In Spite of Ourselves (2026)

We sat down with Writer/Director Albert Acosta to discuss his debut short film, (ha-ha), Acosta's foray into narrative cinema, and how his personal experiences have shaped his filmmaking philosophy.

Crazy Rich Asians. The title is tacky, but the actual movie is both heartwarming and cosmopolitan. After all, it takes place in Singapore!

“To be universal, you have to get specific”: while the film does not attempt to provoke discussions about queerness or race, those watching closely may find something resonant in Sorrentino’s love letter to the Naples of his youth.

Black Panther was obviously an epic movie and big hit! It was the highest-earning superhero movie of all time in the US! It's pretty clear that Black Panther has more meaning for race and diversity than your average Marvel superhero movie. This movie means a lot in terms of black pride and representation - and has much cultural significance in America as a whole.

An aspect of She-Ra that I find refreshing is even though a large portion of the cast is on the LGBTQ+ Spectrum, being gay is never mentioned. While this might initially sound like a negative thing, in the show’s land of Etheria being on the gay spectrum is shown to be so common and normalized that straight isn’t the default. As much as there is to appreciate about narratives revolving around the obstacles that may come from being non-heteronormative, it’s nice to get immersed in a world where no one bats an eye at all to any sort of differing identity.

Praising Black representation and condemning the power structures that suppress it, a mother delivers an impassioned speech to her distant son.