This just in: Religious fundamentalism can be oppressive to women! That’s the less than startling message in the Israeli film Kadosh, which manages to draw out its obvious point for nearly three hours of monotony. Despite some solid performances and lovely visuals, Amos Gitai’s latest effort can’t overcome its static,…

If there ever was a hell created just for intellectuals, it would surely be Miami in July and August. The heat is relentless, the beaches shimmer, the traffic on the 836 is gelatinous, and the prettiest people tend to wear the least clothing in the most distracting places. In the…

Local pols like to boast of Miami as Hollywood East, and for a few days recently there was some truth behind that hype. The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) held its second annual convention at the Eden Roc Resort and Spa in Miami Beach, attended by 330 filmmakers…

Film has always turned to classic literature for inspiration, but rare is the film adaptation that dodges the Scylla and Charybdis of the trade: too much reverence leads to inert moviemaking, too little results in parody. In Time Regained Chilean director Raoul Ruiz has taken on the Mount Everest of…

War, as many have said, is created by old men to be fought by young men. In today’s world that ancient adage must be amended to include young women. While many American kids stroll through their school years without much more to worry about than clothes and grades, too many…

Even while opening night looms for this year’s festival, director Robert Rosenberg is making plans for the future. Big plans. “This festival is only two years old, and we have a lot of room to grow,” says Rosenberg, a lanky, energetic ex-New Yorker whose own film experience (he’s an Emmy…

Gay-theme programming has made a rapid rise to general acceptance in the movie and television industries, and on the public stage as a whole. In the last month Boys Don’t Cry, an arthouse feature based on the true story of a Nebraska teen, snagged a Best Actress Oscar for Hilary…

There’s an old show-business maxim that as soon as you stop chasing your big break, it chases you. Such is the dilemma faced by Lena Machado, the titular character in Lena’s Dreams, an edgy independent feature from the writing/directing team of Heather Johnson and Gordon Eriksen. Set in the gritty…