La Jetée/The Pier
This 1963 short film, La Jetée, directed by Chris Marker, takes us through his creative, original vision of time travel where a man realizes he witnessed his own death. Marker triumphantly conceives a complex narrative and representation of time through the use of just still photos.
Le Fou Follet/The Fire Within
Le Fou Follet, or The Fire Within in English, is a 1963 film directed by Louis Malle. The story follows a writer who has overcome his alcoholism with rehabilitation, however, he still suffers greatly from depression and anxiety. He decides to take his own life, but he visits some friends in Paris before he does. Trigger warning: this essay presents ideas about suicide, depression and contains images depicting both, as the film’s message and plot centers around them.
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg/The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg – or The Umbrellas of Cherbourg – directed by Jacques Demy in 1964, is a movie that doesn’t have any musical numbers or backup dancers, but its dialogue is all one long song. It is so colorful and bright, leaving you with a skip in your step when you finish watching it.
Cléo from 5 to 7
In the 1962 film, Cléo from 5 to 7, Agnès Varda directs her rendition of what it feels like to wait for a test result. Through the character of Florence or Cléo, played by Corinne Marchand, she experiences the ups and downs of waiting within two hours but finds relief in someone who she never expected.
A Newcomer’s Guide to La Nouvelle Vague: Issue #2
Welcome to issue number two on our journey into La Nouvelle Vague! This issue will be focusing on four more exciting French New Wave films! We will be looking at two more François Truffaut films, a Jean-Luc Godard film and a thriller film by a director we haven’t met yet – René Clément.
Preview: Generation Startup (2016, dir. Cheryl Houser, Cynthia Wade)
An inspirational documentary, Generation Startup (2016) tells the true story of six young college graduates with different backgrounds who take on the challenges of entrepreneurship in and around Detroit.
Preview: Office Space (1999, dir. Mike Judge)
The second film in this year’s “Careers, Conflicts, and Callings” series Oct. 5, Office Space is a hilarious look at the job of IT workers in the office environment, portraying how one might overcome the obstacles their bosses present.
Preview: On the Basis of Sex (2018, dir. Mimi Leder)
On the Basis of Sex is a truly inspiring film following Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s career path. Her aspiration for change in gender equality is portrayed through her hard work and dedication to her students, clients, and family.
Finding His Voice: Spike Lee’s Development as a Filmmaker
What makes a film so singularly Spike Lee’s? This visual essay examines the development of Lee’s distinctive artistic voice, featuring looks at some of his earliest work like Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop leading up to Malcolm X, the apex of his creative career.
Does She Still Gotta Have It?: Spike Lee’s 2017 Netflix Remake
In 2017, Spike Lee returned to remake his first success, She’s Gotta Have It, as a newly revitalized series for Netflix, giving his protagonist Nola Darling a fresh perspective, thanks to a behind-the-scenes team of women writers leading the way.
Dance as Storytelling in School Daze & Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee uses dance as an illustrative mode of storytelling throughout his filmography, and in School Daze (1988) and Do the Right Thing (1989), as a vehicle for the disenfranchised, persecuted, and misunderstood. This visual essay analyzes scenes School Daze’s “Good and Bad Hair” dance number and Do the Right Thing’s opening credits sequence.
Reflecting upon Race Relations in Spike Lee’s Opening Credit Sequences
One of the more overlooked aspects of Spike Lee’s filmmaking may be his opening credit sequences and how they establish a message he has delivered numerous times in his career. This visual essay from Joe Van Ryn and Dylan Johnson examines Lee’s title sequences for School Daze, Do the Right Thing, and Malcolm X.
Spike Lee: The Musical Effectiveness of Do the Right Thing
Perhaps the most effective and impressive aspect of Spike Lee’s films is their creative and unique use of music. In this visual essay, Harrison McCormick and Chris Schroeder look at Lee’s most recognizable film, Do the Right Thing, for within it lies perhaps his greatest and most effective use of music.
They Shall Not Grow Old: An Immersive Experience
Released in 2018, Peter Jackson’s World War One documentary They Shall Not Grow Old recalls the events of the war through soldiers’ personal accounts, humorous anecdotes, and firsthand battle descriptions, and in the process tells an exciting and entertaining story along the way.
Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie in the 21st Century
Diving into the story of the iconic doll, Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie captures a pivotal time in Barbie’s life: a time where more and more people respect and want to see greater diversity represented in culture and society, and expect child influences–like Barbie–to reflect that.
Review: Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016, dir. Taika Waititi)
Coming at the mid-point of our Resilience film series is Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a wonderfully quirky and family-friendly romp written and directed by Taika Waititi (director of Thor: Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows). Adapted from the book Wild Pork and...
Review: Eighth Grade (2018, dir. Bo Burnham)
The third film in our Resilience Series, Eighth Grade, directed by Bo Burnham, examines how eighth graders make the transition to ninth grade in the face of peer pressure and social media. In a Hollywood medium too populated by action heroes and male angst, those few...
Review: Moonlight (2016, dir. Barry Jenkins)
With only one feature film under his belt (2008's Medicine for Melancholy), Florida State film school alum Barry Jenkins was still searching for the big break to get his name on the independent film map. Up-and-coming indie studio tour-de-force A24 picked up a...
Review: Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope
Our film series examining this year's University Theme, Resilience, is underway, and our first film, Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope, is one that shows just how devastating and long-term emotional trauma can be. Tuesday night in Miller...
Page to Screen: Short Film Adaptation
In this issue of POVwinona, we present three short films that Winona State film students and alumni created this year. After studying the book to film adaptation process, they selected original material that inspired them to create new adaptations. This process...
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Tell-Tale Heart is the story of a man who descends into madness as the disgust he holds a local disabled man increases. Taylor Fogarty and Lindsey Brezinski set out with a goal to create an adaptation of this story and to bring a more modern twist to a classic...
The Executioners
The Executioners is a short adaptation scene written, directed, and edited by Seth Lamey and Joshua DeLaRosa.
The Stranger
The Stranger is a short film based on the Roald Dahl short story "The Man from the South." It is written, directed, and edited by Jake Nielsen and Gilberto Hidalgo. The story centers around a mysterious gambler who offers great reward to a man if he can...
Gavin Grimm vs.: Recognizing Restroom Rights
Gavin Grimm vs. is a short film about how a transgender teen is making a big impact, not only in his community, but across our country. Everyone needs to use and have access to a bathroom, no matter how they choose to personally identify their gender, but identifying...
Time for Ilhan, Time for Empowered Women
Time for Ilhan, directed by Norah Shapiro, follows Ilhan Omar as she sets out to make history as the first Somali-American Muslim woman to hold public office in the United States. Any person who has paid attention to the United States in the last year and a half knows...