Dear Reader
My favourite film of 2020 is technically a film of 2021. I saw it last year, as part of the Toronto Film Festival’s virtual lineup, where it won the Audience Award. But Nomadland only releases to the public today — at the cinema (those that are operating right now) and on Hulu.
It is, unintentionally, an ideal film to watch during this pandemic. I have little interest in seeing any of those movies that have been created about the lockdown or the virus. Usually old familiar or cheesy films work best at this time, or ones with really engaging story-lines. As you may know, Nomadland features Oscar winner Frances McDormand as a woman who packs up her life’s possessions in favour of a life on the road. Watching the film during this time of great uncertainty, it takes on a different kind of resonance — even though it’s about a specific woman’s story and the community she finds herself within, in a post-recession world.
The film moved me intensely, for the way it brings up two ways of thinking about life; feeding into some of the great existential questions many of us have been asking as a result of the change to our daily lives.
It made me think about whether we should be making our own tiny corner of the world or whether we should be out exploring as many corners of the world as possible. That speaks to the greater trend we’ve seen of how some have been responding to the pandemic — hunkering down and nesting, doing DIY projects to make their home spaces as beautiful and as comfortable as possible, while others have taken to living in vans and embracing the nomadic or “van-life," figuring that if they can work remotely, they can work anywhere. I have found myself in the middle of these two ways to think about how to live life — to roam or to root — and the film explores these ideas.
Nomadland, with its incredible performance by McDormand as Fern, which will hopefully go on to win Oscar glory for director Chloe Zhao, brings up all these questions about how we choose to live our lives. But it also provides some comfort. Through seeing Fern’s story play out on screen, I came to a certain kind of peace. When you strip away all the noise and go within, you know what you need, whether that’s to go or to stay, or indeed, a combination of both, as has been the case for me — someone who moved to New York City from South Africa 10 years ago, and has made home wherever my running shoes are.
What else to watch?
It’s A Sin. The British series has come State-side, thanks to HBOMax. The show revolves around the lives of a group of friends living in a house in London at the onset of Aids in the UK and how it affects them. While the show focusses on the gay men at the center of it, it is Lydia West’s character, Jill, who becomes the heart and soul of the series. She is based on a real person, show creator Russell T Davies’s own friend who has been a pillar in his own life (the real Jill, incidentally, plays Jill’s mother in the series). The character has been so popular she's sparked a #BeMoreLikeJill trend, with people calling for more of her empathy and kindness to be emulated. Once you’ve done watching it, have a read of The Queer Review’s interview with Russell.
If you’re in the market for an uplifting read (and who isn’t these days?) Olympian Alexi Pappas, who is also a poet, filmmaker and actress, has released Bravey. It’s her book about what happens after you achieve a big dream, like competing at the Olympics, and how she learnt to face her mother’s suicide and address her depression. The book is a highly entertaining read that also makes for a handy companion to this thing called life, where Pappas lets us in on a few tools that have helped her overcome pain — both physical and mental — and strive for courage. It’s a gem of a book that reminds us sometimes the simplest advice works the best:
Run like a bravey
Sleep like a baby
Replace can’t with maybe.
If you are going for a run this weekend…Make your miles count and do them in honour of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed a year ago. On the anniversary of his shooting, the 2:23 Foundation, set up to to address issues of social injustice through scholarships and development, is asking people to run 2.23 miles to #FinishTheRun that Arbery couldn’t.
Thank you for reading.
Stay safe, stay sane
Your neighbour
Nadia