Meet Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), a 12-year-old boy incarcerated in a Beirut jail for stabbing—as he says—“a sonofabitch.” “You stabbed someone,” the judge clarifies, softening the young man’s testimony. “Yes,” Zain responds. “A sonofabitch.” Well, what else do you call … Continue reading CAPERNAUM (کفرناحوم)
Well, if you want to sing out, sing outAnd if you want to be free, be free.’Cause there’s a million things to beYou know that there are. —Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) It starts with music, a siren song if … Continue reading COLD WAR (ZIMNA WOJNA)
Every year is a great year for the movies, but when was the best? Was it 1939, the year Hollywood gave us The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? Or was it the great global year … Continue reading 2018: An Embarrassment of Riches
The 41st Denver Film Festival brings together more than 300 shorts and feature films from Oct. 31–Nov. 11. Sure, there are bound to be some duds in there, but 2018 is a veritable cinematic bumper crop, particularly when you look … Continue reading The World Comes to DFF: Dispatches From the 41st Denver Film Festival
Michael J. Cinema 