Based on his 2018 short film Dia, 2023’s feature adaptation stars Ramesha Nawal who for her first lead and film role, gives an extremely impressive performance as Mariam, a young college student who’s foray into romance and first love turns into a nightmare following a tragic accident. Unable to cope with the trauma which brings to mind memories of past incidents that haunt her, Miram withdraws into herself and away from her mother Fariha, played eloquently by Bakhtawar Mazhar.
As Mariam becomes aware of the danger men pose to her safety and peace of mind, Fariha herself is learning how to stand on her feet for the first time after living under the controlling guidance of her late father and husband.
Though mother and daughter seem to be fighting their own personal battles and demons, they’re ultimately fighting the same dark spectre of patriarchy. This system that though intangible in a sense, has very tangible effects on their lives and relationship with each other. Khan does an extremely impressive job of depicting this system as the horror that it is for women and young girls to live under.
While he may have set the events of In Flames in Karachi, Pakistan, Zarrar understands that the system is the same the world over. It doesn’t matter the city, language, or culture, patriarchy is present everywhere and exists as a looming presence that can take physical form in men who claim to be heroes but turn out to be a woman’s worst nightmare.
Doing an excellent job of building the film’s tense and disconcerting atmosphere were cinematographer Aigul Nrubulatova, editor Craig Scorgie, and composer Kalaisan Kalaichelvan.
In my interview with Zarrar we spoke about the danger men who want to be feminist allies can end up being a hindrance to women, building the sense of trepidation Miram experiences, and the trauma she and Farriha must work their way through. And during my conversation with Ramesha and Bakhtawar, we spoke about the ladies’ own perspectives on their characters, growing up and living in patriarchal societies, and mothers and daughters growing together to be their own personal heroes.
In Flames world premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, and showed at various film festivals around the world including the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, and Regent Park Film Festival, and on April 12th, 2024 had its North American theatrical release.
Carolyn Hinds
Freelance Critic, Journalist & Podcaster
African American Film Critics Association Member, Tomatometer-Approved Critic
Co-Host & Producer So Here’s What Happened! Podcast
Bylines at http://Authory.com/CarolynHinds
Phone: (647)216 – 5283
Twitter & Instagram: @CarrieCnh12
#InFlames #ZarrarKahn #RameshaNawal #BakhtawarMazhar #kcrushinterview #kcrush #CannesFilmFestival #cinematographerAigulNrubulatova #KarachiPakistan #interview #composerKalaisanKalaichelvan #CanadianPakistanifilmmakerZarrarKahn #actress #producer #kcrushamerica #kcrushmedia #TorontoReelAsianInternationalFilmFestival #kcrushfilminterview
Using her solar powered origami designed lanterns, Alice Chun has brought light to countless people around the world during their time of darkness. Her Solight Design lanterns have provided humanitarian aid in countries such as: Haiti, Puerto Rico, Ukraine and Africa. Alice was inspired to create them when she came across a family using kerosene for light. Knowing that the chemicals can be harmful, especially to children, she wanted to create a sustainable option for those without electricity.
I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did conducting it. Alice is such a kind and wonderful person. In this episode we discussed her early life and humanitarian efforts, as well as her Solight Design lanterns.
Interview Conducted by Cwamne Howard
#CandidConversationswithKCrushAliceChun #AliceChun #kcrushinterview #Episode6 #TheBookofGutsyWomen #SolarPuffLatern #GroundRulesinHumanitarianDesign #ParsonsSchoolofDesign #ColumbiaUniversity #GutsyTVDocuseries #GoodMorningAmerica #TamronHallShow #SolightDesignLaterns #sustainableelectricityoption #kcrushamericamagazine #audiointerview #solarpoweredorigamidesignedlantern #kerosenefree #humanitarianaid
[AUDIO] JIFF Interview with filmmaker Shin Dong-min
There aren’t many films where a mother is cast to play herself and versions of herself in her son’s films. And there’s certainly even less where she gets to play herself twice in roles that are both wish fulfillment, and homage to her, her heritage, and the things she misses and longed for. In his second feature length film From You, which screened at the 2023 Jeonju International Film Festival, winning the Grand Prize in the Korean Competition, Korean filmmaker Shin Dong-min does all of this and so much more for his mother Kim Hye-jeong.
As a follow-up to his 2020 drama Mom’s Song, Shin turns the world from color to black and white in an effort to strip his characters and their reality down to their bare essence. Exposing the discontent of fashion student Min-ju (Kang Min-ju) with her current path and relationship with her mother, to aspiring actress Seung-ju (Lee Kum-ju) whose dreams cause her to question her future in way many women can relate to. In the third chapter, Hye-jeong and Dong-min step into their past, narratively breaking the forth wall to confess their feelings about the loss of Dong-min’s father and it affected the way they think about their past now.
In our interview, I ask Shin about the way his film style allows the characters and their struggles and concerns to be the main focus of the story, and what being able to make films with and for his mother means to him as a son and as a filmmaker.
[AUDIO] BISFF interview with filmmaker Hyun-min Cho – APOCALYPSE RUNNER: THE COMPLETE EDITION Inbox
What is the love of cinema if not a love for an art form that exposes the beauty and faults of humanity, is something I imagine the character of Park Dong-sik would say. Created by filmmaker and award-winning writer Hyun-min Cho, Dong-sik is a film critic whose love of cinema has consumed him to the point he’s become incapable of separating reality from fiction in the 2018 multi-genre short film Apocalypse Runner: The Complete Edition. Platformed in Sébastien Simon’s The Death of Cinema(s) program by of the 2023 Busan International Short Film Festival, Apocalypse Runner: The Complete Edition is a film that I found all too relatable myself as a film critic who at times has to question if perhaps I’m thinking too deeply about the films and shows I watch.
Cho’s off-kilter approach at showing how fervently loving something can lead to hating or disliking it with equal measure, is a very fine line many find themselves toeing. Especially if that thing, that art is what we turn to as a coping mechanism during a time of intense emotional turmoil, such as grief.
I had the pleasure of speaking to Cho about centering a film around a film critic, and his perspective on how critics perceive film and how they in turn are perceived by filmmakers. We also spoke about drawing inspiration from various genres of film as well as philosophers such as Plato. It was also a treat to have his cat Furiosa make a guest appearance.
Watch Apocalypse Runner: The Complete Edition here, and see if you can figure out which scenes were inspired by Furiosa’s namesake film Mad Max: Fury Road.
This year Hyun-min was one of 6 writers whose work was featured in an anthology that won the 2023 6th Young Writer Award for Korean Science and Literature Award Collection.
[AUDIO] BSIFF Interview with Johee and Hanee Oh for THE GOOD SAMARITAN
As big as the world is it’s a wonder that humans are able to form connections despite our perceived differences, and in the award-winning short film The Good Samaritan Girl/Die barmherzige Samariterin 같은 하늘 아래서 (2023), director and writer Johee Oh show how the bond between a 16-year-old Korean girl and her classmate from Kurdistan, is created through their differences and similarities as immigrants and teenagers in Germany.
Winning the Audience Award at the 38th Busan International Short Film Festival is an impressive achievement, and for Johee, her co-writer, producer, sister and main actress Hanhee Oh, second lead Shereen Syada, and their team, the award is very much deserved.
Stepping into the role of director is a daunting task for any person to undertake, especially those who are young and sharing their stories with the world with people who look, think, see and understand the world differently than they do. In our interview during the festival, I spoke with Johee and Hanee about how they faced the challenge of telling a story they both relate to on a personal level from the perspective of being Korean women who made the difficult choice to immigrate to Germany without the support system of their parents, and learning to adjust to a country and society where everything is new and unknown, as Hanee’s character Min-ju had to.
[AUDIO] KCRUSH EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – Festival Programmer Sébastien Simon Onsite At The 2023 Busan International Short Film Festival
Curating the programs for film festivals isn’t as easy as you might think. It requires a discerning eye, the ability to be impartial, critical, discerning and most of the absolute love of film.
During the Busan International Short Film Festival, I spoke with festival programmers Sébastien Simon about what it took for him to create the Hub of Asia Program, which was comprised of the Asian Americana program, The Death of Cinema(s), and the Rendez-vous AFiS, a special screening showcasing the work of young filmmakers from across the Asian diaspora who are learning the methods necessary to navigate the business side of the film industry at the Busan Asian Film
It’s interesting that there will now forever be a world “before the pandemic” and afterward, and this phenomenon as we know it has had significant and permanent impact on the lives of every single person on earth, and industry, including film.
During our discussion we shared our perspectives on the past, present and future state of Korean, North American and global cinema, and if there will ever come a time that cinema might die.
[Audio] KCRUSH EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – Jay Rosenblatt Onsite At The 2023 Busan International Short Film Festival
In this interview for the Busan International Short film Festival , I spoke with award-winning and Oscar nominated filmmaker and documentarian Jay Rosenblatt about his films How to Measure a Year, an intimate and surreal examination of the growth of his daughter Ella. We discussed the changes in Ella’s emotional psychological intelligence over the course of 16 years of filming, and Jay’s own perspective as a filmmaker and father.
[Audio] Candid Conversations with KCrush Ep. 4: Alex Wong
KCrush Interview with VeriVery
[Audio] Candid Conversations with KCrush Ep. 3: Keiko Matsui Jazz keyboardist/Composer
Keiko Matsui – Echo
Keiko Matsui – The Rose performance
[Audio] Candid Conversations With KCrush Epi. 2: Actress/YouTuber Jenny Zhou.
[Audio] KCrush Interview with Dhara Singh
DJ Espio: Bringing K-Pop to London
Here at Kcrush, not only do we like talking to the idols and singers who make the Asian music industry “pop,” but we love talking to the people who help share and spread Asian music to the rest of the world.
Andrew Lawrence, also known as DJ Espio, is one the musical pioneers helping to spread K-Pop in the Western world with remixes and show that are guaranteed to make you move! He took time for an interview with us and discussed haters, his shows, and plans for 2015. As a special treat, he also created a remix for your listening pleasure.
We hope you enjoy listening, and we thank Andrew for his time.
Espio Presents: K-Pop Remixed Video DJ Set Vol.1