“Snapshots” and “Spotlights”: Selections from the 61st Chicago International Film Festival

By Jonathan Monovich. On selections from the Snapshots (works showcasing the diversity of contemporary global cinema), Spotlight (award-winners and critical favorites), and New Directors Competition (U.S. premieres from emerging talents and new voices in international cinema)…. This year marked the 61st Chicago International Film Festival, featuring appearances by some of […]

The Older and Newer: Budapest Classics Film Marathon 2025

By Yun-hua Chen. Showcasing restored films that are over 20 years old, the festival embraces the entire arc of cinematic history….” Now in its eighth year, the Budapest Classics Film Marathon showcases restored films that are over 20 years old. The festival embraces the entire arc of cinematic history—from the […]

Cinema to the Edge: Alireza Khatami on The Things You Kill

By Ali Moosavi. To me this is human nature…. It’s knowing the roots of things, knowing the history of things. It doesn’t erase the pain but that’s how to face the world: with empathy.” —Alireza Khatami Next year’s Oscars mark a unique achievement for Iranian directors. No less than four […]

Replicating Neoliberal Reform: Failed Mothers in John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood (1991) and Baby Boy (2001)

By Indya J. Jackson. Ultimately [through the depiction of failed mothers] Singleton replicates the anti-Black, anti-poor, and misogynistic rhetoric of neoliberal reformists by embedding a definite preference for fathers and the heteropatriarchal family structure within his films.” After Boyz N the Hood (1991) launched John Singleton into rarefied air, he […]