OSCAR SPOTLIGHT: Alex Lanipekun on ECHOES and the Silence Around Male Trauma
The writer-director behind the Oscar-qualified drama explores male mental health and childhood trauma with an acclaimed British cast led by Ashley Walters and Leo Gregory. Main photo by David Buttle For Alex Lanipekun, ECHOES began with conversations among male friends about something deceptively simple: why men can find it so difficult to say they need help. Those discussions became more personal when Lanipekun spoke to his father about … Continue reading OSCAR SPOTLIGHT: Alex Lanipekun on ECHOES and the Silence Around Male Trauma
OSCAR SPOTLIGHT: Cyrus Neshvad on the Journey From The Red Suitcase to I Will Be Alright
From The Red Suitcase to I Will Be Alright, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker continues to explore freedom, identity and the human connections that can transcend borders Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad returns to the Oscar conversation with I Will Be Alright, a deeply human drama about a 16-year-old Iranian refugee facing the possibility of deportation to the country she fled. The film has qualified for consideration at the 99th Academy Awards after winning Best of … Continue reading OSCAR SPOTLIGHT: Cyrus Neshvad on the Journey From The Red Suitcase to I Will Be Alright
OSCAR SPOTLIGHT: Director Tamás Yvan Topolánszky on Never Give Up!, the Business of Short Film and Why Words Can Outlive the People Who Speak Them
Oscar-qualified filmmaker Tamás Yvan Topolánszky talks independent financing, discovering a remarkable nine-year-old first-time actor, the economics of ambitious short filmmaking and why his latest film asks a deceptively complicated question: who really owns a message? There is a deceptively simple question at the centre of Topolánszky’s Oscar-qualified short Never Give Up!: Do words belong to the person who says them, or to the person who ultimately gives them meaning? Produced by … Continue reading OSCAR SPOTLIGHT: Director Tamás Yvan Topolánszky on Never Give Up!, the Business of Short Film and Why Words Can Outlive the People Who Speak Them
ECHOES Review: Alex Lanipekun Delivers a Powerful, Unflinching Drama About the Scars Men Carry
★★★★★ There are films that announce their importance loudly, and there are films that trust the audience enough to let their meaning slowly take hold. Alex Lanipekun’s ECHOES belongs firmly to the latter. Oscar-qualified and featuring an exceptional British ensemble led by Ashley Walters and Leo Gregory, ECHOES is a beautifully controlled, deeply affecting examination of childhood trauma, male friendship and the damage that can remain hidden long after … Continue reading ECHOES Review: Alex Lanipekun Delivers a Powerful, Unflinching Drama About the Scars Men Carry
VENICE – Saoirse Ronan’s Paper Plane — A Quiet, Tender Debut
★★★★★ (5/5) There is something wonderfully unforced about Paper Plane, Saoirse Ronan’s 15-minute directorial debut. Rather than announcing itself as the work of a celebrated actor stepping behind the camera, the film settles into its own modest rhythm: observant, tactile and quietly heartbreaking. The story follows a young girl who retreats to a treehouse in silent protest after her mother begins a new relationship with an abusive … Continue reading VENICE – Saoirse Ronan’s Paper Plane — A Quiet, Tender Debut
