SIFF hot take May 08, 2019 at 10:17PM

Roll Red Roll

doc about rape culture in Steubenville Ohio, where a rape was chronicled by high school kids' social media. (seriously they were talking about what they were doing in public twitter posts with handles that are their wallet names. what the fuck. like, I remember when this was in the news but missed that detail.) the victim and the rapists aren't interviewed, but it's really about the town. it's good but the subject matter is what it is, so not something everyone can sit through.

SIFF hot take May 08, 2019 at 10:27PM

Sink or Swim

French dramedy about a bunch of folks at low points in their lives doing men's synchronized swimming. it's not as crowd-pleasing as The Full Monty or the Swedish film with men's syncro from a few years ago. it was solidly okay, a pleasant time-filler. I was there for the sports movie and they were making a character study...except for the one PoC on the team, who didn't have any lines in French nor was he subtitled and he had no backstory/arc. I'm feeling pretty down on French film lately.

SIFF hot take May 08, 2019 at 10:37PM

Yomeddine

Egyptian road movie about a man leaving the leper colony where he grew up to find his bio family. this was pretty great, both as a story and as a slice of life in an interesting place. great performance from a man I believe is actually a leprosy survivor. he's charming and affecting. warning: the donkey dies, but it's with a minimum of suffering. recommended.