Where I Am: Slamdance Film Festival

Written by Natalia Lusinski Thursday, February 07, 2013, 11:39 AM

Imagine that you are your healthy, mobile self one day… and can barely speak or walk the next. All due to a hate crime.

That’s what happens to writer Robert Drake in Pamela Drynan’s documentary, Where I Am, after he is suddenly brutally attacked in his apartment in Sligo, Ireland over ten years ago. Now, Robert is paralyzed.

The film takes us through Robert’s journey back to Ireland. Drynan intersperses pictures of the former Robert, giving us glimpses into the life he had versus the one he has now -- which requires a personal assistant, Butch, and a wheelchair.

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Hank and Asha: Slamdance Film Festival

Written by Natalia Lusinski Thursday, February 07, 2013, 11:33 AM

If Before Sunrise were made in today’s technologically savvy age, it would look a lot like Hank and Asha.

Asha (Mahira Kakkar), Indian but going to film school in Prague, contacts Hank (Andrew Pastides) after seeing his movie play at a festival -- only, he lives in New York. The two start a pen-pal sort of correspondence through short videos, gradually turning their friendship into more -- all without meeting face-to-face.

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Blood Brother: Sundance 2013

Written by Natalia Lusinski Thursday, January 31, 2013, 9:13 AM

If you want to see the epitome of love, see this documentary by Steve Hoover. (But be prepared to cry at least a dozen times.)

When Rocky (Hoover’s best friend) leaves America to start a new life in India, he has no idea what to expect. One day, he visits an orphanage for children with HIV, but he does not have plans to stay there. However, the kids’ excitement lures Rocky in and soon a day becomes several months, then a few years. Rocky tries to return to The States, in between waiting for a new visa to go back to India, but he doesn’t feel the same in America anymore, for India feels more like home. Not having grown up in a stable family, Rocky finds in India what he never found in America.

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Prince Avalanche: Sundance 2013

Written by Natalia Lusinski Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 1:44 PM

In my book, this prince would not get a crown for best film.

Alvin (Paul Rudd) is in the middle of nowhere for the summer, painting traffic lines on a road with his girlfriend’s brother, Lance (Emile Hirsch). Alvin is serious to Lance’s this-is-boring-where-are-the-girls mentality. While Alvin is the kind of guy who handwrites his girlfriend letters (this is 1988, after all), Lance is the type who tries to masturbate in the tent he shares with a sleeping Alvin. 

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Stories We Tell: Sundance 2013

Written by Natalia Lusinski Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 1:34 PM

Actor/director Sarah Polley’s documentary, Stories We Tell, is a very well-told and relatable tale of family, connection, and love.

In it, Sarah interviews several members of her family, as well as family friends, investigating her past -- namely, trying to uncover who her biological father is after learning her mother had had an affair. Her mother would be the perfect person to ask, though she passed away when Sarah was eleven.

Each interview acts as a clue to lead Sarah into more searching until she finally discovers her real father. But how will she tell the dad who raised her?

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