Film
Docs in Sight: Sundance 2014
By Williams ColeAs part of the Sundance Film Festival has grown into a ridiculous scene of celebrity watchers, Party People, and wealthy “producers”—at least during the first weekend—the non-profit Sundance Institute (which sponsors and runs the festival) still works hard to support the innovative and non-commercial in independent filmmaking. This seems most pronounced in the documentary feature categories where there is a consistent adherence to the role of documentary storytelling around social-political issues and where new works re-engage creatively with perennial themes of human rights, mediated culture, and international chaos.
In Conversation
HANY ABU-ASSAD with Joshua Sperling
Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now balanced an uncompromising commitment to the Palestinian cause with a sensitivity to the contradictions of Palestinian experience. His most recent film, Omar, turns the complex tensions of occupation—and the taboo of collaboration—into a tightly plotted espionage thriller.
MEDIUM BULK MATERIAL TRANSFERRED FROM ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHER
Lonnie Van Brummelen & Siebren De Haan’s Monument Of Sugar
By Jim Supanick
At times, the uglier aspects of ascendant foodie culture appear as a desperate desire to plug up a vast emptiness. Reflected in the thrusting knives and grimacing one-upmanship of competitive cooking shows, or the self-righteous castigation of a local co-op member over another’s choice of cheese, culinary acumen can often seem more a weapon than a means of sustenance or simple enjoyment.
WALTZING WITH WOLVES: Israeli Filmmakers (Re)Discover Violence
By Neta AlexanderIf you’ve ever seen a vigilante movie, the following plot description might ring some bells: a little girl is missing and the main suspect is caught by the police but is quickly released due to a lack of evidence.
In Conversation
DAVID JOSELIT with Lucy Hunter and R. Lyon
Where is a semi-public, high-security shipping container and publishing project in Brooklyn, New York. Its second show, Where 2, started with a proposition for an exhibition without an artist.
