There’s so much beauty in this world that it’s easy to miss, it’s easy to focus on the headlines that constantly perturb or distract us from what life’s really about. Some of us are forced to hide who we are, living in fear of the bigotry and hatred from those who surround us; when everyone really wants the same thing in life, happiness. It’s films like this encapsuled with endless bounds of goodness to remind us of how beautiful it…

Loving You cements a return to the filmmaking foundations of My Significant Other, a film that arose out of tumultuous life experiences related to sexual awakening and self-discovery. Rather than focusing on a clearly-defined relationship as a catalyst to major life changes, it finds catharsis in the agony and ecstasy of ambiguous love. It is an observational, minimalist film unlike anything I had created before: subverting a majority of the tropes that I was taught to utilize in my filmmaking.…

One of the most predominantly memorable, yet overlooked shots in Sofia Coppola's 1999 masterpiece is a shot of a Japanese parasol next to Cecilia during her first attempted suicide. A parasol from a culture which treats suicide differently, where an act which seems cowardly or immature in other societies is seen culturally as an act of honor.

The Lisbon girls are but shadows. Their faces once ed vividly by the neighborhood boys are almost completely diminished. All that's left if…