Author: Jan Hamilton

Birdeater was one of the most chilling movies I’ve seen in a while, and it isn’t a horror film. Set in Australia, Louie is having his “stag do” (bachelor party) with three of his buddies in a small cabin in a lovely wooded area. He has also invited his fiancée and the fiancée of one… Continue reading SXSW 2024:  Birdeater

This little gem’s settings, costumes, hair, and make-up are so spot-on that you might think it’s a documentary made in the eighties. Jasper is the man in charge of the local Dead Letter Department at the post office. He is a genius at tracking the correct destination on items with wrong, illegible, or absent addresses.… Continue reading SXSW 2024: DEAD MAIL

For some reason, I thought this movie would be a tragic story about two star-crossed lovers from different cultures torn apart by circumstances. This movie is not that. Instead, it’s an often humorous story about a guy from Brooklyn, African-American Khalid, who is a screw-up. Through Facebook, he met a much older woman who lives… Continue reading SXSW 2024: THE BLACK SEA

In a small town in Switzerland, Barbara tries to run the small sewing shop her late mother had owned. The shop is full of reminders of their years together. Little pieces of handiwork abound, complete with audio of their conversations. This work is the main output of the shop, so the fact that it is… Continue reading SXSW 2024: SEW TORN

We begin this documentary with a strange kidnapping; two roommates are abducted in the middle of the night. The male victim, Michael, is a local legal weed store manager. The female roommate, Mary, has only lived there two days; she is barely acquainted with the third, absent roommate who invited her to stay while she… Continue reading SXSW 2024: DICKWEED

Set in the mountainous, dry northern region of Pakistan’s Hunza Valley, Yasmeen is a 12-year-old student at the local girls’ school. She admires her teacher, a gentle older man who clearly loves science and learning. She excels at math and, at home, figures out sums for her father. Her home life seems good. She has… Continue reading SXSW 2024: YASMINE’S ELEMENT

Claire is on her way home after a career in California as a photographer. She’s still relatively young, but she feels she never really accomplished her goals. Claire thinks she didn’t reach the excellence she strove for and must give up on her dreams and settle for something less. Driving across the desert, Claire stops… Continue reading SXSW 2024: DESERT ROAD

In 2015, young Japanese journalist Shiori Ito met an older, highly respected writer to discuss the possibility of her getting a job in Washington. He asks her to meet him for dinner; she is surprised that no one else joins them. He has a close relationship with Prime Minister Abe, the country’s leader, and a… Continue reading SXSW 2024: BLACK BOX DIARIES

It was relatively easy to be sent to The Home for Wayward and Delinquent Girls in 1950s New Zealand. If you were a 12-year-old who shoplifted a few trinkets, if you were poor and homeless, or if you engaged in any sexual activity, chances were that you would end up there. We follow Nettie, Daisy,… Continue reading SXSW 2024: WE WERE DANGEROUS

Jin-sook (Yum Jung-ah) and her family have a fishing boat in a coastal South Korean village where she and a group of women free dive (no air tanks) for clams, but nearby factories have polluted the sea so badly that their catch is mostly dead and rotting. A friend offers the boat’s captain, Jin-sooks father,… Continue reading SXSW 2024: SMUGGLERS