A row of men sit proudly on horses as a white flag drifts languidly in the wind. The beating sun lights the crowd, who applaud dictator Alfredo Stroessner’s ascent to power in 1954, and with it, the promise of “peace, progress and fraternity.” Time slows down as an ominous atmosphere envelopes this scene, foreshadowing what the future holds for Paraguay. Juanjo Pereira’s debut feature film, Under the Flags, the Sun, is a profound exploration of Stroessner’s dictatorship almost entirely made with archival footage, the film crafts a portrait of the open wounds of the 34-year dictatorship. The film premieres tonight […]
by Matilda Hague on Feb 17, 2025A TikTok trend called “Stick Nation” has become one of my favorites. Folks around the world introduce themselves with a simple “what’s up, Stick Nation?,” then present a stick they’ve found. We’ll usually get to hear where they found said stick and if it’s oak, birch or pine. Over the past few weeks, sticks were my route to escapism until I saw a more meaningful use for them in Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau’s DIRECT ACTION. The movie begins with a desktop screen as we start to jump back and forth between protests from 2016 and 2018 in Notre-Dames-des-Landes. Since […]
by Matilda Hague on Oct 24, 2024