‘Finding Yingying’ Raises the Bar on True Crime Films
First-time director Jiayan "Jenny" Shi highlights the reverberating effects of trauma with breathtaking tact in Finding Yingying.
Derick Gomez
Derick Gomez is a Philadelphia-based writer and oral historian.
‘Some Kind of Heaven’ and the Ageless Pursuit of Fulfillment
Lance Oppenheim's documentary about a pre-fab retirement community in Florida, Some Kind of Heaven, is told with a compassion that I wish American society afforded all its elderly.
‘City So Real’ and the Politics of a Modern Metropolis
One of the crowning achievements of City So Real is that it shows that the fight for racial justice in Chicago became adopted by people of all identities thanks to the tireless work of organizers.
Celebrate People’s History Vol. 2: Power to the People!
Our fight for justice throughout the world is captured in this dynamic collection of posters, Celebrate People's History Vol. 2, courtesy of Feminist Press and Justseeds Artists' Cooperative.
‘The Edge of Democracy’ and Parallels of Political Crises
Academy Award-nominated documentary The Edge of Democracy, now streaming on Netflix, lays bare the political parallels of the rise of Bolsonaro's Brazil with Trump's America.
Oscar Hijuelos’ ‘Mambo Kings Play the Songs of Love’ Dances On
Oscar Hijuelos' dizzyingly ambitious foot-tapping family epic, Mambo Kings Play the Songs of Love, opened the door for Latinx writers to tell their stories in all their richness.
The Inescapable Violence in Netflix’s I’m No Longer Here (Ya no estoy aqui)
Fernando Frías de la Parra's I'm No Longer Here (Ya no estoy aqui) is part of a growing body of Latin American social realist films that show how creativity can serve a means of survival in tough circumstances.
The Enduring Appeal of ‘Unsolved Mysteries’
Society is reckoning with Clinton-era "tough-on-crime" policies, law enforcement is no longer seen as the unambiguous good guys, yet true crime television thrives in Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries.