Maudie (2016) ****

An indie bio-drama, Maudie follows the life of Nova Scotia painter Maud Lewis. The film, a Canadian-Irish production, shot to a small budget of $5.6mm, was directed by Aisling Walsh, to a screenplay by Sherry White. It stars Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke in the lead roles.
Maudie, the film, like its title character, slowly grows on you. Maud Lewis was a woman facing many challenges, not to the least of which were physical nature, poverty and a hostile family, yet she had something most privileged people do not always poses; a joyful attitude.

Manchester by the Sea (2016) *****

Like an onion, slowly being peeled layer by layer to reveal a forever bleeding heart, Kenneth Lonergan, the writer-director of Manchester by the Sea, presents us with the clumped past of the film’s lead character; Lee Chandler, a reserved janitor working in Quincy, Massachusetts. Yet people are rarely what they seem.

Sand Storm (“Sufat Chol‎‎”, Israel 2016) ****

The story focuses on traditions versus modernization at the world of the Bedouin; once fierce nomads of the desert, now permanently settled throughout the Southern desert region of Israel. Providing an insight into a culture foreign to most of us, Zexer’s tale follows a young woman on the verge of adulthood, whose forbidden love puts her at odds with her family and tribe. Sand Strom is about people trapped in circumstances larger than what they feel they can handle; namely placing emotions against ancient traditions. Simple yet haunting, Sand Storm is a film to watch and meditate on. Like all good stories, the subject matter is very specific, yet one can find in it a universal theme.

The Tenth Man (2016, Argentina) ***

Written and directed by Daniel Burman, The Tenth Man is a low-budget Argentine film. It follows the homecoming of a son that spent years in New York, arriving back at the cradle of his Jewish-Argentinian community in Buenos Aires. The acting feels authentic, and even if the pace requires some patience on occasion, it is a curiosity to watch, especially for viewers with interest in other cultures.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016, New Zealand) *****

Spiced with plenty of humor and lots of heart, Hunt for the Wilderpeople helped restore some of my faith, that the art of storytelling via film is not yet all but lost. Two people, one a troubled city kid (Julian Dennison) who had been moved from one foster home to another, the other a wilder grieving man (Sam Neill), find themselves running together from the law, and subject to a national manhunt. These two outcasts who cannot stand each other, not so surprisingly, would learn to enjoy each other’s company. And while this outcome is somewhat predictable as it is desired, it is the road they take them there, that makes their journey worth seeing.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (2015) ****

Ahead of her time, Peggy Guggenheim’s passion for the modern art movement, and even more so, to the artists behind it, whose beds she frequently shared, is a noteworthy tale. With names such as Samuel Beckett, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp and many others decorating her life, Peggy acted as a common thread; a beacon for the avant-garde, and, at times, practicaly a life-savor sage.