s hero from pursuing their true love or calling (Think The Jazz Singer (1927 and 1980), Disobedience (2017), and Felix and Meira (2014)). And of course, there are the incidental comedic encounters where Orthodox Judaism is presented as little more than a punchline-à

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So, kid, you want to be a filmmaker? Well, it looks like you might be one already. Filmmaking can seem like an unreachable profession when you’re miles away from Hollywood, without thousand dollar equipment. But with the help of modern technology, many people have the tools for creating cinema sitting in their pocket. Directors like Ocean’s Eleven (2001)’s Steven Soderbergh and The Florida Project (2017)’s Sean Baker have used smartphones to make acclaimed films like High Flying Bird (2019) and Tangerine (2015), so what’s stopping you? In fact, you might already be a filmmaker in your own right whether or not you’re

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The Favourite is one of the least sexy films ever made about lesbian relationships. And somehow, it’s directed by a man.   Last week, The Favourite (2018) was nominated for ten Academy Awards. It’s an excellent film that certainly deserves the awards and press. It is also a fabulously unsexy film in spite of a plot driven by the power and sexual dynamics between its female leads. There are no shots in the final cut with the sole purpose of titillating the audience, and the camera refuses to objectify the three women who reign over the screen. Most shocking of all, The Favourite achieves this while being directed by a