Now Playing at AFS: BULL, THE BOOKSELLERS and VITALINA VARELA

Annie Silverstein’s BULL is equal parts brutal and tender. It follows an unlikely friendship that forms between an aging bullfighter named Abe (Rob Morgan) and a rebellious teenager named Kris (Amber Havard). The two lead actors deliver deeply affecting performances as people dealing with different kinds of struggle. When Abe starts to teach Kris about bullfighting, their bond reinforces the idea that friends, mentors, mentees, and family can come from unexpected places.

Set in a neglected subdivision near Houston, BULL illustrates Silverstein’s empathy for people on the margins. When characters do things that are harmful to themselves or others, their actions feel grounded by their circumstances. Conflict hinges on things like money, illness, drugs, gendered expectations, and the things people do to one another in times of desperation. Throughout it all, Abe and Kris resonate as two lonely souls with a mutual need to be truly seen by another human being.

Watch BULL here.

While watching THE BOOKSELLERS, it’s easy to feel the particular excitement of wandering into a tiny bookstore and discovering a hidden gem. It highlights the things that drive not only bibliophiles but the sellers and collectors that shepherd sacred objects into people’s hands. The vignettes and narrators featured throughout the film meditate on why we collect, sell, display, and revisit words and pictures we can hold. Books, art, collectible trinkets, and “objects” themselves as gateways to community are discussed in relation to our increasingly digitized world. It could be argued that immediate global access to things removed the thrill of the hunt (as privileged a perspective as that may be).

Refreshingly, the film’s fascination with the world of artistic curation includes acknowledgements of nepotism, privilege, financial inequality, and varying kinds of marginalization. These have all affected who gets to explore and collect things. At one point, someone voices an interest in “archival silences and omissions” and the idea of “paper as a psychic capacitor.” The things preserved over time determine what stories are considered important. Similarly, the destruction of specific objects—such as the ritualistic burning of books throughout human history— drives systemic erasure. Toward the end of the film, a few stories are told by traditionally marginalized people with a newfound investment in archiving objects. They discuss these artifacts as both gateways to their influences and protection from gatekeepers trying to dictate what is “important.” 

Watch THE BOOKSELLERS here.

Pedro Costa’s VITALINA VARELA is a stunning cinematic achievement. Its visuals are incredibly constructed and narratively meaningful. Its script is minimal and deliberate, incorporating both Cape Verdean creole and Portiguese. The language used throughout incorporates poetic monologues—many of them dreamlike and narrated to no-one in particular—and emotionally charged personal confessions. The lead performance—by Vitalina Varela Ventura—is a force of nature. 

The plot follows the titular character as she returns to Portugal in the aftermath of her husband’s passing. She had started building a life with him in Cape Verde before he fled to Portugal without an explanation There are many discussions throughout the film about the intimate physical and emotional pillars built between people. These allow for loving bonds to develop, but they also create room for painful betrayals. Vitalina is a woman ignored by many aspects of a male-centric society. The sense of loss and isolation she experiences is palpable throughout this beautifully told story of someone simply trying to rebuild.

Watch VITALINA VARELA here.

AFS Cinema and its partners have made these films available to screen virtually. A portion of the proceeds from all virtual screenings will go toward future AFS programming and reopening the theater when the guidance of public health officials indicates it is safe to do so. Thank you for your support.