The Weekly 5×5 is Southwest Contemporary’s top five picks of things to do for the next five days. At least that’s what it was until our to-dos became homebound during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re now sharing five things to enjoy from home. If you’d like to receive the Weekly 5×5 in your inbox, subscribe here.
Cue the popcorn This week we’re presenting a special selection of films, curated by Liesette Paisner, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival. Each October, SFiFF presents the year’s top films in theaters throughout Santa Fe. These poignant films are the types that stay with you—inspiring conversation and contemplation, and perhaps even a new point of view. We’re grateful to have Liesette’s insight on some brilliant films to stream now, thank you Liesette!
*While we’ve included links of where to rent each film, some films are also available on additional streaming networks.*
Just Mercy
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
“Just Mercy opened the most recent edition of SFiFF last October, based on the book of the same title, it tells the story of America’s broken justice system and Brian Stevenson’s fight to free Walter McMillian who was convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson, and free during the month of June from Warner Brothers is timely and essential viewing.”
The Whistlers
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
“The Whistlers is a Romanian new wave comedy about a police inspector who plays both sides of the law and goes undercover to learn a special whistling code in the Canary Islands that criminals use to communicate. What follows is a fun and surprising thriller about police corruption. The Whistlers was the Romanian submission to the 2020 Academy Awards and a special presentation at SFiFF 2019.”
Shoplifters
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
“Shoplifters was the winner of the 2018 Palme d’Or, nominated for Best Foreign Feature at the Academy Awards in 2019, and SFiFF 2018 Closing Night film. Shoplifters is truly Hirokazu Kore-eda’s masterpiece. Centering on a young girl and her adoptive family, this film confronts us with the question, what makes a family? Is it the people we love? Is it the family into which we are born?”
Girlhood
Directed by Céline Sciamma
“Girlhood is considered by many a companion piece to the Festival de Cannes 2019 winning film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire. SFiFF 2014 Closing Night presentation by auteur Céline Sciamma, Girlhood (Bande de Filles) follows a young girl in France who joins a girl gang and finds her own identity through a group of friends whose embrace and acceptance lets her reconcile with a life at home that grows ever more dangerous.”
On Her Shoulders
Directed by Alexandria Bombach
“On Her Shoulders is director Alexandria Bombach’s second feature-length project. On Her Shoulders (2018) won Best Directing in the US Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival where it premiered, and it was nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards and shortlisted for the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature. The film centers on Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist who earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. Following the success of On Her Shoulders, Bombach was named a Sundance Institute Momentum Fellow and a SXSW Chicken & Egg Award Fellow in 2019, and she also signed on with the United Talent Agency.”
