One of the films i was most looking forward to at this year’s Hot Docs is now behind me, finally making the last screening of The Unbelievers at the Isabel Bader Theater. This one was everything I hoped it would be, giving brilliant scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss a forum to spread the need…
Category: Film Festivals
Hot Docs: Here One Day – Kathy Leichter
When her mother, Nina, committed suicide by jumping from her apartment window, Kathy Leicher made the decision to move into that same apartment as a way of keeping her mother close. Amongst all of Nina’s belongings was a box of audio tapes which Nina had recorded over the years – a form of journal…
Hot Docs: The Great North Korean Picture Show – James Leong & Lynn Lee
Wednesday evening, I got a look inside the world of acting and film in North Korea. What I found was an entertaining film, that despite being heavily monitored by the secretive state’s government (they reviewed all the dailies before they were allowed to be used, and some material couldn’t be used due to faults, according to them,…
Hot Docs: Blackfish – Gabriela Cowperthwaite
I had a couple of concerns going into my screening of Blackfish last night. Part of me was really looking forward to seeing it, but another part of me was a little worried. Would I be confronted with graphic images of a veteran trainer being suddenly killed by the orca whale she’d been working…
Hot Docs: Alphee of the Stars – Hugo Latulippe
There was a scene that nearly broke my heart as I watched Alphee of the Stars last night at the Lightbox. Hugo Latulippe is sitting across from his daughter, Alphee as they are travelling via train through a snow-covered Switzerland, and in a scene completely played in silence you can see as he watches…
Hot Docs: High Five: A Suburban Adoption Saga – Julia Ivanova
When Cathy and Martin Ward, a suburban Canadian couple living in Surrey, BC, decide to adopt a child from an orphanage in the Ukraine, they have their sights and hearts set on a single infant or toddler. While waiting for the child they want, however, they agree to host a 4-year-old girl, Alyona, for the…
Hot Docs: The Life And Crimes of Doris Payne – Matthew Pond and Kirk Marcolina
When I first read the synopsis of this film – about an 80-year-old notorious international jewel thief – I knew I would be in for a fantastic story, if nothing else. Just looking back on what this woman has seen and done in her lifetime was bound to be incredible. What I didn’t expect, however,…
Hot Docs: Shooting Bigfoot – Morgan Matthews
I want to believe. I’ve always wanted to. I like the idea that the legends and stories of monsters and creatures of unknown origin can exist in our world, it adds mystery and excitement to things. Growing up I would read about UFOs, aliens, Loch Ness, ghosts, and bigfoot. These ideas fascinated me, and from time…
Hot Docs: Valentine Road – Marta Cunningham
This is another one of those cases where I wish I was a better writer, because nothing I can come up with could possibly cover the gamut of emotions and questions and reactions to this amazing documentary. It’s something I feel everyone should see, and talk about, and then see again. I started my…
Hot Docs: When I Walk – Jason DaSilva
When director Jason DaSilva is suddenly stricken with a severe form of multiple sclerosis, everything changes. Everything about his exterior reality becomes more difficult – and sometimes impossible – and is in constant battle with his internal reality, which feels as though he should still be able to do all the things he could…
The Mind Reels 