Jeremy Dutcher: A Sonic Rematriation 

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.

Spotlighting the legacy of the legendary Raymond Lewis through the love of a devoted daughter.

An attempt to capture nostalgia that unfortunately just doesn’t work

The social issues The Half of it takes on are handled well, between the antagonization brought on to Ellie for her race and the conflict that arises from her being gay. Both aspects of her character are built up over the course of the film and don’t seem abrupt or rushed. The film shows racism towards Ellie and her and father in varying levels, from having her schoolmates specifically address her as "Chinese girl” to the fore mentioned way her Dad is treated due to language barriers. The same can be said about Ellie being a lesbian. While she never truly “comes out” in the narrative, that does not undermine her journey of self-discovery from being meaningful. These ideas aren’t thrust upon the viewer in a preachy manor, the scenarios that occur feel believable given the rural setting. The film presents watchers with problems whom those like Ellie may face, and leaves us to sit with them and reflect.

Ultimately the problem with The Bubble is that it plays everything for laughs to get around the audience’s defenses. But it comes off like a privileged white male thinking that ridiculing everyone else equally is the road to equality. And it’s not. And it's definitely not funny to pretend that it is.

Now that we're officially halfway through Hispanic Heritage Month, let's look ahead at movies featuring Hispanic & Latine representation through the rest of 2021.