The film industry is mostly centred on stars. But often it is people like the sound re-recordist portrayed in the documentary «The Sound Man Mangesh Desai» who turn movies into unique audiovisual experiences.

Defining one’s authenticity by being inauthentic is a central mode of being queer – and has become a popular aesthetic. In an essay inspired by the film «The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo», our writer asks how the metaphor of the flamingo might offer a route out of a repressi

André Santos finds ambivalence in the tourism and gentrification of his hometown, as depicted through fado music in the film «Silêncio – Vozes de Lisboa».

Other Music was a seminal NYC record store for 20 years. Emilie Friedlander, a frequent shopper there, reflects on the film of the same name and a legacy lost to the algorithm.

Love songs tend to be seen as unpolitical. Granî however, the energetic Kurdish wedding music, contains significant political meanings. An essay by Martin Stokes on the power of hidden dissent cultures, inspired by George Mürer’s film «Her Bijî Granî».

Watching the film «A Girl’s Band» inspires Luisa Fernanda Uribe to think deeply about feminism and intersectionality in Latin America.

After watching Anna Gawlita’s film «Krzyżoki» (Horse Riders), Agata Pyzik wonders what’s next for contemporary masculinity?

Azin Feizabadi gets caught in Ebrahim Monsefi’s spirit breeze conjured by Kamran Heidari’s «documentary» on the Iranian singer/songwriter, «None of Your Business».

Sound is able to merge supposed contradictions: in the audio walk «Zero, Land der Zukunft» at Dystopie Festival, our writer finds herself entangled both in dystopian and utopian worlds. Here is a short essay on listening as a mode of creating critical agencies.

In an era where platforms package music in a way that strips away life’s complexities, Angus Finlayson finds a melancholic antidote in the music documentary «The Long River Slides».