Director / Writer Dana Ziyasheva Talks About 'Defenders of Life'
Director Dana Ziyasheva made her directorial debut, 'Defenders of Life' which focuses on the Ngäbe community, and the hardships Ngäbe girls faced in Costa Rica.

Written in 1967, Sgt. Pepper’s was the world’s first concept album. The Beatles went into the studio, enthusiastically embracing the possibilities for experimentation that were blossoming at the time, and with no intention of playing the album live. Firstly, because they just didn’t feel like it (due to the hordes of screeching fans), but also because it was music that supposedly couldn’t be performed on stage, as it was too complicated. But that music just had to be played live at some point! Now The Analogues’ perform this masterwork live in all its analogue glory—an honor for which no effort has been spared with regards to a truckload of wild and wonderful vintage instruments. There’s a sitar and tabla drums for ‘Within You, Without You’, a rare Lowrey keyboard for ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’; a harp for ‘She’s Leaving Home’, plus, of course, a huge array of strings and horns. This is The Analogue’s quest to faithfully perform Sgt. Pepper’s live!
Director Dana Ziyasheva made her directorial debut, 'Defenders of Life' which focuses on the Ngäbe community, and the hardships Ngäbe girls faced in Costa Rica.
In a post-Gamergate media landscape, it's ambitious to have a film confront the harsh reactions to women in gaming from a comedic lens.
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.
The most impressive aspect of this film is the honest and natural performances given by the on-screen duo.
Even now, the well-established Snyder has yet to learn this as he continues to allow misguided decisions to convince him that his projects hold the same kind of intelligent and emotional weight. Army of the Dead is a tonal mess, one that never decides what it’s trying to be, and, for all we know, doesn’t want to decide.