REVIEW: Univitellin [2016]

All of that for nothing. Writer/director Terence Nance describes his short film Univitellin as “an improvised prequel about the past lives of one person—about the two people they were before they karmically merged.” It’s important to know this because that’s not what you’d assume upon watching its tale of fated and tragic romance between Aminata (Aminata M’Bathie) and Badara (Badara Ngom). On the surface we’re merely watching as this couple meets on the train to work, sitting across from the other in silence. It shows the possible ways that could…

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REVIEW: An Oversimplification of Her Beauty [2013]

“You have an extraordinary amount of faith in the fidelity of your expectations” It’s not hard to view an experimental art film as little more than a pretentious, self-indulgent exercise in futility when you aren’t willing to give it a chance. In a world overpopulated by faux-witty banter between uninteresting caricatures of people engaged in clichéd situations, the mere act of taking the time to watch a personal tale about the meaning of love in a universal context is a victory. Whether or not the viewer likes the piece almost…

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