Film Matters Magazine

An observational and sometimes borderline poetic documentary, How to Have an American Baby, directed by Leslie Tai, follows the lives of Chinese women who have already given or plan to give birth in the United States in order for their children to have American citizenship. This deduction of American citizenship is purely an interpretation of the circumstances of the mothers present in the film. The film does not provide statistics or information on how many mothers go through this process, the common reasons for choosing to have American births, or any graphs or datasets to inform the viewer. Instead, Tai utilizes a series of vignettes, following an assortment of mothers, families, and people associated with the practice, who have given or plan to give birth to their children in the United States. The subjects followed in the film tell the story for Tai, a story of joy, heartbreak, financial gain, and community. Through How to Have an American Baby, Tai surfaces the underground movement of Chinese mothers having American babies to highlight themes of motherhood, statehood, and social connection.

Much like the formation of coal deep within the earth, Appalachian native Elaine McMillion Sheldon forms an eloquently layered piece of creative nonfiction, weighed down under mountains of history and threaded by a river of shining narration in her documentary, King Coal. In it, she elevates coal beyond crude natural resource, signifying its powerful resonance throughout rural Appalachia.

In the era of Britain’s Thatcher administration, a repertory cinema emerged as a cultural phenomenon that would inspire a generation. SCALA!!!, directed by Ali Catterall and Jane Giles, unfolds the riotous inside story of the infamous Scala Cinema. Between 1978 and 1993, this cinematic haven stood as a sanctuary for those yearning to escape the mundane, offering a daily changing program that traversed the realms of high art, horror, sexploitation, kung fu, and LGBTQIA+ representation.

Welcome to the Enclave

Introduced as a virtual community for like-minded women, The Enclave exists as a haven enabling an escape from the mundane of reality. At once a safe neighborhood, now under siege from Reddit trolls, digital hackers, and the like, a question of morality persists through this digital story: at what price or cost is freedom? As events increase in the profane and grotesque—such as images of masturbation being projected on the walls; an unfortunate consequence of allowing subscribers to use digital currency to manipulate the environment—one cannot help but think in terms of privilege. The clever use of Carly Simon’s lyrics “willing to the play the game” playing over a sequence of the neighborhood being modified evokes a particular human element: the need for change, desired or not. A curious tale including themes of power, loyalty, and monetary value, The Enclave re-creates a “subjective” American Society. At the close of this emotionally charged and thought-provoking short, a long sequence in which the camera revolves around the entire community enables one to breathe and digest the horrors that have unfolded. These horrors reflect and mock the concept of identity, of oneself, whether as a digital citizen or of flesh and bone.

The Monkey Puzzle shorts block of Cucalorus features experimental shorts existing in the limbo between dream and nightmare. These shorts use surreal imagery to convey indescribable parts of the human experience or fears we don’t dare speak of. This review covers the first five short films in the Monkey Puzzle block in the order they were aired at Cucalorus 2023.