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Articles by Argun Ulgen
Conscience of Congress John Lewis Hopes You'll 'Get in the Way' of Things
Get In The Way: The Journey of John Lewis Director: Kathleen Dowdey Distributor: PBS Release date: 2017-02-10 These days cyber protestations stampede endlessly and mercurially across millions of computer screens; they erupt into a jumble of memes, tweets, and combustible screed. They often deliver shock and then swiftly vanish, only to be replaced by more of the same.
'For Sama': Aleppo and the Courage of Existential Love
For Sama Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts Frontline / PBS 26 Jul 2019 (US, limited) Other An early scene in For Sama is a handheld video of the eponymous newborn giggling; a cutesy clip seemingly destined for Instagram. Except here, in the background, a cacophony of bombs are exploding just outside the child's room. The filmmaker's husband then calls the mother to bring the baby downstairs.
Sexual Harassment Is Horror in Michal Aviad's 'Working Woman'
Working Woman Michal Aviad Zeitgeist Films 27 Mar 2019 Other Director Michal Aviad's Working Woman (Isha Ovedet) is a difficult film to watch. The Israeli drama charts a young professional married woman's endurance through a hellscape of increasingly egregious sexual harassment at work, and outright emotional neglect at home.
'Monrovia, Indiana' Merges Impressionistic Humanism with Political Critique
Monrovia, Indiana Frederick Wiseman Civic Films, Zipporah Films 26 Oct 2018 (US) Today's mainstream media has captured America as entrenched in a belligerent political civil war between "Trump Country", a neo-conservative bastion of nationalism and theologism, and "Blue America", a liberal base which supports a socially progressive platform rejecting rigid border law and social authoritarianism.
In 'The Times of Bill Cunningham', an Iconic Photographer Marches to the Beat of His Own Drum
For more than three decades before his passing in 2016, New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham — dressed in his trademark french blue sanitation workers' jacket — would ride around on an old, cheap beater bike in New York City snapping photos of fashion on the streets. Cunningham not only believed "the streets reflect what is going on in the political world", but that people's clothes from all walks of life capture "beauty".
NYFF 2018: 'Diamantino' Satirizes Ugly Politics from the Ethers
Diamantino Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt Syndrome Film 4 Oct 2018 (US) Other Diamantino, now screening at the New York Film Festival, begins with a magnificent wide lens shot of galactic landscape, accompanied by a poetic voiceover on churches and soccer from its titular narrator. As the camera slowly descends from a fiery navy blue sky to another awesome spectacle — the final minute of a 2018 World Cup match— Diamantino (Carloto Cotta) is revealed.
'Hale County This Morning, This Evening', Is a Visually Poetic Critique of American Ideology
Hale County This Morning, This Evening RaMell Ross Cinema Guild 14 Sep 2018 (US) Other Midway through RaMell Ross's Hale County This Morning, This Evening, a black adult-education student rejects the stereotypical label against him of being "impovershed" when growing up in Alabama. "It was a joy to take off my shoes and run on the red clay," he recounts as part of his rich and varied childhood memories.
'Skate Kitchen' Is a Paean to the Lost Youth of New York City
Skate Kitchen Crystal Moselle Magnolia Pictures 10 Aug 2018 Currently, New York City is being infested by luxury real estate and commercial property, which is turning a once vibrant and diverse city into a gigantic gated community. On the streets, evidence of individuality survives through traveling posses, which stake their claims on bike lanes, street corners, and parks.
In 'Breath', Surfing Is Captured From a Bookish Introvert's Perspective
Breath Simon Baker Gran Via Productions 1 Jun 2018 Other Early in the narrative feature Breath — based on author Tim Winton's lyrical novel about a young teenager, Bruce "Pikelet" Pike, and his self-discovery through surfing the coasts of West Australia in the '70s — the present-day Pikelet's voiceover makes a poignant observation.
In 'Breath', Surfing Is Captured From a Bookish Introvert's Perspective
Breath Simon Baker Gran Via Productions 1 Jun 2018 Other Early in the narrative feature Breath — based on author Tim Winton's lyrical novel about a young teenager, Bruce "Pikelet" Pike, and his self-discovery through surfing the coasts of West Australia in the '70s — the present-day Pikelet's voiceover makes a poignant observation.
In 'Breath,' Surfing is Captured From a Bookish Introvert's Perspective
Breath Simon Baker Gran Via Productions 1 Jun 2018 Other Early in the narrative feature Breath — based on author Tim Winton's lyrical novel about a young teenager, Bruce "Pikelet" Pike, and his self-discovery through surfing the coasts of West Australia in the '70s — the present-day Pikelet's voiceover makes a poignant observation.
Tribeca 2018: 'When She Runs' Is a Breakthrough in Sports Cinema
When She Runs cold opens with a nearly three-minute wide shot of Kristin (Kristin Anderson), a mid-20s amateur athlete sprint-running on a treadmill placed in the center of a dark, empty gym floor. The only sounds are of Kristin's breathing, and the pounding of her sneakers against the treadmill belt to a metronomic beat. The scene establishes the remarkably poignant tone for the entire movie, which having premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, is a breakthrough in sports cinema.
Tribeca 2018: 'When She Runs' Is a Breakthrough in Sports Cinema
When She Runs cold opens with a nearly three-minute wide shot of Kristin (Kristin Anderson), a mid-20s amateur athlete sprint-running on a treadmill placed in the center of a dark, empty gym floor. The only sounds are of Kristin's breathing, and the pounding of her sneakers against the treadmill belt to a metronomic beat. The scene establishes the remarkably poignant tone for the entire movie, which having premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, is a breakthrough in sports cinema.
All About Nina, by Eva Vives (film review)
All About Nina Eva Vives 22 Apr 2018 (US) Other One of the several refreshing elements of the #Metoo movement is its cultivation of new artistic expression, particularly in American cinema, which has suffered a long drought of homogeneous storytelling centered on male leading roles, and told with little attention to female characters' viewpoints.
Tribeca 2018: 'Netizens' and 'Every Act of Life'
Netizens Cynthia Lowen Apr 2018 Every Act of Life Jeff Kaufman May 2017 While radical forms of religion often engender severe judgment, the arts evoke emotional interpretations, which engender empathy and social awareness to wash away judgment altogether. The same can be said of the difference between cyber and cinematic or theatrical mediums, in which the former breeds split-second binary conclusions about human weakness, while the latter tries to capture a holistic appreciation of humanity.
Tribeca 2018: 'Netizens' and 'Every Act of Life'
Netizens Cynthia Lowen Apr 2018 Every Act of Life Jeff Kaufman May 2017 While radical forms of religion often engender severe judgment, the arts evoke emotional interpretations, which engender empathy and social awareness to wash away judgment altogether. The same can be said of the difference between cyber and cinematic or theatrical mediums, in which the former breeds split-second binary conclusions about human weakness, while the latter tries to capture a holistic appreciation of humanity.
Tribeca 2018: 'Netizens' and 'Every Act of Life'
Netizens Cynthia Lowen Apr 2018 Every Act of Life Jeff Kaufman May 2017 While radical forms of religion often engender severe judgment, the arts evoke emotional interpretations, which engender empathy and social awareness to wash away judgment altogether. The same can be said of the difference between cyber and cinematic or theatrical mediums, in which the former breeds split-second binary conclusions about human weakness, while the latter tries to capture a holistic appreciation of humanity.
Tribeca 2018: 'Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story' and 'Call Her Ganda'
Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story Julia Willoughby Nason, Jenner Furst Paramount 2018- Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin Random House May 2018 Other Call Her Ganda PJ Raval, Victoria Chalk On 26 February 2012, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old kid carrying a bag of Skittles, after having been instructed by a police officer on the telephone not to take any action to what Zimmerman had perceived as a trespass into a...
Tribeca 2018: 'Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story' and 'Call Her Ganda'
Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story Julia Willoughby Nason, Jenner Furst Paramount 2018- Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin Random House May 2018 Other Call Her Ganda PJ Raval, Victoria Chalk On 26 February 2012, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old kid carrying a bag of Skittles, after having been instructed by a police officer on the telephone not to take any action to what Zimmerman had perceived as a trespass into a...
Tribeca 2018: 'The Miseducation of Cameron Post' and 'Tully'
The Miseducation of Cameron Post Desiree Akhavan 10 Aug 2018 (US) Other Tully Jason Reitman 4 May 2018 (US) Other In The Miseducation of Cameron Post, the titular protagonist (Chloe Grace Moretz) is sent by her legal guardian to a gay conversion therapy camp after Cameron is caught having a sexual experience with her high school girlfriend.
'The Final Year' Wistfully Recalls The Obama Administration's Final Months in Office
The Final Year Greg Barker Magnolia Pictures 19 Jan 2018 Other Greg Barker's new documentary The Final Year — which briskly charts the Obama Administration's final six months of diplomatic engagements in 21 countries — is a sharp departure from the rash of embittered political documentaries and scandalous news cycles currently dominating Pennsylvania Avenue.
'Glory' Is a Searing Indictment of Social Media
Glory (Slava) Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov Film Movement 18 Sep 2017 Other In Glory (Slava) — a biting, tightly woven 21st century parable on how social media optics reign over virtuousness —a Bulgarian railway lineman with a severe speech impediment suffers humiliation and personal loss after performing a simple, honest act.His name is Tsanko Petrov (Stefan Denolyubov), and he lives a rustic existence where he cares for rabbits and listens to the radio.
'The Force' Explores The Complexities of Law Enforcement Reform
The Force Peter Nicks Kino Lorber 12 Dec 17 Amazon iTunes Other Peter Nicks' documentary The Force examines the Oakland Police Department's recent reform efforts to curb its history of excessive police force and systemic civil rights violations, which have warranted federal government oversight of the Department since 2003.
In 'Quest', Inner-City American Life Is Given the Treatment It Deserves
Jonathan Olshefski's Quest is an empathy driven cinéma vérité documentary which charts ten years (2007 to 2016) in the life of the Raineys: an artistically driven, community activist orientated low-income family residing in North Central, Philadelphia. The Rainey family's days are rich, varied, and full of struggle.
'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary at a Time We Need It Most
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is celebrating its 30th Anniversary at a time when real-time human compassion feels amiss in an increasingly unapologetic society based on distant communications over cell phones, computers, and other online gadgetry. Released in 1987, Director John Hughes' rendered a hilarious and poignant film that would prove to be particularly relevant in the upcoming years.
In 'Certain Women', Class-Based Identities Are Contended with Under Montana's Vast Icy Skies
Based on Maile Meloy's short story compilations Half in Love and Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It, Director Kelly Reichardt's Certain Women uses a triptych format to interweave the distinct stories of four Montana women repressed by their jobs, families, and surrounding patriarchal norms. It is a deeply American film which explores the value of lives shackled by class-based identities.
'The Departure' Casts a Loving Gaze Upon an Unconventional Buddhist Priest
When one thinks of a Buddhist priest, what comes to mind is probably not a heavy drinking, middle-aged night owl who occasionally takes trips from his temple in rural Japan to dance alone at midnight haunts; or who, after a stressful day inundated with suicidal texts and phone calls from his clients, nevertheless invites a handful of his charges for a boozy bonfire in his backyard.
In 'Bobbi Jene', a Dancer's Artistic Vision Is Rooted in Personal Sacrifice
Contemporary dancer Bobbi Jene Smith’s artistic mantra was cultivated during her ten-year stint at the world famous Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, where she performed throughout her 20s under company director Ohad Naharin. Naharin founded Gaga: a movement language and pedagogy based on a dancer’s conversion of raw emotion toward passionately improvised movement.
The Realpoltik of Wildlife Conservation is Explored in Documentary, 'Trophy'
In Trophy, an African Safari expedition goes awry when a conservationist hunter, Philip Glass, rashly shoots a baby elephant. The documentary’s directors, Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau, painstakingly emphasize the visually harrowing nature of the botched hunt through a slow, rising aerial shot over the deceased animal. As it turns out, however, there are several other reasons to lament this death.
'Brillo Box (3 Cents Off)' Views an Iconic Warhol Artwork From a Personal Lens
Director Lisanne Skyler’s Brillo Box (3 Cents Off) is a brisk, tightly woven 40-minute documentary befitting of its titular subject material: Andy Warhol’s silk-screened, 13” X 11” cardboard replica of a Yellow Brillo Box design, which was released in 1964 to widespread critical denouncement as faux art.
Posts about reclaiming patriotism 2017 on The Rumpus.net
By Abraham A. Joven July 31st, 2017 Love of country, some argue. With their boots firmly planted in my chest as I struggle to protest. No, that is not love, but blindness. ...more Tags: ableism, Abraham A.
In 'The Blood is at the Doorstep', a Family Suffers From an Intransigent Criminal Justice System
First time director Erik Ljung’s documentary The Blood Is at the Doorstep, which was recently shown at the New York Human Rights Film Festival—humanistically captures a family’s struggle with a criminal justice system that is inadequate at addressing the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man. The film’s subject victim, 31-year-old Dontre Hamilton, was fatally shot 14 time by police officer Christopher Manney in 2014 on a bright afternoon at Red Arrow Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
'In Pursuit of Silence' Challenges the Senses
It is nearly impossible to walk down a city street or ride a subway without being overwhelmed by a cacophonous flood of digital music, plasma screens, and aggressive cell phone chatter. For some, these aspects are signs of excitement and power. But for director Patrick Shen, this restless energy stymies a more enriching and healthier state of existence which can only be accomplished in markedly quieter environments.
'Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2' Humanizes the American Juror As More Than Just Another Digit
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a problem which plagues jurors, but it’s sparingly discussed in the news media or film. This is the case despite the fact that 1.5 million serve jury duty yearly to decide individuals’ fates, which include the issuance of life-crippling jail time, and in 11 states, the death penalty.
'Abacus' Questions the Virtues of the American Legal System
Television shows and movies capture the law as a highlight reel of spectacular trials which feature righteous winners and benighted losers. But lost in all this sensationalist bluster is the more pervasive, ugly truth about America’s legal system?: it’s an aggregation of thousands of quieter trials in which there are no dramatic piques; where a tragically inert storyline of unnecessary “zero sum” adversity lumbers to an unsatisfactory ending.
'#MyEscape' Employs Innovative Filmmaking Techniques to Cover the Middle Eastern Refugee Crisis
#MyEscape, screened at the New York City Independent Film Festival, is a unique documentary in which refugees trafficked from Syria, Eritrea, and Afghanistan control the vast majority of the film-making. The film’s footage constitutes largely of refugees’ hidden cell phone video recordings which depict portions of their several thousand mile journey over harrowing, stomach turning conditions.
Atlantic: A Nautical Dirge for a Dying Ocean
Over the next few years, “end of days” style documentaries will become a fixture in the independent film community. In a world where fictional characters Dom Toretto and Baby Groot get all the production money for their development, these important accounts will necessarily be low budget; they will be stocked with foreboding statistics, interview clips, and a mixed bag of filmmaking which may veer toward inexpensive, visually unappealing cell phone footage.
'Cardinal X' Is a Bold, Seedy Take on University Wealth Gaps and Drug Culture
The traditional, All-American propagandist notion that college is “the best four years of your life” is starting to wither. Over the last decade, social media has exposed the university industrial-complex as a hatchery of debt, hazing, ineffectively regulated drug and underage alcohol consumption, and classism, which espouses zero-sum competitive behavior.
'LA92' Submerges Its Audience Into the Violent Aftermath of Institutional Racism
The anatomy of the scenes are rife with historic subtext, which LA92 leaves to the audience to learn on its own. LA92—a raw presentation of both media and personal film footage of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, as well as the events and circumstances which sparked it—isn’t so much a retrospective as it is a submergence into a negative feedback loop of racial turmoil in US inner-cities.
On Political, Religious, and Business Interests in The West Bank: The Settlers
Over a brisk 100 minutes, Shimon Dotan’s The Settlers traces the enormously complex and violent Israeli settler movement in the West Bank, where 400,000 settlers currently reside amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The film will inevitably be met by criticism. Dotan’s overview of myriad conflicting historical accounts in such a short time may overwhelm those unfamiliar with these issues.
Girls: An Engrossing American Bitch Just Misses Transcending Its Sitcom Medium
The challenge for HBO’s Girls: The Final Season is to dare Hannah Hovarth (Lena Dunham) to address imperfection with a broader range of critical and emotional tools. This kind of artistic evolution reflects just as much on Hannah the character as it does on show writer Dunham’s propensity to apply outrageous situations over what could be more organic dramatic or comedic arcs. In “American Bitch”, both Dunham and Hovarth’s artistic progress and nagging limitations are on full display.
'Land of Mine' Explores the Intolerable Costs of Nationalistic Vengeance
The beach at magic hour—when the sun cascades over magnificent dunes and the tide crashes against the shore—offers a gloriously ethereal escape. Such a scene offers a perpetually elusive promise of fresh sea air, all night parties and eternal youth. A World War II film set on the beaches of Denmark, Martin Zandvliet’s Land of Mine (Under sandet) destroys such images of beauty. It’s as powerful a denunciation of nationalism’s destructive force as one will see in 2017.
Akron: Sometimes the Simpler, the Better
Over the next four years, the LGBTQ movement in America will face the ongoing threat of political setbacks from a hyper conservative White House and legislature, as well as a Supreme Court just two Justices away from revisiting the Rehnquist Era. In this context, same-sex romance movies will play a crucial role in reminding the general public as to how far the gay rights movement has come, and in making an emotional plea that stepping backwards in time would be a horrible thing.
Conscience of Congress John Lewis Hopes You'll 'Get in the Way' of Things
These days cyber protestations stampede endlessly and mercurially across millions of computer screens; they erupt into a jumble of memes, tweets, and combustible screed. They often deliver shock and then swiftly vanish, only to be replaced by more of the same. The impersonal nature of much of social media can easily result in reductionist divisiveness, which goes a long way to explain how it is that Donald Trump currently presides over America’s hostile political climate.
'I Am Michael' Reminds Us That Identity Struggle Takes on Many Forms
Michael Glatze (James Franco) was a former openly homosexual editor of XY Magazine and a nationally renowned gay rights activist in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Shockingly in 2007, when the gay rights movement was staunched by the Bush Administration, Glatze not only announced over the internet that he had become a Christian “ex-gay” but he also blogged that homosexuality is a fabricated identity which perpetuated a godless existence and guaranteed damnation.
'Goat' Is a Film for its Time
Brad Land—the autobiographical subject of director Andrew Neel’s Goat—is one of the most important film characters of 2016. Brad is not a coming-of-age boy genius or a pop culture icon. Rather, he’s a quietly intelligent and sincere 19-year-old kid who, like so many his age, feels compelled to endure the brutal rituals of University socialization.
America in the Age of Trump: Boycotts, Condonations, and 'The Divide'
On 11 November 2016, Donald Trump won the electoral college both on the strength of and in spite of a campaign built upon bigoted, misogynistic, and racist rhetoric. In response, AntiBookClub—a small independent publishing company operating under a progressive, reformist platform—released an “open letter” to Penguin-Random House directly urging the company to stop representing Trump.
'Loving', An Urgent Work of Compelling Quietude
Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court decision which unanimously struck down as unconstitutional state laws penalizing interracial marriages, was more than an epochal moment in American history. As Jeff Nichols’ film, Loving, effectively conveys, the case surrounds the story of Richard (Joel Edgerton), a white man, and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga), a black woman, and their ten-year wait to simply live a peaceful married life with their family in rural Virginia.
'13th' Is a Powerful Entreaty for Americans to Get to Work on Fighting Racism
Ava DuVernay’s 13th may broaden the way we think about investigative journalism and the way to properly harness the information age toward meaningful progressive change.
'Closet Monster' Is an at Times Brilliant Cinematic Mashup
Director Stephen Dunn’s unconventional coming-of-age tale, Closet Monster, combines a standard coming of age story with dashes of surrealism and fairy tale fantasy. If that description sounds ambitious, consider snippets of 18-year-old homosexual and aspiring movie make-up artist Oscar Madly’s (Connor Jessup) childhood during the film’s opening flashback narration.
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