The Cinematography of Sean Price Williams: An Exercise in Grit, Fluidity, and Realism
Sean Price Williams harnesses fluid camera movement reminiscent of art cinema of the 1960s and 1970s in conjunction with heavy zoom effects, naturally sourced lighting, and imperfect exposure. In doing so, he offers an intimate perspective into characters’ psychological dispositions while portraying tension and conflict with a sense of urgency. Williams illustrates a portrait of real life for the viewer, free of glorification and rough around the edges as reality tends to be.
Digitally Indigenous: Images of Late-Stage Colonialism, Imperial Violence, and Metabolic Shift in Neptune Frost
Accompanied by technospiritualist diatribes, visions of gods robed in icons of modern waste, diverse musical practices, and metaphysical technological capabilities, Neptune Frost presents a thorough consideration of the conditions created by digital colonialism and labor exploitation in the Global South.
Heavy Metal Parking Lot: On Subculture, Intention, and the Politics of Personhood
Produced by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn, [Heavy Metal Parking Lot] is rooted in personhood and dedicates itself to exploring a condensed version of the heavy metal scene. If read in such a context, there is an intrinsically political current running through the film, one which encompasses the heavy metal movement of the 1980s, and which hints at the criticism and fear faced by the subculture as a result.
Female Martyrdom and Sexual Sacrifice in Jiří Menzel’s 1966 Adaptations of Bohumil Hrabal
[T]o Jiří Menzel, the martyrdom of eroticized women in the process of male maturation is implicit, informed by national preoccupations and social orders. It is through this initial self-effacing sacrifice that these men are then able to become wasted martyrs themselves, bodies on bodies in a heap at the end of the Czechoslovakian New Wave.
On Collective Correctives to Mainstream Black Representation in Arthur Jafa’s Love is the Message the Message is Death (2016)
Through employing a dialectical editing style, Arthur Jafa’s Love is the Message the Message is Death (2016) attempts to craft a comprehensive visual portrait of Black life in the US. [...] What Jafa ultimately ponders is if the mainstream, where Black images predominantly focus on celebrity, respectability and historic oppression can ever provide an accurate depiction of the complexity of Black life, and if viral videos created by the masses are enough to fill in these notable gaps in representation.
Before Our Eyes
While the vast increase in available media about a conflict seems beneficial, it can first appear overwhelming and may be difficult for the average viewer to disseminate. Understanding the history of war photography, the various Palestinian-specific themes, and the importance of cultural preservation will allow viewers to more easily understand the importance of all the photos currently coming out of Gaza.
The Different Approaches to the Angry-Man Genre: Juxtaposing the Long-Term Legacies of Sholay and Zanjeer
Sholay represented the start of a new era by its politically subversive response to the circumstances of the Emergency and the birth of the “curry western.” The film not only introduced characters who took up vigilantism and did not glorify the government but also included romance and friendship as key themes to serve side-by-side with action and justice, influencing future films to also mix these themes together and challenge political authority.