Lane 1974 (2017)

Lane 1974: Directed by S.J. Chiro. With Sophia Mitri Schloss, Katherine Moennig, Sara Coates, Sharva Maynard. Lane is a 13-year-old girl coming of age on a Northern California commune in the 1970s. While Lane enjoys the freedom of living off-the-grid with her mother and younger siblings, she craves a stable “normal” life – a life she’s only seen in pictures from a stolen Sears catalog. Lane must navigate her troubled mother, Hallelujah, while trying to care for her younger brother and sister.

“There are two related things that make this an amazing movie: One is the directoru0026#39;s ability to capture Sophia Mitri Schlossu0026#39; great performance as a child who grows up in various communes in the 1970u0026#39;s. It is difficult trick to create a continual set of images that provide an immediate and profound connection to a single characteru0026#39;s emotional state. Somehow, SJ Chiro manages do this in such a way that one always feels deeply connected to Laneu0026#39;s emotions.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe second is the filmu0026#39;s amazing aesthetic sensibility. Every shot is a kind of beautiful tableau, often of the protagonist in a natural setting. This is not for its own sake: Even though the film contains a lot of sadness and instability, there is always the sense that each scene is connected to the richness of Laneu0026#39;s own sensory and emotional experiences, that her own intense sensory perceptions transcend the various forms of loss that she experiences.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYou may leave with the sense that your own sense of empathy and emotional receptiveness has been heightened by this beautiful film.”