It opens in an African coltan mine. Black bodies dig through the rocks for precious metals. “Metal precious currency,” the narrator intones. “Third and First world currency. Black market currency… That old black-bodied currency.” Men with guns demand the workers … Continue reading NEPTUNE FROST
Shot in stark black and white like a moving Weegee photograph, Lionel Rogosin’s On the Bowery is a stunning piece of filmmaking instrumental in dropkicking American movie making out of the studios and onto the streets. The story here is of an … Continue reading ON THE BOWERY
A gay painter in Pittsburgh, Devan Shimoyama (above), talks about the travails of finding a barber capable of cutting his Black hair. “We don’t cut hair with texture,” a stylist tells him. This leads Shimoyama to begin frequenting Black barbershops, … Continue reading Mimesis Documentary Festival — MANSCAPING
A lizard is photographed from 360 degrees. The lizard will soon become part of a computer archive that is recreating digital simulations of every animal on the planet, starting with the ones most likely to become extinct. For whom is … Continue reading Mimesis Documentary Festival — OUR ARK
Trinity, New Mexico. The site where the American military tested the atomic bomb before dropping two on Japan. Today the site is an army base and tourist attraction. Despite some green glass where the blast fused sand and rocks and … Continue reading Mimesis Documentary Festival — WHAT TRAVELERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JORNADA DEL MUERTO
Since his 1991 debut, Slacker, writer/director Richard Linklater has quietly become the most reflective director in American cinema. In the documentary Double Play: Jack Benning and Richard Linklater (Gabe Klinger 2013), Linklater casually outlines his philosophical thesis: “I think ultimately the most interesting view … Continue reading BOYHOOD
I ask my grandmother whether she remembers her old house. She says: ‘It’s good that I never had a photograph of my childhood home. Because if I had a photo of it, I would have forgotten what it looked like. … Continue reading Mimesis Documentary Festival 2022
George Clooney’s 2019 adaptation for Hulu was faithful to Joseph Heller’s novel until it missed the mark. He condemned Yossarian to a Sisyphean hell rather than set him free and off into the world. Clooney’s deviation probably comes from a … Continue reading CATCH-22
On this week’s edition of After Image, I chat with Metro Arts’ producer Veronica Straight-Lingo about the triumphant return of the Mimesis Documentary Festival, screening at the Dairy Arts Center Aug. 2-7, and the feature debut of writer/director B.J. Novak, … Continue reading
Michael J. Cinema 
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