A woman returns home to a constantly shifting domestic and mental landscape in this retelling of “Meshes of the Afternoon,” Maya Deren’s landmark avant-garde film. Meg Case and Brad Porter direct “Meshes of the After,” swapping 1940’s Hollywood for Brooklyn current day, and grainy black and white for sharp color. Largely the adaptation remains faithful to the original (while experimenting with pacing and sequencing) within its visual mutations, its merging of reality and imagination, and its recursive action designed with repeating motifs and labyrinthine logic. As well, both films allow plenty of room for interpretation and formal experimentation — extreme close-ups, use of shadow, camera (dis)orientation — as they depict a woman arriving into a state of upheaval. We featured Case and Porter previously with their 2020 quarantine opus, “Wrath,” which also involved elaborate, inventive uses of an ordinary home space transported through surreal visions. -KA. Directors, editors, DP’s, Producers, cast: Meg Case and Brad Porter.
Sacha gallops around Florida and gets his heart crushed by an older female. Harleigh Shaw directs “The Day that Sherrie Stopped,” a 3D animated film that’s both dreamy and somber, its surreal visual landscapes filled with color and youthful energy. After getting popsicles in the park with his fri...
In a moment of tense negotiation, Joyce and Mims haggle over a vintage Hank Aaron baseball card inside a sweltering pizzeria. “Card Shark,” directed by Alex Fabry, is an oddball comedy vignette about a should-be simple exchange turning into a strange encounter. Mims arranges a meet-up at his usua...
In order to finally be seen, a forlorn teenager takes the biggest action of her life: auditioning to be church cantor at her Christian high school. Kate McCarthy directs “Look, Mira,” a coming-of-age comedy delivered with colorful verve, a sweet-natured take on not fitting in. Overly sensitive fr...
