Obsessed with Independent Film Since 1976

Latest Highlights

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  Features | Film Festival | Review

  ‘Drunken Noodles’ Review: Lucio Castro’s Quaint Second Feature Threads the Needle Between Drama and Fantasia 

  By Francis Rogerson

  In his sophomore feature ‘Drunken Noodles,’ filmmaker Lucio Castro captures a plethora of these quiet moments, contrasting them with euphoric tableaus of various gay dalliances. The film spiritually evokes a space between two worlds: the hushed atmosphere of a cruising site and the unburdened revelry of one of Sal Salandra’s canvases (the real-life artist who inspires a crucial character in the film). Inside of this delicately drawn world, protagonist Adnan — a graduate student house sitting for his uncle in New York City while working at a small art gallery — seeks to fulfill his desires. 

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  Interviews | TV

  Inside ‘Closet Space,’ the Sapphic Dating Show Fighting Against Shallow and Heteronormative Dating Culture with Community and Authenticity

  By Olivia Smith

  As queer dating culture bleeds into mainstream culture at a heightened rate — with the current crazes surrounding “Heated Rivalry”…

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  Review

  Magical Girl Transformation: Alice Maio Mackay’s ‘The Serpent’s Skin’

  By Francis Rogerson

  For all that feels familiar about “The Serpent’s Skin” — a horror film featuring demonic possession, witchcraft and characters connecting…

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  Artist Feature | Interviews

  Liz Sargent Talks Emotional Authenticity and Systemic Fragility for People with Disabilities and Their Caregivers in her Feature Debut, ‘Take Me Home’

  By Olivia Smith

  Following the film’s festival run, “The Independent” spoke with Sargent about the deeply personal origins of the project such as the risks of building a film around her own sister’s lived experience and the larger questions around disability, autonomy and care that emerged throughout her filmmaking process. 

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  Film Festival

  New Directors/New Films April 8-19

  By Kurt Brokaw

  In a world where most film directors start by making shorts,  just one New York fest shows them all to…

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  Film Festival | Review

  Caught Between Tragedy and Utopia: A Review of Liz Sargent’s ‘Take Me Home’

  By Olivia Smith

  Within minutes of the feature, L. Sargent’s intention to shift away from her proof-of-concept 2023 short becomes obvious. Though captured by different cinematographers, both films share similar documentary-style camera work and capture a tone of devastating and tender social realism. A striking difference, however, is the father’s, Bob’s (Victor Slezak), absence in the short and significant presence in the feature, in which he almost completely replaces Anna’s fellow adoptee sister, Emily (Ali Ahn). This drastically shifts the film from a depiction of sisterhood to one of parenthood complimented by sisterhood.