RKS 2024 Film: “Fallen Leaves”: Awkwardness, Alienation and Depression Perfected

Ansa (Alma Pöysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) are two lonely souls portrayed in a gloomy, stark and industrialized Helsinki. Ansa meets Holappa at a karaoke bar full of strange “out of the ordinary” people. In fact the film is full of distracted out of place people in equally stark and bizarre settings. The music throughoutContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Fallen Leaves”: Awkwardness, Alienation and Depression Perfected”

RKS 2024 Film: Palestinian Voices: Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy

The anger and hate in the War on Palestine is noisy and grating. Whomever can shoot and kill becomes the winner. Of course, cultural eradication is the biggest victory and one senses in Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy (of shorts) Palestinian culture survives and quietly and effectively makes its point without resorting to RPGs. Can you imagineContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: Palestinian Voices: Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy”

RKS 2024 Film: “Between Two Crossings”: Caught in the Israeli-Egyptian Vice

My late Portuguese friend was a diplomat based in Toronto when I met him. He taught me many things and helped instill my love of Portugal. I last enjoyed his company in Estoril a decade ago and he had retired and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch on the boardwalk. He loved to say, “It’s complicated”Continue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Between Two Crossings”: Caught in the Israeli-Egyptian Vice”