{"id":23999,"date":"2024-04-17T14:09:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T19:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/?p=23999"},"modified":"2024-04-27T09:13:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T14:13:29","slug":"mspiff-2024-dispatch-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/mspiff-2024-dispatch-2\/","title":{"rendered":"MSPIFF 2024 \u2013 Dispatch 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These films were screened at the 43rd Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF43), which runs from April 11-25. <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/mspfilm.org\/mspiff\/mspiff-films\/?\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for the full lineup and check back for additional dispatches. Select films reviewed below will receive separate full-length writeups, some for their wider release, some exclusive to Deep Focus Review&#8217;s <\/span><\/i><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/join\/deepfocusreview?\"><i>Patreon<\/i><\/a><\/strong><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In the meantime, here are some first impressions.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23996 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-848x1024.png\" alt=\"MSPIFF 2024\" width=\"200\" height=\"241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-848x1024.png 848w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-249x300.png 249w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-150x181.png 150w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-768x927.png 768w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-200x241.png 200w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-30x36.png 30w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-848x1024.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>Daughters<br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daughters<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae\u2019s deeply moving documentary about the \u201cDate with Dad\u201d prison program,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explores the vital connection between fathers and their daughters. CEO of the nonprofit Girls for a Change, Patton spearheaded the program, which gives men convicted of a crime a rare opportunity to bond with their daughters. The film informs us that most prisons have stopped allowing \u201ctouch visits\u201d for incarcerated persons, preferring instead to monetize visits in a shamefully exploitative practice of charging families for video calls. What Patton\u2019s program does is allow fathers and daughters to meet and reinforce their bonds through touch, a proven component of growth and development for children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The focus of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daughters <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is four girls among a group of many who feel a spectrum of emotions about their fathers, including separation anxiety, frustration, and a desperate yearning to have their fathers back in their lives. The doc isn\u2019t concerned about what the fathers did, just the unquestionable need for a father-daughter bond. Building up to the daddy-daughter dance (a preferable term over the awkward \u201cDate with Dad\u201d label), the film follows the fathers\u2019 10-week training course, where they talk in a group setting about their feelings toward fatherhood and consider how best to support their daughters emotionally and from a distance. At the same time, the doc showcases the girls\u2019 anticipation about the upcoming event. Meanwhile, the fathers turn in their state-issued orange garb for suits and ties, and the daughters pick out dresses. The six-hour event takes place in a prison gymnasium with decorations, tables, music, and activities. Seeing these connections occur, some for the first time ever, is a tender experience. I challenge you not to crumble into a weepy mess.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Directors Patton and Rae began developing their film after the former\u2019s <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/angela_patton_a_father_daughter_dance_in_prison?language=en\">TEDXWomen Talk<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the subject in 2012, and it became a first-time feature for both, shot over eight years. Rae, who received her start in music videos for Serena Ryder, Tegan and Sara, and Leon Bridges, brings a lyrical style to the filmmaking. Some harmonious, polished images and impressionistic editing look conspicuously beautiful, as though arranged for a commercial rather than a grounded documentary. But no rule says a documentary can\u2019t look polished. Refreshingly, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daughters <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">never feels like an activist piece; instead, it communicates its message through observation, respecting the viewer enough not to resort to shouting its message on a soapbox.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daughters <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it earned the Festival\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Favorite in the Documentary Competition and Audience Choice awards. Doubtless, the film, which has secured big-name producers in Kerry Washington and Joel Edgerton, will resonate with viewers when it arrives on Netflix later this year. The experience is an aching and empathetic look at how Patton\u2019s program gives humanity to incarcerated persons, reminding these men that their families need them. A statistic at the end tells us that 95% of those who went through the program and have since been released haven\u2019t returned to prison; they now recognize the importance of being there for their family. Similar to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sing Sing<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, another MSPIFF feature about drama therapy in prisons, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daughters <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">demonstrates how such programs equip those incarcerated with the emotional intelligence to avoid criminal behavior in the future and become productive members of their community. But it also shows that, despite their imprisonment, these men have people who love and need them. <\/span><b>3.5\/4 Stars.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><i><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23998 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-691x1024.png\" alt=\"MSPIFF 2024\" width=\"200\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-691x1024.png 691w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-203x300.png 203w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-150x223.png 150w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-768x1137.png 768w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-163x241.png 163w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-30x45.png 30w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-5-691x1024.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>Dead Mail<br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hooking the viewer with its setup from the start, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dead Mail <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opens with a kidnapping victim, Josh (Sterling Macer Jr.), escaping from the rural Midwest home where he\u2019s been trapped. His arms and legs bound with wire and chains, Josh crawls to a postal box nearby and stuffs a bloody note inside before his captor, Trent (John Fleck), races out in a failed attempt to stop him. Trying to cover his tracks, Trent hopes to track down the letter. But a savvy postal worker specializing in finding the intended recipients of misplaced letters threatens to expose Trent\u2019s crime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dead Mail <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the latest from Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, the writer-director team behind <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BAB<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (2020), and another in a long line of contemporary films that pay homage to the video aesthetic of the 1980s. With the filmmaking steeped in McConaghy\u2019s grainy cinematography and intentionally bad angles and editing, one could mistake the production for a direct-to-video product on VHS. Synth beeps and boops flicker on Janet Beat\u2019s soundtrack, which is less like one of John Carpenter\u2019s slick scores than a knock-off synth sound with occasionally disorienting overtones. But at least the movie has a form-follows-function approach, since Josh and Trent, as we learn in an extended flashback, are preoccupied with building a synthesizer board that delivers a convincing woodwind sound. Their partnership goes sour, obviously, hence the kidnapping.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The nostalgic proceedings might be more charming if <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dead Mail <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">didn\u2019t overstay its welcome. At 107 minutes, it feels about 20 minutes too long, mainly because that flashback section occupies most of the feature and, with the story structure, we know where things will end up. Robbed of its suspense given how it\u2019s arranged, the mildly amusing and diverting movie earned a few chuckles at my late-night screening. While the presentation adopts a throwback look and feel, with irony that keeps the viewer at a remove, the skilled cast elevates the experience. Fleck is particularly menacing and maniacal, whereas Tomas Boykin has presence to spare as the post office\u2019s resident mail detective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeBoer and McConaghy follow a long line of modern independent genre filmmakers who resort to an \u201880s analog aesthetic, synth music, and Lynchian vibes to entice their audience. It\u2019s an overdone routine employed by filmmakers such as Panos Cosmatos (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/reviews\/mandy\/\"><strong><i>Mandy<\/i><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 2018), Jennifer Reeder (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/reviews\/perpetrator\/\"><strong><i>Perpetrator<\/i><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 2023), and everyone involved in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">V\/H\/S <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">anthology series who values pastiche over originality. In the case of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dead Mail<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, its imitative, weird-for-weird\u2019s-sake style and narrative feel hollow, unsupported by a thin script and dragged-out pacing. To be sure, the experience loses steam early on and never quite restored this viewer\u2019s interest. <\/span><b>2\/4 Stars.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><i><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23997 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-691x1024.png\" alt=\"MSPIFF 2024\" width=\"200\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-691x1024.png 691w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-203x300.png 203w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-150x223.png 150w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-768x1137.png 768w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-163x241.png 163w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-30x45.png 30w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-6-691x1024.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>In Flames<br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Flames <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">occupies the subjectivity of Mariam (Ramesha Nawal), a young woman who lives in Karachi with her widowed mother, Fariha (Bakhtawar Mazhar), and her younger brother (Jibran Khan). After the recent death of Fariha\u2019s father-in-law, who financially supported the family, the women struggle to make ends meet in a patriarchal world that constantly attempts to exploit and intimidate them. This includes Mariam\u2019s Uncle Nasir (Adnan Shah Tipu), who initially offers to help out financially before he stakes a claim on their apartment\u2014apparently allowable by law. But Fariha and Mariam know that to be in debt to a man is a dangerous proposition, and they value what little autonomy they have.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confronting the gender roles and diminished power of women in Pakistan, writer-director Zarrar Kahn\u2019s debut feature conveys an oppressive world for Mariam and Fariha without resorting to unabashed remarks about extreme religious fundamentalism and its consequences on gender. The film doesn\u2019t have to preach to the audience; Mariam\u2019s experiences reveal enough. Take the moment when Mariam is attacked while driving\u2014some random man throws a brick through her car window and calls her a \u201cwhore.\u201d Later, while looking out her apartment window, she notices a man in the alley watching her and masturbating. Nothing will be done to these men, thus conveying how Karachi is unsafe for women, a fact of which Mariam is repeatedly reminded. It\u2019s the specter that haunts her throughout the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But then, Mariam is haunted by other, more literal ghosts as well. One of the men in Mariam\u2019s life, Asad (Omar Javaid), courts her; however, her studies keep her too busy for new friends. Still, after agreeing to spend the day with Asad at a beach, she narrowly survives an accident that leaves her bloodied from a head wound. Afterward, she&#8217;s plagued by hallucinations that transport her back to the beach; she also witnesses nightmarish imagery in the form of chilling figures. Whether her ghosts are real or stem from her injury remains debatable, but either way, they confront how she feels tormented by men.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pakistan\u2019s submission for Best International Feature to the 96th Academy Awards, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Flames <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is capably directed by Khan and shot by cinematographer Aigul Nurbulatova, lending a naturalism sharply upended by the sudden presence of white-eyed phantoms. The film has a visual treatment in common with Mati Diop\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Atlantics <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(2019) in its use of malignant spirits, if not also Alex Garland\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/reviews\/men\/\"><strong><i>Men<\/i><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (2022) for how the presence of any man becomes a warning sign to the viewer. The blend of horror and social commentary feels tipped toward the latter, underserving the former. Still, it\u2019s nonetheless a powerful examination of women in Pakistan, a critique of its patriarchy, and an immersive look through the eyes of its characters. <\/span><b>3\/4 Stars. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These films were screened at the 43rd Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF43), which runs from April 11-25. Check here for the full lineup and check back for additional dispatches. Select films reviewed below will receive separate full-length writeups, some for their wider release, some exclusive to Deep Focus Review&#8217;s Patreon. In the meantime, here are some first impressions. Daughters Daughters, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae\u2019s deeply moving documentary about the \u201cDate with Dad\u201d prison program, explores the vital connection between fathers and their daughters. CEO of the nonprofit Girls for a Change, Patton spearheaded the program, which gives men convicted of a crime a rare opportunity to bond with their daughters. The film informs us that most prisons have stopped allowing \u201ctouch visits\u201d for incarcerated persons, preferring instead to monetize visits in a shamefully exploitative practice of charging families for video calls. What Patton\u2019s program does is allow fathers and daughters to meet and reinforce their bonds through touch, a proven component of growth and development for children.\u00a0 The focus of Daughters is four girls among a group of many who feel a spectrum of emotions about their fathers, including separation anxiety, frustration, and a desperate yearning to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-festival-coverage"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>MSPIFF 2024 \u2013 Dispatch 2 | Deep Focus Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/mspiff-2024-dispatch-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MSPIFF 2024 \u2013 Dispatch 2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"These films were screened at the 43rd Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF43), which runs from April 11-25. Check here for the full lineup and check back for additional dispatches. Select films reviewed below will receive separate full-length writeups, some for their wider release, some exclusive to Deep Focus Review&#8217;s Patreon. In the meantime, here are some first impressions. Daughters Daughters, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae\u2019s deeply moving documentary about the \u201cDate with Dad\u201d prison program, explores the vital connection between fathers and their daughters. CEO of the nonprofit Girls for a Change, Patton spearheaded the program, which gives men convicted of a crime a rare opportunity to bond with their daughters. The film informs us that most prisons have stopped allowing \u201ctouch visits\u201d for incarcerated persons, preferring instead to monetize visits in a shamefully exploitative practice of charging families for video calls. What Patton\u2019s program does is allow fathers and daughters to meet and reinforce their bonds through touch, a proven component of growth and development for children.\u00a0 The focus of Daughters is four girls among a group of many who feel a spectrum of emotions about their fathers, including separation anxiety, frustration, and a desperate yearning to [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/mspiff-2024-dispatch-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Deep Focus Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-17T19:09:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-27T14:13:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.deepfocusreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/mspiff-2024-6-848x1024.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Eggert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta 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Review. If you\u2019re looking for new release recommendations or an appreciation of a longtime favorite, check out his in-depth essays, histories, and critical analyses. 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Check here for the full lineup and check back for additional dispatches. Select films reviewed below will receive separate full-length writeups, some for their wider release, some exclusive to Deep Focus Review&#8217;s Patreon. In the meantime, here are some first impressions. Daughters Daughters, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae\u2019s deeply moving documentary about the \u201cDate with Dad\u201d prison program, explores the vital connection between fathers and their daughters. CEO of the nonprofit Girls for a Change, Patton spearheaded the program, which gives men convicted of a crime a rare opportunity to bond with their daughters. The film informs us that most prisons have stopped allowing \u201ctouch visits\u201d for incarcerated persons, preferring instead to monetize visits in a shamefully exploitative practice of charging families for video calls. 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