‘Spoor‘ Is a Powerful Mystery Weaved With Animal Rights Vigilantism

Spoor (Pokot in Poland) film poster.

Janina Duszejko is a heroine unlike any other. An older, joyful spirited woman with bright eyes and long silvery white hair in frequent schoolgirl braids, she has a deep compassion for animals, creates the most enticing bowls of colorful dishes, and teaches English to younglings whilst also taking them into the dangerous, icy cold wild of Klodzko Valley. She is knowledgeable about plants and quite resourceful to all of mother nature’s secrets. When the hunters in town start gruesomely dying off, Duszejko holds the key to the daunting mysteries.

Janina Duszejko (Agnieszka Mandat) with her beloved students.

A distraught Janina putting up signs in hopes of finding her missing dogs.

Now if Okja was the magnificent, under appreciated champion of mass consumptive meat industry, Spoor is the picture that showcases horrific injustice of glorified animal hunting. Like Okja, Spoor also shares graphic senseless violence which humans are conditioned to accept and celebrate. These rush time paced scenes are bloodier, intense, and heartbreaking. Most of the film takes place in infinitely stretched forest, overwhelming the modest population. The story illustrates a man's desire to conquer by killing heart of mother nature, destructive and remorseless beings using guns to shoot anything that moves. Thus, when the body count rises, when hunters turn into victims, the question is not who is performing the vengeance or why this is happening, but the how. And the how is a striking, pivotal element that audiences have to pay immense attention to.

Agnieszka Holland (left) and Kasia Adamik (right) holding onto the Alfred Bauer Prize also known as the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Winners of Berlin Film Festival’s prestigious Silver Bear Award and Poland’s choice for Best Foreign Film representation at this year’s Oscars, Agnieszka Holland and her daughter, Kasia Adamik have created an astounding work of art together. Holland, having been previously Oscar nominated for her screenplay of Europa, Europa, has penned and directed episodes of House of Cards, The Affair, Treme, The Killing, Cold Case, and films such as In Darkness, Julie Walking Home, and The Secret Garden. Up next for her is Charlatan and Gareth Jones and TV series’ 1983 and The First. Adamik is not only a storyboard artist, she wears other miscellaneous production hats in forms of writing, directing, editing, etc, working in various Polish film and TV series.

Janina (Agnieszka Mandat) always finds beauty in nature. 

Besides gripping murders, Spoor has two charming love stories of young and old. The cinematography is absolutely stunning— picturesque mountain caps, captivating foliage coated in snow and ice, and again Duszejko’s scrumptious food. The writing by Holland and Olga Tokarczuk is solid-- with humor, suspense, charm, and a pleasant ending.

Spoor is worth the watch for the powerful message alone.

'Alaska Is a Drag' Dishes Flawlessness And Packs a Mean Punch

Alaska is a Drag film poster.

There is something magical about a glittery gold dress fluttering in between fluid shots of Shaz Bennett's lens, a wondrous garment that brings a close family closer, a haunting memory of a mother's spirit captured on a poignant whim. This is an heirloom, a timeless thing that one holds onto for dear life, especially an object that leads a startling roadmap to finding a missing parent.

Alaska Is a Drag is an emotionally gripping brother/sister survivor tale that offers resilient anchors for various plights through life-- a sweet, unquestionable reliance on finding selves whilst leaning on each other for supportive foundation. Leo works at a slimy fish factory with fanciful drag queen dreams and also happens to be a solid boxer. His little sister Tristen is fighting aggressive cancer. Each treatment Leo is Tristen's rock as she grows weaker from the pain. Lucy, their mother has run off to California and George, their father is present in body but sparsely around for them, having troubles of his own. Living in a mobile home, a place filled with sentimental belongings including that mesmerizing gold dress, Leo and Tristen have aspirations of leaving the cold state behind, hoping to high tail it to California and find their mother, believing that perhaps runaway mother has fulfilled her own ambitions. 

Leo (Martin L. Washington Jr.) and Tristen (Maya Washington)

From their hand holds at the hospital to having underage drinks at Jan's nosedive bar to transforming wondrous fielded meadows their makeshift catwalking playground, Leo and Tristen's relationship is a fascinating, tight-knit bond thanks in part to portrayers, Maya Washington and Martin L. Washington Jr.'s believable chemistry. Leo and Tristen take up for each other, Tristen standing up for Leo when Kyle, Leo's bullying co-worker, continues physically and verbally assaulting Leo. 

Leo (Martin L. Washington Jr.) and Declan (Matt Dallas) have a moment.

However, the sweet, infectious sibling love duo is tested once the mysterious Declan starts hanging about, a fellow employee of the fish factory and growing friend to Leo. Declan, seemingly quiet and observant, also defends Leo from Kyle's wrath, letting out a monster's rage. As it then turns out Kyle has a colossal secret that brings the story to its knees. 

One of the most remarkable aspects of Alaska Is a Drag is the dismantling of masculine and feminine traits associated with maleness. The metaphorical crux of it all is Leo competing in a boxing match and a drag queen contest on the same night-- the aggressive athlete versus the flawless beauty. Leo, complex and genuine, is an affectionate, tender brown figure who has always dabbled in his mother's clothes and makeup. Lucy and Tristen have accepted this side of him. At the fish factory, where lies routine of violent cutting and gutting of fish is this roaring, fast paced, smelly, all-testosterone environment, Leo is surrounded by men who don't necessarily regard him. There, a seething Kyle uses hatred of homosexuality as a means to gaining instant alpha male dominance, amped up by a legion of followers that like nothing more than pummeling Leo at any vulnerable opportunity. Leo, though, can defend himself. Armed with champion fighting skills and profound intelligence, he is no punching bag. Abuse is not a pretty aspect in any relationship. Thus, Kyle's cruelty is purely an inherited societal notion that he lashes upon Leo. Before the drag queen contest, fresh after boxing, as Leo puts makeup over his battle scars, it is a glaring reminder of those who can fight back and those who can't. 

Leo (Martin L. Washington Jr.) voguing and belting out his best in his mother's gold show dress-- a dress that she said to him, "you look better than me in it."

Stars Maya Washington (Tristen) and Martin L. Washington Jr. (Leo) serve face and extremely awesome Wonder Twins plus Jem and the Holograms vibes.

Shaz Bennett (far right) directing Matt Dallas (Declan, left) and Martin L. Washington Jr. (Leo, center) in the ring.

Director/writer Shaz Bennett is constantly keeping busy. For Alaska is a Drag, her nominations include AFI Fest's Grand Jury Prize and Gotham Awards Spotlight on Women Filmmakers "Live the Dream" Grant. A former script coordinator for UnReal and writing assistant on The Glades, Bennett is a script coordinator for Bosch and upcoming director of The Problem With Pulling Hair. She is also part of the all women directors team set for Queen Sugar's third season. Her episode, the fifth written by Chloe Hung, will be aired mid-June. 

Alaska is a Drag, still touring around lighting hearts and minds on fire, is a phenomenal first feature resonating deep. This smile inducing, soul warming story with subtle twists and gritty turns, gut wrenching performances (Margaret Cho and Jason Scott Lee have memorable cameos), and pleasing cinematography showcases that the actors underneath Bennett's talented eye and story contain "it factors" hovering beneath spotlight radar.

Like sparkling flecks of a gold sequin dress, Alaska Is a Drag shines bright.

Happy Birthday Sarah Michelle Gellar: Fem Film Rogue Icon Spotlight

I practically grew up alongside the talented, underrated Sarah Michelle Gellar, first watching her as the feisty, gorgeous rich girl, Sydney Rutledge on short lived teen soap, Swan’s Crossing. It was a far more wicked Saturday morning ritual than the campy sitcom Saved by the Bell, for Gellar’s compelling acting and vivacious beauty struck quite hard. she played a young conniving vixen well and carried on that torch as Kendall Hart in All My Children. From that role, at age 18, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress in a Drama Series after two nominations.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer came later, giving Gellar her starring due, making her a household name. The heroine will go down as one of the most incredible television heroines of all time and it is partly because of Gellar’s abilities to create a multifaceted Slayer, the Chosen One who will defeat evil against the forces of darkness. Buffy Summers wasn’t just a short, spry teen woman with smooth blond tresses, killer outfits, and great pink lipgloss, she was also smart, brave, vulnerable, funny, sweet, loving, and generous. Gellar scored a Saturn Award, Teen Choice, Kid’s Choice Awards for her portrayal. Although nominated for a Golden Globe, she was robbed of nominations for diligently carrying emotive weight in episodes The Body and The Gift. The Emmys weren’t especially kind either, but alas it matters no longer. Gellar was the heart and soul of a complex, layered champion and the win is that she will forever taint our minds with precious sentiment.

In the meantime, Gellar had memorable bite in Cruel Intentions as Kathryn Merteuil, a devilish, spoiled drug user who played sordid revenge games and planted a steamy, seductive kiss on Selma Blair’s innocent Cecile. She won Best Sleazebag at Teen Choice Awards and Best Female Performance and Best Kiss at the MTV Movie Awards. She starred in Simply Irresistible (a corny but lovable film with soundtrack gems), I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, The Grudge, and Scooby Doo and its sequel.

She returned to television playing twins Siobhan and Bridget in Ringer, but won her first People’s Choice Award for Sydney Roberts in The Crazy Ones.

Gia Russo (left) is co-creator/creative director of Foodstirs alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar (right). Galit Laibow is the third owner.

Gellar guests on a few other things here and there, rapping as a Cinderella, voice work in Robot Chicken, Star Wars: Rebels, and The Simpsons. Nowadays, however, she is busily promoting her co-created Foodstirs, a line of organic non-GMO baking kits that offer all natural, chemical free, fair trade products from cakes and cookies to donuts and pancakes.

Still, she is a dominate force missed big time in both large and small screen. For starters, she shouldn’t be typecast in horror/thrillers. She definitely has the chomps for comedy and has always retained potential for a wonderful romance. Plus, it would be terrific if a woman director and/or writer generated something perfect for her. After all, Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured phenomenal female heavy hitters such as Marti Noxon and Jane Espenson. Perhaps someday, Gellar will receive another crucial role that lets her star shine brighter, deliver more accolades on her mantle, and grant the full fledged notoriety she has always deserved beyond cult fan status.

In television, women can really run anything. It can be a comedy, it can be a drama, it can be genre, it can be anything. But in films, women are still getting to the top.