Shane Slater is a passionate cinephile whose love for cinema led him to creating his blog Film Actually in 2009. Since then, he has written for AwardsCircuit.com, ThatShelf.com and The Spool. Based in Kingston, Jamaica, he relishes the film festival experience, having covered TIFF, NYFF and Sundance among others. He is a proud member of the African-American Film Critics Association.
Set in an enigmatic world that evokes both the antebellum South and more contemporary European locales, Clement Virgo’s Steal Away is a fascinating drama bearing resonant themes. It centers a pair of young women – a Congolese refugee and a sheltered scion of a wealthy family – who are drawn together and form a complicated […] More
During a prior awards season, celebrated Austrian auteur Michael Haneke decried cinema’s penchant for exploiting real life atrocities as fodder for entertainment. Citing Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List as an irresponsible example, he cautioned about using manipulative devices generate suspense and melodrama. Such ethical discussions will surely resurface around the release of another similarly acclaimed film […] More
Hot on the heels of Telluride and Venice, the fall film festival circuit makes its next stop in Canada, with the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival set to unravel from September 4th to the 14th. And with another impressive lineup of exciting titles, it promises to be another wonderful showcase of new cinema. As the popular festival […] More
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and that sense of community is embodied in both the filmmaking and the story behind Hayden McLean’s short film The Last Dance. Inspired by his own personal history and the experiences of Britain’s Windrush generation, this touching drama depicts a family as they plan for […] More
Riffing on classic film tropes of forbidden love and coming of age, Lorraine Jones Molina and Cristian Carretero’s debut feature Esta Isla is at once familiar and distinct. Portraying the lives of a young couple from opposite sides of Puerto Rico’s socioeconomic divide, the film explores the underseen far-flung corners of the island to examine […] More
Music has been an integral part of Latina American culture since time immemorial, with many distinctive genres emerging from this region. One of those rapidly emerging in recent years is Dembow, an energetic interpretation of reggaeton and Jamaican dancehall. The music has captured the creative imagination of younger generations, as is vividly documented in José […] More
In 2021, a stunning discovery rocked Canada and the world at large, when unmarked graves were uncovered at a residential school run by the Catholic Church, where indigenous children were sent to assimilate into Canadian society. The investigation revealed a larger trend of cruelty perpetuated by the residentical school system, and caught the attention of […] More
With a unique take on the tensions between tradition and modernity, DJ Ahmet is one of the most unique films in the 2025 Sundance lineup. Directed by Georgi M. Unkovski, it follows a 15-year old boy as he navigates his love of electronic music and the girl next door amid the strictures of his village’s […] More
Among the myriad ongoing conflicts around the world, the Sudanese Civil War is surely one of the most underreported. With their new documentary Khartoum, directors Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed and Philip Cox hope to change that unfortunate reality. Weaving together the stories of five diverse individuals, Khartoum creatively conveys […] More
In what director Amel Guellaty describes as “a dream come true,” her debut feature Where the Wind Comes From makes its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. And it’s a sentiment that would surely be shared by the film’s protagonists – a pair of Tunisian best friends who embark on a road trip […] More
It feels like just yesterday that films like A Real Pain, A Different Man and I Saw the TV Glow begain their festival and awards season journeys in Park City, Utah. Yet somehow, another Sundance Film Festival is upon us, unspooling another feast of independent cinema from January 23 to February 2. In anticipation of […] More
While Emilia Peréz made a strong showing on the recently announced Oscar shortlists, another Zoe Saldaña-starrer also solidified its case for Academy recognition for Best Live Action Short Film. Inspired by the lives of the inmates in the Giudecca women’s prison in Venice, Marco Perego directs Saldaña in Dovecote as one such inmate making an […] More
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