Tirez sur le pianist/Shoot The Piano Player
This essay covers the 1960 film Tirez Sur le Pianist, or Shoot The Piano Player in English, directed by François Truffaut. Truffaut creates an unfortunate love story that makes us think about our own choices and how we act upon them. Otherwise, even the smallest choices can change everything.
Antoine et Colette/Antoine and Colette
In the 1962 film Antoine et Colette, or Antoine and Colette, directed by François Truffaut, we follow a familiar face all grown up and trying to sweep the love of his life off of her feet. Truffaut shows us different forms of love. Where is the line drawn when love becomes harmful?
Masculin Féminin/ Masculine Feminine
In the 1966 film Masculin Féminin, or in English, Masculine Feminine, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, the movie’s abstractness is stimulating and makes some of the narrative’s actions less grotesque, and almost –dare I say– entertaining.
A Newcomer’s Guide to La Nouvelle Vague
This first of six issues explores and celebrates the sublime directors, techniques, styles, motifs, and meanings of the films of the French New Wave.
Les Yeux Sans Visage / Eyes Without a face
A parent’s love knows no boundaries. A father would cross to the ends of the earth if it meant his daughter could be happy, but what if it is not love driving him, but instead guilt? In a 1960 thriller based on the novel, Les Yeux Sans visage, or Eyes Without a Face,...
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things- And What It Means To Be a Minimalist
Through the use of cinematic modes, beautiful imagery, compelling content, and a clear voice, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things teaches us that what we need to be happy is to be surrounded not by objects we accumulate but by those we love.
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
From 1974 to 1978, infamous serial killer Ted Bundy murdered more than 30 women in seven different states. Joe Berlinger’s Netflix docuseries Conversations with a Killer focuses on how the public and police did not suspect Bundy based on his apparently normal and attractive outward appearance, examining how easily investigators and victims could both be misled.
Shirkers: A Film 26 Years in the Making
Shirkers was to be a punk-art 1992 movie made by teenagers and their adult mentor, until he spontaneously kidnapped the footage and disappeared. In 2018, Sandi Tan’s film looking back at those events, also named Shirkers, is one of the most idiosyncratic documentaries the year.
The Interpreters: The War Story You Need to Hear
Directed by New York-based filmmakers Andres Caballero and Sofian Khan, The Interpreters follows the successes, struggles, and tragedies that its subjects–Iraqi and Afghan interpreters Malik, Mujtaba, and Phillip–experience as they attempt to obtain visas and escape with their families to the U.S.
The Mayo Clinic: Faith, Hope, Science–And a Glimpse into Medical History
Unveiling the journey of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, this documentary offers a look into real-time patients, their trusted medical teams and the story of the original, founding Mayo family.
Gaelynn Lea: The Songs We Sing
A short film documentary on a Minnesota traveling musician and disability activist, Gaelynn Lea: The Songs We Sing captures both Lea’s story as a musician overcoming disability and the wilderness of Duluth, mixing together to create a beautiful story both visually and thematically.
Beneath the Ink: How Facing Your Past Can Change Your Life
A 2019 Academy Award nominee, Beneath the Ink shares the art of tattoo in an entirely new light, addressing societal issues and the basic human-to-human connection that seems to have been lost in recent years.
Eating Animals: The Dangers of Modern Farming Practices
A film that is unapologetic in its spread of the truth behind the food that hits the dinner table for families every single day, Eating Animals unveils the dangerous and current practices of factory farming.
Adventure Not War: A Message for Post-War Peace
Adventure Not War (2017) follows veteran Stacey Bare and fellow veterans along beautiful scenery as they each attempt to find not only closure, but also promote peace and harmony following their services in war.
Free Solo: An Achievement in Climbing and Filmmaking
Winner at the 2019 Academy Awards, Free Solo is a pulse-racing documentary facing both great heights and great morality, all while capturing nearly impossible shots of a 3,000 foot rock formation and the man who dared climb it.
Stumped: Appealing to the “Disability” Label
Everyone loves doing what they love; for two-time world champion, Maureen Beck, it's climbing competitively. But to think this short film is just another climbing film would be an unconscious assumption. Stumped (dir. Cedar Wright and Taylor Keating, 2017) is a short...
Katie: A Look Inside the Life of a Desert Goddess
It's common for filmmakers to fall in love with their subjects over the course of the filming of their documentary. It's less common for a director to make a documentary because they already love the subject. This is the case for director Ben Knight and his subject,...
When Lambs Become Lions: Blurred Lines
“Out here, we’re all hunters.” In the darkly cinematic and beautiful When Lambs Become Lions, moral lines are crossed again and again in the fight for survival in the northern plains of Kenya. Following the stories of cousins Asan and X, and X’s poacher Lukas,...
How to Run 100 Miles: Fueling Friendship
We all have that special friend in our life. That friend who pushes us, supports us, makes us laugh, mad, happy, etc. All of us have gone through life with a special person whether it be a family member or just a really good friend. Brendan Leonard and Jayson Sime...
Minding the Gap: A Raw Perspective on Life
While many filmmakers plant the seeds for their careers in childhood—herding friends and family in front of the camera, recreating scenes from favorite movies, and otherwise cultivating a love for film and cinema—director Bing Liu takes his childhood filmmaking to an...
Satan and Adam: A Tale of Two Decades
If you remember the 1990s during the New York blues renaissance, you might remember Satan and Adam. Sterling Magee (Satan) and Adam Gussow were a blues duo who started off on 125th Street in Harlem. They burst into the music industry when they released their debut...
Free Like the Birds: An Inspiring Girls Message
Mountainfilm Film Festival has previewed many motivating films this year, but none of the films I have seen have been as encouraging as Free Like the Birds (dir. Paola Mendoza), a ten-minute documentary about a young girl’s passion for making a difference in the...
This is Home: Refugees and Their Challenging Venture
As the Mountainfilm Film Festival is just beginning, many inspirational films have already been presented, yet there are multiple other films still waiting for their first appearance. From the films I have viewed already, This is Home, a 91 minute feature length...
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: Spread the Love
Educator. Communicator. Lover. Father. Husband. Neighbor. Friend. There are many words that describe Fred Rogers. Rarely have we seen a man so respected and revered by those close to him and the public at large. After his death in 2003, it was inevitable to make a...
Science Fair: Best in Show
Received by a standing ovation from the entire Mountainfilm audience, Science Fair pulls at heartstrings and inspires hope in all ages. Instantly loved by those in big cities and small towns alike after its 2018 premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Science Fair won...