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#Likes4Lucas
The redemption story of a fictional YouTube star, #Likes4Lucas is now 60% funded, 100% shot and officially in post-production. To be released as a short film and as the pilot for an eight-part episodic series, #L4L is a "Trojan-Horse Traumedy.” Its secret mission: to help at-risk teens deal with digital addiction.
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Review: Misericordia
French Writer/Director Alain Guiraduie’s Misericordia is a black comedy of errors that makes us uncomfortable in the best of ways: characters with unsavory intentions, squirm-inducing humor, genuine suspense.
The Art of Sundance: Beginner’s Festival Guide
Sundance is expensive. If you can allot the time and money to go, you’ll want to make the most of your experience. So here’s how to make it even more worth your while.
Review: Happyend
A heartfelt ode to high school friendship, Neo Sora’s Happyend explores how bonds evolve—and dissolve—as adulthood looms. Set in authoritarian, near-future Tokyo, this coming-of-age drama is also comically original and ideologically intense.
Review: A Real Pain
A profoundly endearing road movie, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain is a tragicomedy about two Jewish cousins who confront intergenerational trauma by exploring long-lost Polish roots.
My own worst critic, your greatest ally.
As a filmmaker and critic, I’m tough on myself, but fair to my audience. Basically, I’m an optimist—without rose-colored glasses. I know that excellence takes many forms, that a filmmaker’s journey informs the story onscreen. I sympathize with artistic struggles and know the pain of production. I believe in potential; I search for kernels of truth, for those cracks in the chaos where intention shines through. All storytelling is a mix of affirmation, education and therapy.
Dylan Kai Dempsey