It's so hard not to give in to doomscrolling & depression right now. But my lifelong critical optimism ain't giving up that easy. So for each day of August, I'm gonna highlight one good thing. Today, it's my favorite filmmaker, the great @john_sayles!

There are lots of reasons why Sayles is my favorite, but as you might guess, high on the list is that to my mind no filmmaker (& few artists of any type) has better plumbed the depths of American history, culture, & identity than Sayles.

That starts w/Lone Star, my favorite film & one that, w/its depictions of the border, of cross-cultural American stories & families & identities, of collective memories & myths & histories beyond them, should be required viewing in 2020.

https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2019/03/march-6-2019-remembering-alamo-lone-star.html

I could add just about every other Sayles film to this thread, but will just highlight a couple more:

The vastly under-rated Amigo, to my mind the best cultural depiction of the Philippine American War.

https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2012/11/november-25-2012-extra-thanks.html

Matewan, which helps us better remember the similarly under-remembered West Virginia coal wars of the 1920s:

https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2016/09/september-9-2016-cultural-work-miner.html

& Brother from Another Planet, which more 35 years later remains a unique & compelling representation of race & community in America.

http://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-15-2013-john-sayles-america.html