I just wanted to take a quick moment to recognize that this is the 5th anniversary of The Mind Reels (!). We started small, and didn’t start doing daily posts until January or February of our first year. Since then, every single day there has been a post, where we share thoughts, memories, and review…
Tag: hot docs
Hot Docs 2016: Beware the Slenderman – Irene Taylor Brodsky
Having its international premiere last night at the Lightbox, Irene Taylor Brodsky’s film is a slick looking, unnerving and surprisingly emotional look at the blurring of fiction and reality in the modern age, as two young girls, Anissa and Morgan succumb to the terrors and stories of the internet created character of the Slenderman,…
Hot Docs 2016: Ukrainian Sheriffs – Roman Bondarchuk
Having it’s North American premiere last night at the Scotiabank theatre, this tragic-docu-drama follows two sheriffs, Viktor and Volodya in a tiny Ukrainian village near Crimea. By turns funny, and emotionally stirring, the two officers, selected by the mayor perform all manner of services in the village as they cruise around in their beaten up…
The Mind Reels chats with A Dog’s Life Helene Choquette
Hot Docs 2016 continues! The amazing thing about the festival is the variety of subject matter covered, and issues confronted, Helene Choquette turned her camera’s eye on the issue of homeless people, specifically, those with dogs. Examining the issue, and way they are treated and seen by the public at large, these people survive…
Hot Docs 2016: The Mind Reels chats with Cheer Up
Sue and I were delighted to sit down with the director, Christy Garland, and the subjects of the truly enjoyable documentary, Cheer Up, a film that follows a cheer coach, Miia Norvapalo, and two of her squad, Patricia Fisk and Aino Selin through their personal lives, as well as their race to win the…
Hot Docs 2016: The Mind Reels chats with Aim for the Roses
Hot Docs is well under way and Sue and I are having a great time!! We’ve seen some great films, and have had some wonderful interviews. We chatted with John Bolton and Mark Haney, the director and subject of Aim for the Roses, a doc, by Bolton, about a concept album, by Haney, about a failed attempt…
Hot Docs 2016: Life, Animated – Roger Ross Williams
If there is a more honest, emotional and human film at this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival, I can’t imagine what it could be. Owen Suskind, the young autistic man who is the focus of William’s objective eye, is a brilliant soul, and we learn through the film, his story, his life, and his…
Hot Docs 2016: Obit – Vanessa Gould
Having its international premiere this evening at 9:15 at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, is what may be my favorite documentary at the festival so far. With additional screenings on Tuesday May 3 at 3:45 at the Isabel Bader Theatre, and again at 9:15 on Saturday May 7, with a final screening at the…
Hot Docs 2016: Wizard Mode -Nathan Drillot & Jeff Petry
Robert Gagno is a brilliantly talented pinball wizard, he is also autistic. And amidst the flashing lights, electronic sounds, and crowds of people, he comes of age as he travels to Pinburgh, the pinball competition mecca of the world. Wizard Mode introduces us to Robert, a young man, with an easy smile, a knack…
Hot Docs 2016: Cheer Up – Christy Garland
Having its World Premiere this evening at Scotiabank at 7pm is this charming, emotional, little gem, that takes us to northern reaches of Finland’s Arctic Circle, and into the lives of some wonderful young women, cheerleaders, who have big hearts, and bigger dreams. Led by their coach Miia, this cheerleading team tries to win…
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