/me sees that there are 45 notifications and has had way too much life going on to be paying much attention to so-called "social" media for the time being and is not sure when he will get around to reading, let alone replying to such things.

In totally unrelated news, I've seen 3 films in the past week that had panels with some of the film creators afterwards.

I think I had previously mentioned Porcelain War? Slava Leontyev (one of the artists featured in the film as well as someone who has ended up training civilians in Ukraine to fight back against Russians, as well as part of a drone unit known as Saigon) was on a panel with the producer Paula Dupré Pesmen. Slava repeated: "Resistance is possible" which was pretty optimistic for someone coming from an active war zone. Also in the audience were Anya (another artist featured in the film, who paints the porcelain figurines that Slava makes when he isn't actively resisting the Russian militarized invasion of Ukraine) and their super cute dog Frodo!

Skin of Glass: about an architectural marvel “Pele de Vidro” in Sãu Paulo, Brazil directed by Denise Zmekhol, the daughter of the architect Roger Zmekhol. Denise began hoping to get more insights into her deceased father's work and was taken places that she never expected to explore due to unforeseen circumstances while making the documentary. It was poignant insomuch as after being built, the company that paid for the building, fell into financial hardships during the 1960s coup d'état and military dictatorship (something that seems as if a similar fate could befall the USA presently) and was reclaimed by the bank that had funded it, which in turn ended up handing it off to the government, where it eventually was used by bureaucrats and even by the federal police! Later in its existence, it essentially became a squat for homeless (Brazil politicians featured in the film currently estimate that of the 300,000 some odd homeless in Sãu Paulo, it will take their government 100 years at the present state of affairs to find housing for them all; which obviously is egregiously bad, given that most people will never live to see 100 and homelessness is an immediate crisis) before it burned down. Extremely moving film. If you happen to see "I'm Still Here" which is a fictionalized retelling of the 1960s coup d'état and military dictatorship as it impacted one (real life) family in particular? It might be very complementary given that is currently screening more widely.

Tonight, I saw Sugarcane (2024) which is a glimpse into the horror story that hundreds of thousands of children from Indigenous/First Nations/native Americans/"Indian" (in older American English parlance) in Canada and the USA suffered as they were separated from their families and forced into segregated "residential schools" run by the Catholic church. Over the course of more than 100 years (the last such school closed in 1997), many of the children/students were subjugated the most heinous sorts of abuses from rape and impregnation, having their out of wedlock bastard/priest child molester "fathered" children stolen from the mothers, murders, unmarked grave burials, bodies of infants being thrown in incinerators and all manner of atrocities. Film maker, journalist and author Julian Brave NoiseCat (who turned out to be the son of a family directly impacted by such crimes) spoke afterwards, interviewed by W. Kamau Bell (who won the Vanguard award at the Sundance Film festival [an award which Sugarcane received in 2024] for his movie "We Need to Talk About Cosby"). It's a heart breaking documentary, and nominated for an Academy Award and I get the impression, despite all the buzz, few places will screen it and not many people will see it given the nature of the subject matter. National Geographic themselves helped back the movie. Difficult stories from underrepresented minorities and genocide survivors in the Americas already. This focuses on tales that are not the sort of thing that are likely to be taught in public schools' history books, because many would prefer to forget the past rather than atone for the crimes committed in the past.

#PorcelainWar #SkinOfGlass #Sugarcane #Movies #Spoilers

Just saw Porcelain War, which is about some artists, at least one of whom is also training civilians to use firearms as well as part of a special forces unit which uses drones, in Ukraine.

It's charming at times, horrific at others, has some beautiful animation, a fantastic musical backing (from DakhaBrakha; which to my ears, at least has some Tuvan Throat singing similarities on occasion) and I guess it was mostly made by the people who are in the film itself?

If you watch the trailer, it will give you a decent overview of what you are about to get yourself into I think?

I hate films that glorify violence; something all too common in this day and age.

Thankfully, Porcelain War, glorifies art and striving despite overwhelming odds to the contrary. Weapons and violence, while present, are used with disdain. Whereas the soulful smiles of those who would rather not be fighting are bright when they encounter even a tiny porcelain figurine or some custom painted drone.

What a stark contrast from the awful movies I watched yesterday.

Porcelain War is not screening very widely, this was the last night it was playing at the theater in San Rafael for example, but it was a packed house and the audience applauded at the end and seemed as if they all sat through the end credits. Something extremely rare for cinematic experiences.

A difficult, but worthwhile watch.

#PorcelainWar #Art #Ukraine #Movies #Film