“In The Summers”
Siblings Violeta and Eva live in California with their mother, but every summer they travel to New Mexico to spend time with their loving but unpredictable father, Vicente (René “Residente” Pérez Joglar).
Over the course of four formative summers—from adolescence to early adulthood—the girls learn to appreciate their father as a person, his flaws and limitations inseparable from his passion and tenderness. Lovers come and go, the backyard goes to seed, but the idea of home remains knotty and elusive.
This powerful and deeply personal directorial debut from Alessandra Lacorazza offers a nuanced study of young people questioning their place within their families, their communities, and their identities.
I was iffy about this film. The father seemed so stern but nurturing in his own way. The younger girl seemed to put him off at one time. The older girl discovers her sexuality during one summer and decides to stay in Cali for the third summer—after a car accident when the dad was driving while drunk.
He takes them to the bar, gets drunk, teaches the younger girl to smoke weed, among other situations.
It was a good people story, and the girls are eager for the visits in the beginning. But during the time span, things changed on both ends. I couldn’t agree more with the dad when he admitted that his daughters were better off without him in their lives.
“In The Summers” will be available on digital November 5.
In the film “Okie,” Louie (Scott Michael Foster), a wealthy writer, returns to his beleaguered hometown after his father passes away. The town, a weathered setting, and its people, equally worn, have served as the spiritual muses for Louie’s popular, rustic anthology.
Upon his return, Louie is reunited with his childhood friends Travis (Kevin Bigley) and Lainey (Kate Cobb), the very same people he utilized as central characters in his pretentious novels. A mix of nostalgia and enmity ensues, as Louie is dragged around town, facing scrutiny from those whose lives he’s exploited for his own financial gain.
But soon, he wonders if these old homies don’t have their own version of payback in mind.
The friends are excited to see Louie, but they grow tired of his ostentatious presence, notably his red Tesla and stories of success —and the fact that his novels have been written at the expense of their real-life stories.
Written and directed by DePaul alums Kate Cobb and Kevin Bigley, the film is worth a look, after screening at last month’s Chicago International Film Festival, and it releases on VOD on November 8 via Gravitas Ventures.
Gene Siskel Film Center announces 30th Black Harvest Film Festival
Gene Siskel Film Center recently shared the full lineup for its 30th Annual Black Harvest Film Festival, celebrating three decades of showcasing Black cinematic voices and visions across the Diaspora.
Films will screen at Siskel Film Center, located at 164 N. State St., from November 8-21.
The life of the great novelist and activist James Baldwin is examined in the Chicago premiere of “Jimmy.”
Shot in 16mm, “Jimmy” celebrates James Baldwin’s journey from New York to Paris, leaving behind the oppressive backdrop of the 1940s United States to join fellow Black expats searching for liberation.
“I left [in 1948] because I knew I would be murdered there. I could not have hoped to live if I stayed. Folks are still leaving for the same reason. What do they expect from us, the darker brother? I would not be a white American for all the tea in China and all the oil in Texas. Couldn’t live with all those lies,” Baldwin said at the time.
Immersed in the Algerian quarters’ rich cultural fabric and the Left Bank’s artistic pulse, he confronts the complexities of his queerness.
“The life I live is very different from what people imagine. I love a few men. I love a few women. Love comes in many strange packages; it never comes to you as you think it will. I think the trick is to say yes to life,” he said.
“Jimmy” screens on November 13 and November 16.
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