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, […]
Film
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 […]
INDIE SCREEN
Meditations on Manhood, Past and Present
Through the lens of Judd Apatow and Kelly Reichardt, darkly
We live in an era in which adolescent fantasies of masculinity are being lived out in a grotesque and outsized way. Even more than Bush fils, Donald Trump seems caught […]
SCREENINGS
Mya Taylor Is the Provincetown Film Fest’s Next Wave
The trans performer is honored for her breakthrough roles
Mya Taylor, who is receiving this year’s Next Wave Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival, has a burgeoning career as a transgender performer in Hollywood. But before her breakthrough […]
MOVIES
The Provincetown Film Festival Returns
It’s “reimagined” — shorter, virtual, and at the Wellfleet Drive-in
According to Lisa Viola, artistic director of the Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF), she and her staff and the Provincetown Film Society’s new CEO, Rachael Brister, were halfway through preparations […]
TOWN SPIRIT
Mischa Richter Has Provincetown on His Mind
A new show features photographs of past and present
“I Am a Town” would sound like a boast from almost anyone but photographer Mischa Richter. Modest and soft-spoken, Richter has long regarded Provincetown as his home. The subjects of […]
INDIE SCREEN
The Cinema of Women Grows Up
Roles change, behind and in front of the camera
Goodbye, Wendy Darling, Tiger Lily, and Tinkerbell. In Benh Zeitlin’s Wendy, a fantasy riff on J.M. Barrie’s iconic literary creation, Peter Pan, the restlessness of young Wendy (Devin France), a […]
INDIE SCREEN
Real-life Moral Tales and Fantasies
A documentary, a courtroom drama, and a cartoon
The circus of ironies, secrets, revelations, redemptions, and moral victories in the documentary Circus of Books is dizzying, especially since it’s the story of a gay porn emporium that opened […]
INDIE SCREEN
Two Films That Twist the Legacy of Sexism
Greta Gerwig scores, Clint Eastwood sinks
There’s no question that Greta Gerwig’s adaptation (as screenwriter and director) of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, Little Women, is a coup. A story known for its warmth and memorable […]
Dangerous Games for Dangerous Times
Lies and schemes in some new fiction films
For devoted movie buffs, the home screen has always been a bit of a compromise — films made for the big screen, shared in the dark with strangers, seem less […]
INDIE SCREEN
Art Imitates Art and Life
A trio of movies get reflexive
The great Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is often celebrated for his outlandishly passionate heroines, in everything from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown to Volver. But in films […]
