Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015)
Songs My Brothers Taught Me
”After his father's death, a high school senior must choose between leaving his sister behind or rediscovering the meaning of home.”
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Why watch this film?
This is the feature-length debut of director Chloé Zhao, who would go on to gain recognition for 'Nomadland' and an Oscar for 'Nomadland'. Nominated for the Camera d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, 'Songs My Brothers Taught Me' already exhibits many of the characteristics we would see in the director's later films, such as the use of non-professional actors to tell a melancholic story about life on the margins of society, with a texture that feels like a documentary. In this case, it's about a young man and his younger sister, who live with their mother on an Indian reservation called Pine Ridge. He is about to leave for Los Angeles, but his plans change when his absent father dies and he fears leaving her alone. It's essentially a coming-of-age story, but in a much subtler and more melancholic tone.
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Plot summary
High school senior Johnny is about to leave the Pine Ridge Reservation when his rodeo-cowboy father suddenly dies. Reluctant to leave his 13-year-old sister behind, Johnny must face an inner conflict standing in the way of his departure, which leads both of them to rediscover the meaning of home.
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