An American coming of age story like you’ve never watched on the big screen before, ‘DÌDI’ opens this weekend and it is a must watch. I caught up with the stars and the visionary filmmaker for a Zoom press conference and here are a couple of takeaways to whet your appetite.
Read MoreMeryam Joobeur on Berlinale Competition title 'Who Do I Belong To' and the injustice of visas
The feature debut by the Oscar-nominated Tunisian-Canadian filmmaker is a cinematic painting, an ode to her ‘Brotherhood’ stars who were not given a visa to travel to the Berlinale. An injustice that seemed to go unnoticed in the midst of all the festival drama.
Read MoreNazrin Choudhury's short 'Red White and Blue' is an Oscar-nominated must-watch
And I’ll tell you why.
Read More“Cinema with a Conscience”: Five Movies that Changed My Life
We’ve all experienced the positive power of cinema. It is that moment, at the end of a movie, right before the lights come back on and as the credits roll by, when we feel we can change the world. We feel invigorated, wish to do better, want to be better and walk out of the theater with a new spring in our step. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, that energy, the magic of the movies, stays with us in our daily lives and continues to inspire a change that can become momentous.
Read MorePhenomenal Man: Samuel L. Jackson Channels James Baldwin in ‘I Am Not Your Negro’
In I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck manages to weave archival photos, video and even the odd space footage into a beautifully watchable, mesmerizing, can’t-tear-your-eyes-away-from-the-screen masterpiece of understanding, drawn out straight from Baldwin’s writing. Samuel L. Jackson narrates by reading from the 30 pages of notes for Remember This House, a book Baldwin never completed where he wanted to tell the story of his three murdered friends — MLK, Malcolm X and Evers. At times I had to remind myself that it wasn’t Baldwin talking me through his fascinating life, but Jackson instead. If ever someone channeled the spirit, courage and great humanity of the author, it’s the beloved Hollywood actor.
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