New Documentary "Pretty Ugly" Tells the Story of The Lunachicks
As one of the women said in the film, friendship in your teens is “as important as any lover” and it’s clear they lived that philosophy throughout their early adult lives as well.

In the summer of 1932, Gabriele Boccalatte and Ninì Pietrasanta met. They met on the Monte Bianco, they climbed it together and fell in love. Their great alpine years go exactly from 1932 to 1936 – the year in which they got married. They, as a roped party, pioneered some of the toughest alpine routes. They used to keep journals and take pictures in order to keep a record of their achievements. Ninì, that was one of the very few female climbers of those years, would carry a 16mm film camera with her, during her climbs. In 1937, their son Lorenzo was born, and, in 1938, Gabriele died, falling from a mountain wall. Ninì, then, gave up extreme climbing and focused on her role as a mother. Some years after Ninì’s death, in 2000, her son Lorenzo found the reels his mother had been shooting, hidden in an old case.
As one of the women said in the film, friendship in your teens is “as important as any lover” and it’s clear they lived that philosophy throughout their early adult lives as well.
Films staring black transgender actresses/actors are few and far between, it’s refreshing to see a demographic represented in film that hardly gets any attention. This is especially important as the Black trans community has been shown in studies to face the highest level of discrimination amongst general trans and non-binary groups. That is why it’s so crucial that we amplify their voices through any way we can, storytelling being a great medium to do so.
A dark film in the tradition The Brother’s Grimm.
“Candyman ain't a 'he.’ Candyman is the whole damn hive." Candyman represents all Black victims of white supremacy, and this art form narratively conveys it in a succinct, adulatory way, the history of which is rare to find.
Growing up without a dad, I got a lot of my fatherly advice from the prototypes I saw on the silver screen. It’s these characters and films that gave me a glimpse into a dynamic I had never known but also made me realize that I was missing out. Here are my top 10 paternal films.
"Terrace House" improves on the standard reality TV format by affording its cast privacy, freedom, and respect.