The Des Moines Art Festival returns this weekend, and with it the Interrobang Film Festival, a free-to-attend, juried show featuring 36 films. One of those films is a new documentary about Muslim chef Kamal Hammouda, based in Grinnell, and his life in food, family and politics. Directed by Nich Perez, Kamal’s blends interviews with Hammouda, […]
Film reviews
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Utilizing the Source’s basement of VHS tapes, Quad Cities creatives put a local spin on ‘Criterion Closet Picks’
The Video Home System, or VHS, format was introduced in the late ’70s, revolutionizing the way people consumed movies. DVD would usurp it at the turn of the century, of course, but you’re hard-pressed to find a Gen Xer or millenial without at least a little video cassette nostalgia. Gen Z has shown an appetite […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Sundance 2026 features documentaries on Iowa teacher Jane Elliott, the Chicano Movement and public access TV
The last Sundance Film Festival based in Park City, Utah, has drawn to a close. The future sees the fest relocating to Boulder, Colorado, but for now, Little Village brings dispatches from Sundance to you in Iowa — starting with three documentaries that premiered at the fest. Representing three U.S. regions, these films critique the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Film critic and UI grad Jason England explains why he found this Oscar frontrunner ‘extremely goofy’
In his discerning review for Defector, England argues that One Battle After Another lacks the heart and soul required of texts seemingly devoted to political revolt, a spectacle synonymous with many left-leaning signposts that rely on performances of politics, rather than action. His piece received substantial attention, most disputing England’s argument, but it was not the discourse that spurred my conversation with England. At the tail end of his review, England surprisingly mentions Iowa City…
Posted inEastern Iowa
Worth a Rewatch: ‘The Idiot’ (1951) is a Kurosawa deep-cut from a Dostoevsky superfan — and an idiotic film studio
Akira Kurosawa seems keenly aware of the improbability of translating literature into film, especially in the case of Dostoevsky, who Kurosawa calls more psychological than visual. But Kurosawa wanted to make The Idiot.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
FilmScene is highlighting a 30-year-old French film inspired by the murder of an immigrant by police
In April of 1993, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, Makomé M’Bowole, along with two of his friends, was chased down at 4:30 a.m. carrying 120 cartons of Dunhill Cigarettes. His friends were released later in the morning, but M’Bowole was not. Twelve hours after his arrest, inside the 18th Arr. Police Precinct in Paris, he was dead. Director Mathieu Kassovitz was 25 years old when Inspector Compain was on trial for the murder of M’Bowole. Kassovitz would have heard the narrative.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Queer desire ruled at Refocus 2025, from ‘She’s the He’ to ‘Hedda’
The Refocus Film Festival awarded its Audience Choice Award to She’s the He, the debut feature from director Siobhan McCarthy. In it, high school best friends Ethan and Alex find themselves tangled up in a queer coming-of-age. Alex (Nico Carney), desperate to impress his dream girl, insists that they pretend to be trans women in […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Refocus returns on Thursday! Here’s a guide to 18 films on the festival lineup
FilmScene’s Refocus Film Festival returns to Iowa City Oct. 9-12 with a full platter of cinematic goodness. We asked our resident film scribes Ariana Martinez and Benji McElroy to share the shows they’re most excited to see. We also broke down the lineup by mood, with only a little fighting about what fit where. Click […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Big Screen: ‘Chinatown’ and more dirty water movies to stream this month
Everybody’s got water on the brain. The many somethings coming out of our faucets are in the headlines so often you can almost see the words swimming through a cold glass. The authorities continue to insist that a lot of nitrates won’t hurt, while some guy on Reddit did an at-home test that turned the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Film review: Ari Aster’s ‘Eddington’ depicts a small town spiraling in May 2020. It’s as bleak and familiar as you’d think.
“Don’t make me think. Post it.” Sevilla County Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) blurts out this line during his haphazard campaign against mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) in Ari Aster’s latest film Eddington. Set in May 2020, pandemic panic slowly infects the titular New Mexican town before any nasal swabs come into play. Though our […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Tank tops, Pitt stops and the top five movies you’ve gotta see in local theaters this June
Hey folks, welcome back to Little Big Screen: On the Big, Big Screen, where film columnist Benjamin McElroy recommends five screenings happening at Iowa’s independent movie theaters. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Directed by Steven Spielberg The last time E.T. was in the headlines, a self-described ufologist had presented his unlicensed likeness to Mexico’s Congress. Now, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Big Screen: ‘Vertigo’ and other streaming movies starring Kims who aren’t Reynolds
In search of a watchable companion to Little Village’s May cover story, which details the many bad kinds of history made by Gov. Kim Reynolds over the past eight years, I went to Reynolds’ IMDb page. Who knows, maybe she got a kickback producer credit on a Mel Gibson movie? Nope, nothing but news shows. […]
