This year’s “hybrid” Provincetown International Film Festival — both live and virtual — marks the return of the annual event’s extraordinary bounty. There’s a rich collection of narrative and documentary […]
Film
MOVIES
A Cape-Shot Feature Launches the Provincetown Film Fest
Screenings begin Tuesday at the Wellfleet Drive-In
“We all have loss,” says Paul Riccio, the director and co-writer of Give or Take, a new feature film shot here on Cape Cod — mostly in Orleans — that […]
INDIE SCREEN
Three Films That Alter Perceptions
With Oscar finding a new normal, documentaries lead the way
It was a strange Academy Awards in 2021. Diversity was the most visible change in the world of Oscar glitz, but the pandemic, with its enforced social distancing and lack […]
CINEMA
‘Hybrid’ Provincetown Film Fest to Honor Linklater
In a move toward normal, there will be some live screenings
Closed since the Covid lockdown in March 2020, the Waters Edge Cinema in Provincetown is finally reopening. The reason: the 2021 Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF), which will be running […]
INDIE SCREEN
When Personal and Political Spheres Explode
Two Oscar nominees and a dazzling documentary
The testimony of Christine Blasey Ford during Congressional hearings for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 was devastating. She was as believable as a victim of […]
INDIE SCREEN
Hybrid Cinema: From Asia, With Love
Two beautiful films arise from a mix of cultural points of view
Although it has much to recommend it, the film Nomadland, which is playing in theaters (not locally) and streaming on Hulu (free to subscribers), can attribute its extraordinary success, including […]
FREE EXPRESSION
National Park Fees for Filming Struck Down
Federal judge finds rules ‘impose a chilling effect’ on free speech
PROVINCETOWN — A federal judge ruled on Jan. 22 that the collection of fees by the National Park Service (NPS) for commercial filming is a violation of free speech. This […]
INDIE SCREEN
Stories That Straddle Fact and Fiction
‘It’s only a movie’ is not always reassuring
How odd in an era of “fake news” accusations — usually a case of childish denial, or a con artist’s switcheroo — to see a movie called News of the […]
INDIE SCREEN
A Trio of Movies That Revise Romance
Set in the past, but conceived for today’s viewers
Watching the superhero movie Wonder Woman 1984 in my living room was a decidedly underwhelming experience. It has big-budget action set pieces and a surfeit of CGI magic, but they […]
INDIE SCREEN
Racism, Corruption, and All That Jazz
Three movies that impress and inspire
August Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle of 10 plays, one for each decade of the 20th century, is a towering achievement, chronicling the history of African-American life through powerful, personal storytelling. Now, […]
INDIE SCREEN
Give Me Your Outsiders, Your Refugees, Your Rogues
From Vietnam to Dorset to Hollywood in your home theater
It’s a sign of the times that in more and more movies with LGBTQ main characters, their queerness is just one of the things that define them. Monsoon, about a […]
TALKS
Lili Taylor on the Craft of Empathy
A star of film and television turns the lens on herself
Provincetown first welcomed critically acclaimed actor Lili Taylor, best known for her work in independent films and on TV in Six Feet Under and American Crime, in the 1990s, when […]
INDIE SCREEN
Looking Back, at 1968, to the Future
Aaron Sorkin resurrects The Trial of the Chicago 7
It might have been called Vietnam, Mon Amour. Those of us who lived through the Vietnam War era and its political upheaval — government lies and repression, youth rebellion and […]
INDIE SCREEN
O Say Can You Stream?
Three gems of the new movie landscape
These days, new films are difficult to track. Miranda July’s Kajillionaire, for example, premiered at Sundance in January, then opened in theaters on Sept. 25, but not locally on the […]
INDIE SCREEN
Marco Calvani Finds a Haven in Provincetown
The Italian filmmaker is driven by social injustice
As residencies go, Marco Calvani’s time in Provincetown has been productive and reflective. It culminated with a fund-raiser at the Mary Heaton Vorse House on Thursday, Sept. 17, presented by […]