Innovators are indeed a rare breed. They have ways of seeing things that many of us lack or haven’t yet developed. When they ply their abilities, they come up with inspiring, original conceptions that often attract huge followings and many imitators. And yet, despite these gifts and accomplishments, they sometimes don’t receive the credit or recognition they truly deserve.
When we look upon the works of gifted artists – regardless of the medium involved – we’re often tempted to wonder where the abilities that gave rise to them came from. To be sure, much of the credit obviously belongs to these creative types themselves, but still there are other influences that help to nudge their talents to the surface, inspirations that bring out their innate skills and enable them to flourish.
Various fields of artistic expression often go through radical conversions as a result of the visionary works of a handful – or sometimes even just one – maverick figure. Through the singular works of these individuals, entire genres are frequently transformed. In filmmaking, for example, the name Stanley Kubrick comes to mind. In music, it’s the Beatles. And, in science fiction literature, many often cite the writings of author Ursula K. Le Guin,
“Fatima” (2020). Cast: Harvey Keitel, Sônia Braga, Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Visnjic, Stephanie Gil, Alejandra Howard, Jorge Lamelas, Lúcia Moniz, Marco D’Almeida, Joana Ribeiro, João Arrais, João D’Avila, Figueira Cid, Elmano Sancho, Carla Chambel, Iris Cayatte, Ivone Fernandes-Jesus. Director: Marco Pontecarvo. Screenplay: Valerio D’Annunzio, Barbara Nicolosi and Marco Pontecarvo. Web site. Trailer. Faith is something that’s exceedingly difficult to characterize. It doesn’t have any palpable, easily identifiable qualities. It won’t conveniently fit into a neat little package. And it’s not something that can be readily recognized at a passing glance. But, for those who understand and appreciate it, its existence is undeniable, no matter how intangible it might be and how difficult it may be to convince disbelievers of its [...]
One of the great joys of reviewing movies is the opportunity to attend film festivals. They offer moviegoers a chance to see multiple offerings in myriad genres from countries all over the globe, featuring everything from little-known independent productions to Hollywood blockbusters. And so it is with my hometown event, the Chicago International Film Festival, which just recently completed its 55th edition. The Chicago festival just keeps getting better and better every year. I’ve attended many of the festivals over the past 40 years (I started attending when I was 2…), and I’ve seen vast improvements in programming and staging in that time, efforts that have truly made this a world class event. Over 12 days, I screened 15 films, [...]
