Mija
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Sundance 2022 Critic’s Notebook: Mija, Mars One, Emergency
When does a virtual film festival start? The types of film screenings, audience accommodations, parties, panels, social spaces, diversity and development programs, residencies, labs, medical procedures and contingency plans film festival organizers are responsible for keep spiraling. The International Film Festival Rotterdam warned all attendees in late December that its 2022 edition would be entirely virtual, while the Berlinale recently confirmed the festival’s focus on in-person screenings would proceed as planned next month, without exception for press, but with a slightly expanded, all-virtual European Film Market. In this climate, Sundance announced a scant two weeks before the festival’s opening night that […]
by Abby Sun on Jan 22, 2022 -
“I Didn’t Want to Use Tears as a Way to Communicate”: Isabel Castro on Sundance 2022 Premiere Mija
The perils of being a fledgling musician go deeper than tour burnout and being paid with drink tickets. Isabel Castro’s nonfiction feature Mija, predominantly shot in Southern California, focuses on the unique plight of emerging alternative Latino artists—many of whom must tandemly fight for industry recognition and for largely undocumented family members to evade deportation. As portrayed in Mija, an integral part of the Latino music scene is Doris Muñoz, an up-and-coming music manager who juggles her various professional responsibilities while sponsoring her parents’ application for their green cards. At the film’s start, one of the artists Doris manages is singer-songwriter […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jan 21, 2022
