STRAW 2025: A Mother’s Silence Was Louder Than a Siren
A haunting look at grief, survival, and a mother’s quiet collapse in a world that never gave her room to fall.

Ela is a resident of a provincial town in the foothills of the Sudetenland. She raises her 9-year-old son Damian alone. "She tries to survive in the gray of everyday life. Her every day closes in a circle of the same events: working at the local slaughterhouse, caring for her ailing mother and moments with her friend. One day magic and happiness enter the heroine's life.
A haunting look at grief, survival, and a mother’s quiet collapse in a world that never gave her room to fall.
The Chronology of Water is a raw, honest, and unforgiving portrayal of how an abusive childhood ripples throughout one’s life. It is definitely the best movie I’ve seen Imogen Poots in. And even though Kristen Stewart has a long acting career for her young age, her directorial skills in this film show a lot of promise. Her feature debut as a director, an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch's critically acclaimed 2011 autobiographical memoir, is fully immersive, mesmerizing, and impressive.
Halle's belting, crystal clear notes, and warm tone infused something into this blockbuster that I thoroughly enjoy.
Jordan Peele's turn to horror with "Get Out" isn't as unexpected as it may seem. He primed his fans for a disturbing and nuanced exploration of racism with his work on "Keanu" and "Key & Peele."
Women have always been integral to science fiction, and these amazing women prove why.
“And I think to myself….what a wonderful world”. Louis Armstrong sang about this notion via his classic 1967 song, an ode to witnessing elements of our life that should be but some reminders of exactly what that concluding line of each verse indicates. Now we see our contemporary realities and, just being honest, it makes a sentiment like this seem SO overtly far away….perhaps even impossible….to accept or believe could be. It sounds harsh, but again, so much of what is occurring speaks not to beauty, but bedlam.