Shadows on the Wall | Arthouse Films

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On this page: CALLS FROM MOSCOW | COMMITMENT TO LIFE | DON'T EVER STOP

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 24.Mar.24

Calls From Moscow Llamadas Desde Moscú
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

dir-scr Luis Alejandro Yero
prd Daniel Sanchez Lopez, Luis Alejandro Yero, Elisa Fernanda Pirir
with Dariel Diaz, Daryl Acuna, Juan Carlos Calderon, Eldis Botta, Luis Alejandro Yero, Maria Grazia Goya
release US Mar.23 mdf,
UK Mar.24 flare
23/Cuba 1h05

BERLIN FILM FEST

Now streaming...

Shot fly-on-the-wall style, this sharply well-made film follows four young Cuban men living in limbo in wintry Moscow. They travelled there with hopes of bettering life for themselves and their families back home by hopefully moving into the European Union. But without document they're stuck, and being queer in Russia isn't easy. Filmmaker Luis Alejandro Yero takes an unusually artful approach, revealing inner feelings through overheard conversations, music and silence.

In an anonymous high-rise block in February 2022, just as Russia invades Ukraine, these four guys are maintaining links back home on their phones and online. They're also working jobs and posting on social media. While they miss their families and loved ones, they are determined to find a better life than the one they left in Cuba. They speak about the need to be patient and wait for the situation in Russia to calm down, for their next move to be clear. And they need to be out of the flat by noon tomorrow.

Beautiful camerawork captures moments in carefully framed shots that are full of colour and texture, quietly observing these guys in their apartment and eavesdropping on their phone conversations. We know they are living together, but we only see them on their own. This creates a vivid sense of their predicament, as they seem to simply be killing time as they wait for the situation to change. Lively chats with loved ones back home keep their spirits up, often as audio played over an extended snowy cityscape. Like the filmmaker, Daryl manages to get back to his family and boyfriend in Cuba. But Havana has changed.

This is a remarkable depiction of young people stuck in a social and political predicament that has derailed their lives. It's so expertly photographed by Goya and edited by Yero, whose voices feature in the mix, that it's sometimes easy to forget that this is a documentary and that there will not be a tidy ending to the story we are watching. Instead, the film is an important record of these four sharp and likeable young men, representing millions of global migrants who are yearning to have some control over the place they call home home, not to mention their future.

themes, language 11.Mar.24

Commitment to Life
Review by Rich Cline | 4/5

dir Jeffrey Schwarz
prd Aimee Flaherty, Jeffrey Schwarz
with Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bruce Vilanch, Alison Arngrim, Melissa Rivers, Karamo Brown, Jim J Bullock, Jewel Thais-Williams, Phill Wilson, Chandi Moore, Bamby Salcedo, Steve Pieters, Stephen Bennett, David Wexler, Craig E Thompson
release US 1.Dec.23,
UK Mar.24 flare
23/US 1h55

Now streaming...

Centred around the queer community in Los Angeles and its response to the Aids epidemic, this knowing and sensitive documentary chronicles how a range of people took high-profile action that changed attitudes around the world, engaging Hollywood itself in the fight. Master documentarian Jeffrey Schwartz tells their story beautifully, using a superb range of personal interviews that offer moving firsthand commentary alongside the extensive archival material.

When people began dying of Aids in the early 1980s, the general social response was fear. So a group of community members formed Aids Project Los Angeles to run a hotline, carry out research and offer care for those who were dying. This was especially important because the government was ignoring the situation, while the media misreported the disease. And no one was talking about the high incidence of infection among non-white people. Despite the stigma, the town's biggest celebrities offered their support for APLA's Commitment to Life fundraising events, most notably Elizabeth Taylor.

This is a wonderfully lucid chronicle of how a group of people led a grass roots effort to change a discriminatory system. Against the odds, they defeated a legal attempt to quarantine all Aids patients, then helped highlight that Aids is a personal health issue, and that it's neither political nor moral. The film knowingly shows how layers of bigotry continually created obstacles while hundreds of thousands of people died, especially in poorer neighbourhoods. So without official support, the community created systems for themselves.

Watching APLA respond to the epidemic and continue to take on the ongoing challenges is inspirational. This helps the documentary connect past memories with present-day activism and whatever is to come. It's vital that these stories are preserved for future generations who will be forced to take action simply because they aren't being seen. Back in the 1980s, these people put their voices together to fight for their lives, and it's important to remind marginalised people that they have the power to stand up for themselves.

themes, language 21.Mar.24

Don’t Ever Stop
Review by Rich Cline | 3.5/5

dir Stuart Pollitt
prd Phill Smith, Stuart Pollitt
with Fergie, Andy Buckley, Madders, Jayne Parkes, Alice Ferguson, Eats Everything, Danny Rampling, Judge Jules, Stewart Who, Andy Pickles, Amadeus Mozart, Nicky Trax, Dermot Ryan
release UK Mar.24 flare
24/UK 1h25

Now streaming...

It's appropriate that a documentary about Tony de Vit, Britain's Godfather of Hard House, pulsates with the thumping rhythms of a sweaty nightclub. This is a warmly personal portrait of an enormously influential artist, and it explores his legacy through his protege Fergie, one of the world's top DJs. Filmmakers Stuart Pollitt and Phill Smith have poured a lot of love into this film, which makes it powerfully involving.

In the Midlands, Tony began DJing in his teens, and by the late 1980s was working in top London Clubs. In the 1990s, his sets at Trade were legendary, as was his show on Kiss radio. Accompanied by his teen cohorts Fergie and Andy Buckley, he travelled to clubs around the world. Tony was also openly gay, and was diagnosed with Aids in 1996, then died suddenly in 1998 at age 40, just as his biggest hit The Dawn was released. And it was up to the then 17-year-old Fergie to pick up his mantle.

Briskly edited with a terrific collection of interviews and audio tracks, the film darts through the story chapter by chapter, using black-out moments to allow the audience to catch their breath. Along the way, there are salient personal comments from de Vit's sister Jayne, as well as a dovetailing of Fergie's own life story with sparky observations from his mother Alice. The issue of de Vit being accompanied by two 15-year-old boys is touched on but also somewhat sidestepped, which feels a bit awkward.

But then, there's a lot about this story that skates very close to the edge, including the stories about drug use from de Vit's notoriously big-living colleague Madders, who barely made it out alive and is now dedicated to promoting sobriety. Comments from a range of DJs add to the firsthand sensibility of the movie, with Stewart Who offering many of the liveliest and most unapologetic notes. Perhaps a bit more of this kind of offhanded honesty about Tony's personal relationships might have made the film more important. But because the filmmakers opt to speak to a wider audience, this becomes a vibrant document about a time and place that's rarely been explored, even as it continues to have a huge impact on the music world.

themes, language 22.Mar.24 flare

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL