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Costa Brava, Lebanon
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Mounia Akl's film tackles an important and underdiscussed aspect of an important subject. How do you persist as people, as a family, when the world seems to be falling apart around you?
Posted Sep 02, 2022
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Karmalink
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Karmalink leaves us with more questions than answers, but the disorientation it creates is a sweet, thoughtful one.
Posted Sep 02, 2022
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Midwives
(2022)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It’s a reminder that heroes are rarely perfect humans. And a reminder of the intense courage that is often required to do the human thing in times of great strife.
Posted Apr 26, 2022
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All That Breathes
(2022)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Shaunak Sen's All That Breathes is a film as gorgeous as it is ambitious, as stirring as it is terrifying.
Posted Apr 26, 2022
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The Velvet Queen
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Some viewers may not be entirely on board with the heady (and oh-so French) rumination. But get on this movie’s wavelength and its spell will last long after the end credits have rolled.
Posted Mar 21, 2022
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Salt in My Soul
(2022)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Watching the film, one senses her loss the way one might sense the loss of a friend.
Posted Mar 21, 2022
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Daughter of a Lost Bird
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It’s a sensational story, so there’s no need to present it in a sensationalistic manner. The results are quite absorbing, too.
Posted Feb 12, 2022
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Needle in a Timestack
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Needle in a Timestack is a convoluted, unconvincing romantic sci-fi drama, but it does raise some fascinating questions.
Posted Jan 06, 2022
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The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The result is a touching, often beautiful film. The Loneliest Whale is certainly informative, but, perhaps more importantly for our day and age, it's a mood piece that will speak to those who find something evocative and relatable about the story of 52.
Posted Nov 12, 2021
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Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Ultimately, we get a touching portrait of a variety of different human beings all circling around the fascinating, perhaps unsolvable, problem of the mind.
Posted Nov 12, 2021
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Stray
(2021)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It's meant to be an immersive experience, an effort to put us as viewers not just behind the eyes of a dog, but also in its mind. It succeeds beautifully.
Posted Jul 13, 2021
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Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache
(2019)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It's not always easy to follow the story thread of this beguiling film, but it has such a bewitching atmosphere that you may well be tempted to watch it over and over again.
Posted Jul 13, 2021
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Planet of the Humans
(2019)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The film's broad-based approach can be uneven. Gibbs isn't nearly as compelling a figure as some of the activists he interviews and portrays...
Posted May 24, 2021
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Kiss the Ground
(2020)
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Bilge Ebiri
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This is a fascinating film, but more importantly, it's a convincing one.
Posted May 24, 2021
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Chasing the Present
(2019)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Chasing the Present is far from perfect, but it's a lively, humble film, and its sincerity can be quite affecting.
Posted May 24, 2021
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The Antidote
(2020)
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Bilge Ebiri
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What's remarkable is the fact that a film like this was needed at all.
Posted May 24, 2021
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Bedlam
(2019)
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Bilge Ebiri
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This is an informative, potent documentary.
Posted May 24, 2021
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Our Friend
(2019)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Our Friend is a heartbreaking movie, the tears come early and they come often, but it's not without hope.
Posted May 24, 2021
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The Mindfulness Movement
(2020)
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Bilge Ebiri
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As a film, The Mindfulness Movement is engaging, although it can get repetitive...
Posted May 01, 2020
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Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The approach is multipronged, but luckily, Escape Fire doesn't lose any of its urgency or power as a result.
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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Sushi: The Global Catch
(2011)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Sushi: The Global Catch gains genuine immediacy. Like the best advocacy documentaries, it makes you leave the theater wanting to learn more about how you can help.
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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Kon-Tiki
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Although the film is replete with suspense, it's often at its best when playing the characters on the raft off one another.
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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To the Wonder
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Although the filmmaker often puts specifically Christian imagery into his film, his sensibility turns out to be more Zen: he can find manifestations of glory in both the noblest gesture and the darkest impulse.
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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Hava Nagila (The Movie)
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Grossman explores the song's history further, the film gains in power. A look at the unlikely journey of a song becomes an ennobling, occasionally troubling look at Jewish history, going back to the shtetls of Eastern Europe...
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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The Other Side of the Ice
(2013)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It is in these moments-contrasting human mutability with the awesome, almost absolute power of nature-that The Other Side of the Ice finds its true power...
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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Chasing Ice
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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True, there's no blood this time around, no gruesome images of dolphins dying, but it could be argued that the supernaturally beautiful images that Balog (and, by extension, Orlowski) captures are even more despairing and alarming...
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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Decoding Deepak
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Decoding Deepak is a loving film but also makes it clear that Deepak Chopra is enamored of the frenzy of his career.
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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Doctored
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Sheehan's film doesn't quite scale beyond the chiropractor debate.
Posted Mar 25, 2020
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A Fierce Green Fire
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The results are beautiful, fascinating, and, understandably, messy. Not all of these people want the same thing, and sometimes their needs conflict with one another.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Free China: The Courage to Believe
(2011)
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Bilge Ebiri
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As it is, Free China is an interesting and moving film, but it is most likely preaching to the choir.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Elemental
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Elemental is really about persistence: In these three approaches to monumental environmental concerns, what we're really seeing are three very different ways of solving a problem.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Unacceptable Levels
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The film also possesses a sly, welcome wit. Those stylistic touches, as well as the director's own openness, lend this intriguing documentary a credibility that it otherwise might have lacked.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Free the Mind
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Free the Mind is a film that practices the mindfulness it preaches. It's intimate, beautiful-and also, on some deep level, respectful.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Inuk
(2010)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The result is a deceptively stylish, powerful film about a corner of the world we rarely see.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Bidder 70
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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By keeping their focus on this remarkable, insightful figure, the Gages deliver a film that reflects the humanity of its subject.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Zaytoun
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Zaytoun is a beautiful, touching film about two hardened souls who need each other far more than they're willing to let on.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Hannah Arendt
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Von Trotta, however, smartly focuses on a brief, pivotal moment in Arendt's career...
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Band of Sisters
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Band of Sisters is an informative, engaging film that will change how you view these remarkable women, whose dedication to bettering their world comes as a logical extension of their religious beliefs.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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GMO OMG
(2013)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Seifert's advocacy documentary GMO OMG isn't the first film to express concern over genetically modified crops. Nor, unfortunately, is it even close to being the best.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Symphony of the Soil
(2012)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The Symphony of the Soil may lose us a little along the way, but it's crystal clear about the importance of this precious natural resource.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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The Connection
(2014)
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Bilge Ebiri
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A more sober exploration of this world would have been more effective in making this case to the skeptics-the very people who need to be convinced if this kind of more holistic thinking is to make inroads into the public at large.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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A Will for the Woods
(2013)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Will for the Woods intriguingly explores this growing world of green burials and some of the key figures in it. But at heart, it's Clark Wang's story.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Faith Connections
(2013)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Faith Connections does occasionally lose focus. At the same time, the event lends a fascinating, otherworldly quality to what we're seeing onscreen; the images Nalin has gathered are beautiful and evocative.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Plot for Peace
(2013)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It's a remarkable story, one very few know about. This exciting documentary reclaims this man for history, while showing us how a belief in peace and diplomacy can sometimes make the impossible real.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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We Are the Giant
(2014)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Barker's documentary about the Arab Spring has a subtle conceit at its heart.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Food Chains
(2014)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Good intentions are fine, but what's needed, the film argues, isn't charity-what's needed are decent, sustainable wages and responsible business practices.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Because I Was a Painter
(2013)
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Bilge Ebiri
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The film is beautiful, of course...But it's trying to do more than that: In all of these cases, there's a sense of art working at its highest level, trying to grapple with the most profound of experiences.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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The Human Experiment
(2013)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It's an effective movie for those of us in the choir. But the film's stylistic limitations might keep it from breaking out more widely.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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Pelican Dreams
(2014)
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Bilge Ebiri
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It's an engaging subject, but it would also be easy for it to become too dry and pedantic. Luckily, Irving has good cinematic instincts...
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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The Armor of Light
(2015)
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Bilge Ebiri
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Schenck is a sensitive and articulate guide to the issues at play here; he has a way of making his own questions resonate in the viewer's mind.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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