Festivals Reviews SIFF

SIFF 2021: My Missing Valentine, Final Exam, and Get The Hell Out

I mentioned in our mid-week catch-up that I was really impressed with the focus on diversity, and I don’t mean the surface type of diversity where you talk a good game but present your audience with little-to-no viewpoints outside of one or two token POC directed and/or acted films. SIFF has always done a decent job with this, but in 2021 they’ve exploded with a great lineup including a few “packages” that put a spotlight on regions and cultures that rarely see a single spot in a festival like this, much less a cluster of films. I’m so excited to talk to you about this set of films created by artists specifically in Taiwan. Even in just these three features there’s a diversity in emotion, experience and expression and you’ll love them all.

Festivals Reviews SIFF

SIFF 2021: Wyrm, Summer of 85, Captains of Zaatari

My SIFF watchlist hit a patch of coming-of-age movies over the last few days. A couple had me running for the fast-forward button, but these three A few others, though, had enough of a twist on the genre or point of view to hold my increasingly scattered attention.