This is not an attempt at nostalgic musings, but an observation of our current media environment. As a kid writing stories in my childhood, making movies in high school, studying filmmaking in college, I used to prioritize "getting in the zone", with less concern about the "business of life". Music flowing in the background, playing ou...

Petra Costa is not only one of Brazil's best filmmakers. She's one of the world's best filmmakers, period. I've written before about her first feature documentary, Elena. Her 2019 film The Edge of Democracy is a masterfully constructed work of poetry. It unfolds like a real-life Shakespearean tale, with the vividness and intimacy of a ...

There are many metaphors that could describe the creative process, but one that keeps coming back to me is the image of climbing a mountain. And approaching a project that way isn't always facilitated by modern day workflows and communication styles, because the nature of the creative process is often misunderstood. Making a film, writ...

Few podcasts are as consistently delightful as 99% Invisible, and in episode 435, The Megaplex! they take a nostalgic look at the rise of massive multi-screen movie theaters in the mid-90's, and the surprising ways this phenomenon influenced not jus the movie-going experience, but also what kinds of movies were being made. The entire e...

This week I watched a documentary called Elena (available on Netflix), by a young Brazilian filmmaker, Petra Costa, where she remembers her older sister Elena, and explores the trauma and grief of losing her when Petra was only 7. Elena left her home in Brazil to pursue acting in NYC in the 80's, since her options in Brazil were limite...

Where I'm living, in Mauritius, I've had the unique opportunity to be part of an experiment of sorts. To live out the premise of the movie Groundhog Day, except the cycle that repeats itself is a whole year rather than a single day. On March 21st, 2020, the whole country went on lockdown due to an outbreak of the Coronavirus. School wa...