Welcome back to the Cause Cinema Spotlight. 3 projects. Under 10 minutes.
So let’s jump in with one of the strongest docs of the year, a favorite on the festival circuit now avail on streaming platforms. This film made the shortlist of 15 docs being considered for Oscar, but sadly did not make the final list of 5 nominees.
Bad Axe
A real-time portrait of 2020 unfolds as an Asian American family in rural Michigan fights to keep its restaurant and American dream alive. This powerful doc that while sharing a personal film, is a solid and essential message about how this period shaped our country.
“It is not just among the finest and most important films of the year, but it will stand as a valuable historical and social document of these times,”
G. Allen Johnson wrote in The San Francisco Chronicle.
Next up, another emotional journey, hot off its festival run.
After Love
Set in the port town of Dover, Mary Hussain suddenly finds herself a widow following the unexpected death of her husband. A day after the burial, she discovers he has a secret just twenty-one miles across the English Channel
And finally, a truly unique film, that did make the final Oscar roster of contenders. Poland Oscar submission International Feature.
EO
With his first film in seven years, legendary director Jerzy Skolimowski directs one of his most free and visually inventive films yet, following the travels of a nomadic gray donkey named EO. After being removed from the traveling circus, which is the only life he’s ever known, EO begins a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside, experiencing cruelty and kindness in equal measure, all the while observing the follies and triumphs of humankind. During his travels, EO is both helped and hindered by a cast of characters including a young Italian priest (Lorenzo Zurzolo), a Countess (Isabelle Huppert), and a rowdy Polish soccer team. Skolimowski’s film puts the viewer in the perspective of its four-legged protagonist. EO’s journey speaks to the world around us, an equine hero boldly pointing out societal ills, and serving as warning to the dangers of neglect and inaction, all while on a quest for freedom.
The film was shot in polish language and can be seen with English subtitles. If you want to watch the trailer, visit our Subsstack page or CauseCinema.com
And that’s a wrap for another edition of the Cause Cinema Spotlight I’m Jon Fitzgerald with Filmmaking For Change.
Hope you enjoy these films.
Until next time, you be well.
Cause Cinema Spotlight