For Valentine’s day 2018, I organised a black Black Panther screening. Black people from work, black people from not-work, and not-black-person Millie, as you can see from the photo above.
There were thirteen of us black that night. Thirteen people who identified as black. But also, thirteen people who couldn’t be more different from each other. We had black people from America, and black people from Africa. From the US, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Nigeria, and South Africa. And then T was there representing black people from down under.
It was also very interesting, the spectrum of our feelings about the movie. It was pretty much split down the middle with the Americans on one side and the Africans on the other, expect that E sided with the Americans. Although I can’t remember, for the life of me, where on the spectrum Australian T fell.
I don’t remember much from Valentine’s Day 2017, but according to my Google Calendar -- and Letterboxd confirmed it -- I watched Lourdes with friends from work.
Lourdes is one of those movies that appear to be about one thing but is actually something else entirely. It’s a religious film -- or at least a film about faith -- but it’s also a romance that’s deeply funny while still treating each of the characters with dignity and compassion.
On Valentine’s Day 2016, I was at the Berlinale standing in line at the Arkaden waiting to get tickets for Kate Plays Christine. I thought the filmmaking was strong, but I wasn’t a fan of Kate Lyn Sheil as Christine. Which is a shame because I think Kate Lyn Sheil is everything.
I was also in Berlin on Valentine’s Day in 2015. Well technically, I was flying back from Berlin on Valentine’s Day 2015. I was there for the 65th Berlinale where I caught Jafar Panahi’s Golden Bear winning film, Taxi, which I thought was only okay. I also saw Terrence Malick’s new film (at the time), Knights of Cups, which was just horrendous. But it’s also where I saw Alex Ross Perry’s Queen of Earth, the film that made me fall in love with Elizabeth Moss.
I didn’t watch a film on Valentine’s Day this year. I was so exhausted from work when I got back home, I just watched an episode of High Maintenance and went to sleep. Although, I would like to point out that the episode just happened to be set around a film set.
I don’t know, I just can’t seem to get away from films on Valentine’s Day. Cinema is my lady. Which is why on Valentine’s Day 2018, N and I broke up*.