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Articles by Wylie Writes Staff

Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2016: ‘The Pearl of Africa’ and ‘Putuparri and the Rainmakers’

April 30, 2016Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

The Pearl of Africa (DIR. Jonny von Wallström) By: Shannon Page Director Jonny von Wallström’s first full-length documentary is the story of Cleopatra Kambugu, a transgender woman living in Uganda who is forced to leave her country after a bill is passed making her gender identity punishable by life in prison or even execution.  The Pearl of Africa follows Cleo as she travels from Uganda to Thailand for sex reassignment surgery.

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Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2016: ‘Bobby Sands: 66 Days’ and ‘Off the Rails’

April 27, 2016Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

Bobby Sands: 66 Days (DIR. Brendan Byrne) By: Shannon Page Bobby Sands, a member of the Irish Republican Army, was only twenty-seven years old when he died in prison in 1981 after refusing food for 66 days.  Sands was the first of ten IRA prisoners to die as the result of a hunger strike in protest of their status as regular criminals, as opposed to political prisoners.

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Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2016: ‘A Dog’s Life’ and ‘Hotel Dallas’

April 23, 2016Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

A Dog’s Life (DIR. Hélène Choquette) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Research has shown time and time again that pets are beneficial to homeless individuals, as they provide love, support and companionship to a marginalized, frequently ignored population.  A Dog’s Life is a study of the benefits and hardships that come along with being homeless with a dog, discovered through interviews with several people in this particular situation.  What follows are anecdotes about a variety of topics…

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Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2016: ‘Credit for Murder’ and ‘Tickled’

April 21, 2016Wylie Writes Staff1 Comment

Credit for Murder (DIR. Vladi Antonevicz) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi A video appears on YouTube which depicts the ritualistic slaughter of two men by masked individuals: one man is beheaded and the other is shot.  The video appears to come from Russia.  The Russian authorities say it is fake, until one man is identified after his father comes forward.  This is the beginning of an unusual and captivating story about Russian neo-Nazis, recounted by a Jewish filmmaker…

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Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2016: ‘Fear Itself’ and ‘Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World’

April 20, 2016Wylie Writes Staff1 Comment

Fear Itself (DIR. Charlie Lyne) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi What is the source of fear and why does it excite us when we are seated in a dark room, watching awful things happen to photogenic strangers? This is not the question that documentarian Charlie Lyne attempts to answer in his latest work Fear Itself, a deeply personal study of the horror genre told through the same metatextual and introspective methodology that previously manifested itself in directorial efforts like Beyond…

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