IFFR21 REVIEW: Death on the Streets [2021]

You know we’re here. There’s a question looming above the entirety of European Johan Carlsen‘s film about a self-destroyed American man entitled Death on the Streets: Is Kurt (Zack Mulligan, one of three subjects from Bing Liu‘s Minding the Gap delivering his acting debut) a failure? To anyone who sees his life with wife Sarah (Katie Folger), two young sons, and an expansive (albeit intrusive) support system, the answer is a resounding “No.” To Kurt himself, however, there’s zero wiggle room when it comes to believing the opposite. He’s allowed…

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REVIEW: Minding the Gap [2018]

We formed a family together. It begins as a film about self-created community, three young men coming together on their skateboards to escape the private turmoil experienced at home. The sport was a cathartic outlet more than some bid to act cool, helping them become close enough friends to share details about their individual demons and discover how similar their pasts proved. Suddenly director Bing Liu—who we see cutting his cinematic chops with skating videos shot in the parks and on the streets of their Rockford, Illinois hometown—saw a chance…

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