Happy Sunday

Wishing everyone a wonderful, restorative Sunday!

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Film Spotlight: Alice

From Friday, 24th June 2020, ALICE, the debut feature film from multiple award-winning writer and director Josephine Mackerras, will be released on selected digital platforms (Curzon Home Cinema, The BFI Player, Amazon Prime Video).

This is the story of Alice (Emilie Piponnier), who is a happily married young mother who soon discovers that her husband (Martin Swabey) has an addiction to high-priced escorts. Alice and her son are left with no money. Their home is in jeopardy due to Alice’s husband wasting all of their money on escorts and he fails to pay the mortgage. In order to support herself and her young son, Alice reluctantly resorts to becoming a high-priced escort herself, since she has no one else to turn to for help. She finds out that the work is very lucrative and allows her to collect enough money to pay larger amounts on their very overdue mortgage.

I was very intrigued by this film and I was drawn in immediately as I was fully invested in how Alice would figure things out for herself. Alice is very much the girl next door in the beginning of the film, but as viewers we get to see her transform into a survivor. Her journey is not seamless, and we get to see her understandable uneasiness as she steps into this new world. We get to see her strength grow from the inside to the outside as she meets the many challenges that she faces as she tries to get her life back on track. 

I loved the realism of this film. One of the main themes is survival and most specifically financial survival, which is a timely theme. Money isn’t everything, but it surely pays the bills and that’s a good thing. Seeing Alice desperately struggling to find a way to support herself and her young son lends a great universality to her character. This is a thought-provoking film and I really enjoyed it! 

ALICE won the Grand Jury Award at the SXSW Film Festival in 2019 along with other prestigious awards. Emilie Piponnier gives an outstanding performance as Alice and this is her first lead role in a feature film. 

ALICE will be released on selected digital platforms (Curzon Home Cinema, The BFI Player, Barbican Cinema On Demand, Amazon Prime Video) from Friday, 24th July.

Find out more at eurekavideo.co.uk 

FILM INFORMATION:

Writer, Director, Producer: JOSEPHINE MACKERRAS Genre: Drama | Country: Australia | France | Language: French | Year: 2019 | Duration: 103 min. | Picture:  Colour | Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 | Format: PVOD DIGITAL RELEASE | Cast: EMILIE PIPONNIER | MARTIN SWABEY| CHLOE BOREHAM
 

Beauty of Nature

The beauty of nature...

John Lewis 1940 - 2020

John Lewis was an amazing man. He gave so much while he was here. I have looked up to him and have been inspired by him my whole life. He dedicated his life to public service and sought justice for us all. I have always thought that he was the epitome of courage. 

In March 1965, he was beaten severely along with other marchers on Bloody Sunday and on many other occasions and yet he persevered. He endured a myriad of horrible experiences during sit-ins and was arrested over 40 times and was a Freedom Rider during the Civil Rights Movement. He always said that we must get into "good trouble" in order to right the wrongs and injustices that we come across.

He is a fellow Georgian, although he was born in Troy, Alabama. He served as the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district since 1987. I am honored that he was part of the Congressional Delegation from my home state. Through all that he endured, from all accounts of those who had the pleasure of meeting him, he was a genuine and kind man. He was a man of great conviction and was very vocal with his views on how to make America live up to itself. He was dedicated to securing our right to vote and championed voting up until the very end of his life. Now it is our turn to continue to work for equality in his name and we must continue to exercise our right to vote always. Too much blood was shed and too many people died for our right to vote and it is our duty to honor all that John Lewis and others did. We must vote!

We live in such turmoiled times and I sometimes wonder how we will ever get through it, but when I get discouraged, I often turn my thoughts to our ancestors…Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and so many countless others and now this list will include Congressman John Lewis and Reverend C.T. Vivian (we lost both of them yesterday). I think of all that they endured on our behalf and I know that they are counting on us to keep going. They worked to change the world and as a Black woman, I know for sure that I owe them more thanks than I can ever articulate. 

One of the most immediate things that I can do to honor the work and life of John Lewis is to vote! Interestingly, just by chance, today I mailed in my absentee ballot for the run-off election in my home state and I will definitely be casting my vote for the general election in November. Mr John Lewis, Dr King, Rosa Parks, Reverend C.T. Vivian and so many others fought so hard for my right to vote and it is my job to use it every chance that I get.

Thank you, Congressman John Lewis, for being such an inspiration and for walking through this world with such honor and dignity while giving so much. Saying simply "thank you" doesn't seem adequate in the face of all that he and so many others did in our name, but words have power, even when they are simple words, so I simply say with the greatest respect...Thank you Mr John Robert Lewis. Thank you! 

Take your rest now sir and thank you again.

Product Spotlight: Niederegger 2020 Flavours of the Year

Disclosure: I was sent these samples by Chocolates Direct. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Recently, I was sent a selection of tasty Niederegger goodies from Chocolates Direct. I was given the opportunity to try a selection of their products, along with the chance to experience their new Niederegger 2020 flavours. 

Niederegger is the world's leading marzipan brand, founded in Lubeck (Northern Germany) in 1806 by Johan Georg Niederegger. Their classic recipe remains unchanged to this day, plus they have a landmark 3 storey café in the city centre of Lubeck filled with their luxury products and marzipan cakes.

It's Okay to Not Be Okay

This has been a very up and down weekend for me…more down than up, but I’ll be okay eventually. There are a lot of things swirling around my head these days, but the main thing is that I miss my sister Mary.

I’ve debated back and forth with myself and wondered if I should just try to keep stuff like this off my blog and just work it through using my journal, but I feel the need to speak up here. I want to be transparent and not hide it. If nothing else, I want to show that it’s okay to not be okay. I find that denial is not helpful for me. This is real life. 

I will get through this grief, but I know that it has changed me. I have gone through grief before and I know from experience that it’s never a straight line. It just takes its own path. I know that I will get through this eventually, but right now I just wish that my sister were still in this world. It's been two and a half months, and even though I know that she passed away, sometimes I still can't wrap my mind around it. Sometimes I think that I'm processing my grief okay, but sometimes I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. It's hard...incredibly hard. 

I will learn to live with it eventually, but I will miss her forever…

July 2020

Happy July! Happy new month!

May this new month and second half of 2020 bring many blessings, healing and better days to us all 🌸💕