The Issue with Tissue - a boreal love story documents the little known, largely untold story of the boreal forest and the Indigenous First Nations who call it home - how protecting and conserving the boreal is an existential imperative and that unfettered extractive industrial exploitation of the few remaining wild spaces, like the boreal, must be curtailed if life as we know it on Planet Earth is to sustain. Told by the First Nations Elders and Leaders of the boreal, leading scientists and activists, The Issue with Tissue creates a kind of talking circle that inspires our storytellers to speak with intimacy and candor about the issues confronting us all, sharing their enlightened, unified vision that the way forward lies in supporting and elevating Indigenous knowledge/stewardship in combination with the ages old wisdom that can be found in the life of these forests and trees.
The biggest highlight of the film is easily the performance of Andrew Garfield. In his days since hanging up his Spiderman suit, Garfield has routinely churned out great performances, and Mainstream is no exception. He proves that he is willing to try anything and go anywhere in a character.
Alongside A Drowning Man, I Signed The Petition, 3 Logical Exits, and A World Not Ours, A Man Returned continues to paint a realistic portrait of the Refugee Crisis that eschews the Western gaze and stereotype. These are real portraits painted by a director with lived experience, cultural connection and an amazing eye for visuals.
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.
Paris is Burning elevated drag and ballroom into the public consciousness and permanently impacted LGBT culture. However, the performers featured in the documentary didn't reap the rewards of their visibility.
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.
