The complexity of the idea of freedom of speech is generally not reflected in films tackling the subject that generally take the hackneyed form of a political courtroom drama or a crime thriller. 19(1)(a) is impactful because it puts the focus on how an ordinary person quietly taking agency over her own life is an extremely political act. It depicts the true power of free speech: that words are inherently agents for change, and they don’t need the sheen of social media or the urgency of sensationalism.

2019 Oscar winner “Parasite” was screened at DPAC this past Saturday in black and white. The South Korean film is a black comedy about class tension in which the poor Kim family use deception to obtain service jobs in the house of the wealthy Park family. “Parasite” suggests that it’s not just the poor who are ‘parasitic;’ the affluent, too, are guilty of bleeding the poor dry.

The Academy Award winning “Nomadland” will make you slow down. The film took me on a journey with Fern, the protagonist played by Frances McDormand. Fern is part of a loose constellation of nomads, elderly Americans who’ve lost their livelihoods and have had to vacate their homes due to a combination of economic factors including the 2008 recession. These nomads opt to make their home in vans or recreational vehicles and do temporary jobs wherever they go.

They say that great things come in small packages. In just 73 minutes, French film “Petite Maman” (translated “Little Mom”), directed by Céline Sciamma, tells a touching story of motherhood and memory.

“Minari,” produced by A24, is the story of the Korean-American Yi family who moved to rural Arkansas in the ‘80s in pursuit of their American dream. The film’s plot moves slowly but makes use of stunning cinematography to tell an evocative but often neglected American story.

Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi’s latest film “No Bears” is an exploration of life under Iran’s authoritarian government. Like a lot of Panahi’s recent work, it has been shaped by his experiences with the government that has censored his art and placed him under house arrest. Since July 2022, he has been in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison for standing in solidarity with two other Iranian filmmakers who spoke out against the government for their violent crackdown on protestors.

“Bergman Island” (2021) is wonderfully meta — Chris and Tony’s relationship breaks down in the same house where Bergman filmed “Scenes From a Marriage” (1973), the series that caused many couples to divorce. The characters themselves seem to mirror the director’s own life — Mia Hansen-Love was in a long-term relationship with Olivier Assayas, the established French filmmaker who, like Tony, has an uncomplicated love for Bergman.

“Hit the Road” is Panah Panahi’s debut, and the film artfully reflects the political atmosphere of Iran while maintaining a sense of humor. It also gives you the sense that this is a reflection of Panahi’s own family — where his father, auteur Jafar Panahi's, filmmaking would have left them in a constant but undefined state of stress about the regime.

At first glance 'Anything’s Possible', seems like any other modern rom-com with its aggressively fashionable characters (blue hair, bold patterns, teenage boys in pastels). The film revolves around the relationship between Khalid (Abubakr Ali), a shy 17-year-old cisgender boy, and Kelsa (Eva Reign), a transgender girl in his art class. The teenagers realize that even their own friends were not fully comfortable with Kelsa’s gender identity when Khalid asks her out.

Impeccably turned out, in her baby blue skirt suit, white-framed cat eye sunglasses and perfectly coiffed hair, Martha Mitchell seemed like any other politician’s wife in the 1960s. However, in its 40 minute run time, The Martha Mitchell Effect shows that Mitchell was actually more indispensable in revealing the truth about the Watergate break-in than journalists like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

The haunting synth music grows louder and louder to match the panic of a brown teenage girl running back home in the cold Norwegian night. As her hoop earrings jangle, my heart hammers. The scene switches between shots of the girl’s father, checking on each of his sleeping children in their bed rooms with an eerie calm.

"Halftime" shows how at 50, Jennifer Lopez is still fighting to be taken seriously for all that she is: actress, singer, dancer, Latina.