In this modern reimagining of Anton Chekhov's short story, "Anyuta" (1886), a young woman spends the day posing as a life model for a medical student and a neighboring artist. Clemy Clarke directs a script written by C.C. Kellogg and their film, “After Anyuta,” is an incisive portrait of the interiority of a young woman passed around like property between two men. Anyuta shares a cramped, cluttered apartment with a medical student named Steven, who beckons her when needed to disrobe and model for him, demonstrating for instance where the ribs sit in the ribcage. When their downstairs neighbor, an artist by the name of Ferris, comes in need of a model himself, he asks Steven to “lend me Anyuta for a couple of hours.” The fact that he poses the question to Steven rather than Anyuta positions the viewer in the realm of the commentary on display. It’s a conversation starter, complex, uncomfortable, with flashes of defiance cutting through old-time gender dynamics.
During lockdown, a man travels to the desert to pick up his dog from an estranged partner. The film, “Pup, directed by and co-starring Avon Haughton, was conceived and filmed during the Covid-19 quarantine and registers as a poetic response to isolation and missing affection. Largely silent, we f...
A young Moroccan woman faces deportation from the UK while coming to terms with her her sexual orientation. A richly-drawn drama, “Métèque,” directed by Lauren Blackwell, follows Samia through an emotional period of turmoil. It’s a beautifully rendered exploration of identity, displacement, and d...
Selina has recently discovered a newfound hobby in Witchcraft but when her Abuelita finds out, it leads to trouble at home. “Sacerdotisa - The 1992 Edit,” directed by Christian Santiago, is a throwback drama of the occult delivered with VHS visuals and a synth score unfolding with a creeping tens...
