The third feature from distinctively voiced writer-director Jenna Bass — who also co-wrote 2018’s Kenyan Cannes headline-grabber “Rafiki” — “Flatland” represents something of a feminist milestone for a national cinema where genre film in particular has hitherto been a boys’ game. Wittier and more kinetic than the predominantly solemn South African fare that has popped through on the international festival circuit in recent years, Bass’s film ought to travel widely on the strength of its crowd-pleasing story switch-ups and strikingly integrated racial and gender politics — virtues undiminished by an admittedly drawn-out last act that feels a little drunk on its own momentum. Adventurous distributors with a taste for world-meets-Hollywood cinema should investigate; international casting directors, meanwhile, should note the film’s sensational trio of female leads.Read More »