Three to See Saturday: Nuela Charles sings, Iman Mersal wins and Lapsis creeps

0
243

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.

Article content

Blissful Madness: Under that wonderful album name, Nuela Charles has just released a new three-song EP — featuring the high-soaring, ridiculously catchy song Space. Charles directed, amazingly lit and edited the video for Space in her apartment, shooting it with her iPhone, just such a great song. As for the project goes, Charles notes, “Blissful Madness is a musical snapshot that was started before the pandemic, but was finished, thankfully, well into the lockdown. I wanted to tell the story of all of the emotions one can feel in 24 hours. Whether it be, sassy and strong, to loving and endearing, or ‘don’t try me,’ testy vibes – it’s all the feels wrapped up in three songs. This EP is more soulful sonically and allowed me to experiment vocally as I discovered new textures and tones in my voice.” Buy the music at nuelachales.com.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

Details: Now play on Nuela Charles’ YouTube channel, no charge

Local writer wins big: Poet and University of Alberta associate professor Iman Mersal has just won the international Sheikh Zayed Book Award for her written-in-Arabic book In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat, a mix of investigative journalism and storytelling to illuminate writer Enayat al Zayat’s struggles with mental health — she committed suicide in 1963 — uncovering the roots of a woman’s search for identity in contemporary Arab society. The award comes with a $200,000 USD prize, and will now be translated into English — but the book is currently available in French. There’s also a podcast on the subject in Arabic at sowt.com.

U of A’s Iman Mersal has won an international literary prize for her latest work.
U of A’s Iman Mersal has won an international literary prize for her latest work. Photo by supplied

Details: Buy online in French as Sue les Traces d’Enayet el-Zayyat

Lapsis (2019): Called “a smart class-conscious sci-fi parable” by The Hollywood Reporter, Director Noah Hutton’s Lapsis is a darkly comic and timely look at the gig economy and the failed utopian promises of big tech. Looks like an especially fun episode of Black Mirror, so of course: also terrifying.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Advertisement

Story continues below

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

Details: Streaming through May 14 at metrocinema.org, $6.99

fgriwkowsky@postmedia.com

@fisheyefoto

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.