Michael Frank

Early in co-director and writer Travon Free’s 32-minute short Two Distant Strangers, rapper-turned-actor (in this case) Joey Bada$$ talks to his dog through the Furbo dog camera. For a few precious minutes in this now-Oscar-nominated short, Bada$$ throws his dog treats from across the city, chatting about the previous night’s events: he had a few drinks with a new fling (Zaria Simone), went back to her place, and ended up spending the night. He promises that he’ll be home, an assurance that n...

Cine-File continues to cover streaming and other online offerings during this time of covidity. We will list/highlight physical screenings at the top of the list for theaters and venues that have reopened, and list streaming/online screenings below. Cine-File takes no position on whether theaters should be reopening, nor on whether individuals should be attending in-person. Check the venues’ websites for information on safety protocols and other procedures put in place.
🔊 CINE-CAST: The Cine-...

Set in 1960s and 1970s San Francisco, Women Is Losers, cannot be faulted for its ambition. With a higher production value than most first features, Lissette Feliciano’s drama uses fourth wall breaks early and often, having a host of characters speak directly to audiences. Most of these monologues show a level of awareness from Feliciano, who also penned the script. She’s aware of the difficulties her protagonis faces as a Latin women living during that era. In fact, she wants us to be aware a...

The remaining trio of true stories at this year’s festival focus on politics and its impact on both individuals and society at large.
(This dispatch is part of our coverage of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival.)
The final three films featured in the SXSW 2021 Documentary Competition deal with the government at a local, state, national, and even global level. They look at how politicians deal with the issues facing their constituents, how regular people decide to get involved, and how to react when ...

Written by and starring Mallory Everton and Whitney Call, Recovery doesn’t make any mistake about its time and place. Set in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the road trip comedy about two sisters, Jamie and Blake, is quick to pounce on our sheer lack of knowledge through the first weeks and early months of the outbreak. We sprayed down our grocery bags. We thought droplets were anywhere and everywhere. We were, rightfully, scared. Recovery attempts to flip that fear into comedy...

Set during, yet never mentioning, the ongoing pandemic, I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) follows widowed Danny (Kelley Kali), mother of a young daughter named Wes (Wesley Moss). Currently living in a tent out near the side of a highway, Danny needs enough cash to put a down-payment to rent an apartment, giving her the end of a single day to find about $200. Directed by Kali and Angelique Molina, I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) contains a setup ripe for tears and emotional connection only to fall sho...

From depictions of Black beauty to the ethics of whistleblowing, two female-focused docs out of SXSW struggle to hammer home a central message.
(This dispatch is part of our coverage of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival.)
Subjects of Desire, from director Jennifer Holmes, looks at the way Black beauty has changed over the last century. Holmes examines the boxes that Black women have been forced into through the lens of the Miss Black America beauty pageant. Interviewing a range of contestants, coup...

Thirty years ago, Daniel Miller (one of Albert Brooks’ many fault-laden leading men that’re really just Brooks in disguise) died in a head-on collision with a bus. Driving home after purchasing a new car, albeit not the nicest one in the lot, Miller had decided to celebrate his birthday with a long solo drive, saying, “You’re born alone, celebrate it. Celebrate aloneness. That’s what birthdays are for.”
Miller wakes up in a version of the afterlife, a place called Judgment City, where he has ...

A look back at a ’90s star, the opioid crisis, and the weird world of domino art mark SXSW’s docs in competition.
(This dispatch is part of our coverage of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival.)
The subjects of the eight films included in the 2021 SXSW Documentary Competition slate vary greatly in intensity and relevancy. The three major films in the festival are documentaries as well, highlighting musicians Demi Lovato, Tom Petty, and Charli XCX. With several first-time filmmakers, the slate has pote...

Familiarity surrounds Language Lessons, an 80-minute examination of a friendship between a Spanish teacher and her student. Natalie Morales, in her directorial debut, comes with an air of TV-sitcom understanding, having supporting roles on Parks & Recreation and Dead to Me over the last half-decade. Mark Duplass, who co-wrote the script with Morales, plays Adam, a man whose husband got him 100 Spanish lessons with Cariño (Morales) as a birthday gag. Filmed through Facetime/Zoom sessions betwe...

In an ideal, much safer world, Megan Park’s The Fallout wouldn’t need to exist. Winner of the SXSW Narrative Feature Competition, The Fallout follows high school student Vada (Jenna Ortega) as she navigates life following a school shooting. Ortega leads a stacked cast of young actors including Niles Fitch, Will Ropp, and Maddie Ziegler, who provides more of a presence than a performance. Park’s directorial debut feature comes at a time when gun violence feels like the norm, especially for a g...

Every month, we at The Spool select a filmmaker to explore in greater depth — their themes, their deeper concerns, how their works chart the history of cinema, and the filmmaker’s own biography. This March, we revisit the sumptuous, romantic, deeply humanistic works of Hong Kong’s favored son, Wong Kar-Wai. Read the rest of our coverage here.
Back in 1988, Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai tried his hand at directing a feature film, transitioning from soap opera screenwriting to the low-level ...

Cine-File continues to cover streaming and other online offerings during this time of covidity. We will list/highlight physical screenings at the top of the list for theaters and venues that have reopened, and list streaming/online screenings below. Cine-File takes no position on whether theaters should be reopening, nor on whether individuals should be attending in-person. Check the venues’ websites for information on safety protocols and other procedures put in place.
CINE-FILE SELECTS: FIL...

For four minutes of curator Sam Abbas’ 58-minute collection of docushorts from several European and American cinematographers, the camera sits on wrinkled bed sheets. A piano plays, with a softness that encompasses the meditative nature of Erēmīta (Anthologies). With more background knowledge, Erēmīta should grow in one’s estimation. All proceeds will go to Amnesty International. Each filmmaker had final cut on their short, and without much of a prompt besides the idea to use a cell phone to ...

Sophie Jones, the creation from co-writing cousins Jessica and Jessie Barr, excels when focused on the eponymous high schooler’s detachment from friends and family. Exploring the grief and loss associated with losing a parent––in this case, Sophie’s mother––Sophie Jones is the result of multiple stories stemming from the Barr cousins. With Jessica playing the title role and Jessie directing, the film draws from their experiences, as both lost a parent when they were 16 years old.
The movie ex...