Selling Sex? Go Fish: Guinevere Turner Talks Authentic Queer Intimacy in “Go Fish”
In the early 90s, queer cinema was experiencing a quiet revolution. Independent filmmakers were rejecting the censored or tragic depictions…
Olivia Smith
Olivia Smith is a contributing writer and a Massachusetts native. She is an undergraduate student at Emerson College majoring in producing for TV/film and media socio-psychology. In her free time, she enjoys trying out new music and TV shows, developing ideas for new media projects, and walking her dog.
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Interviews | TV
Inside ‘Closet Space,’ the Sapphic Dating Show Fighting Against Shallow and Heteronormative Dating Culture with Community and Authenticity
As queer dating culture bleeds into mainstream culture at a heightened rate — with the current crazes surrounding “Heated Rivalry”…
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Liz Sargent Talks Emotional Authenticity and Systemic Fragility for People with Disabilities and Their Caregivers in her Feature Debut, ‘Take Me Home’
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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Caught Between Tragedy and Utopia: A Review of Liz Sargent’s ‘Take Me Home’
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.
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Directing Under Dictators: Shin Sang-ok, the Prince of Korean Cinema
In 1978, the South Korean Park Chung-hee regime shut down a film studio that defined the country’s postwar film industry after the release of a forbidden kiss scene. Six months later, the studio’s head was abducted by the North Korean Kim Jong Il regime. The head was a South-Korean director and producer, Shin Sang-ok, who directed the film that caused the controversy: “Rose and Wild Dog.” Shin’s career survived two authoritarian governments, as well as an abduction and imprisonment. Through these constricting experiences, he continued to make films — whether under surveillance, direct orders or freely, proving that systems of censorship and political warfare will fail in their efforts to squash creativity and passion.
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502s Frontman Ed Isola Talks Authenticity, Spreading Positivity and Creating Community in Indie Music
On October 1 Boston got a taste of Floridian sunshine when The 502s took the stage at Boston’s Citizens House…
