Victor Kanefsky’s Art Bastard asks broad questions about the relationship between art and politics. Its subject, American artist Robert Cenedella, serves a micro-answer to some of these broad questions. Although Kanefsky is successful in arguing for Cenedella’s work as critical satirical representations of U.S. political culture, the film lacks energy.
No Man Is an Island (DIR. Tim De Keersmaecker) By: Addison Wylie I imagine Tim De Keersmaecker’s outline for No Man Is an Island looked good on paper: make a first-hand view at how African refugees perceive life while living in the unknown territory of Lampedusa. Unfortunately, the documentary is another victim of poor fly-on-the-wall filmmaking.
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…
I have liked pop art for as long as I can remember, but I really fell in love with the movement after seeing a large retrospective of pop art from around the world at the Tate Modern last year. There are so many ways to use this movement for revolutionary purposes, through the reappropriation of established cultural artifacts and ideologies. But, as certain artists have proven, it is also exceedingly simple to not use it…
Aleksandr Sokurov’s Francofonia is a spiritual successor to his innovative 2002 film Russian Ark, more so thematically than aesthetically. Russian Ark was a narrativized tour of The Hermitage that doubly served as a re-enactment of parts of Russian history. The most important fact about Russian Ark, however, is that it was shot entirely in one take – a formal element missing from Sokurov’s new film.
By: Addison Wylie Lisa Immordino Vreeland continues to merge filmmaking with her love for fashion in Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict after debuting on the film scene with Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel in 2012. A newfound artifact serves as bedrock in Vreeland’s doc as the audience listens to the last interview given by world renowned art collector Peggy Guggenheim. The interview remains conversational between her and biographer Jacqueline Bogard Weld, which allows Guggenheim…
By: Addison Wylie Ok, everyone. This way, please. This tour is running behind, and we need to catch up. This next work we’ll be observing is Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery. This work has been known to carelessly eat up time for those who endure it. The entire canvas – for some reason – takes close to three hours to view. And, even though we’re given too much time to comprehend this lacklustre endeavour, on-lookers will…
To movie goers who may not be doc-savvy, they may instantly think a documentary has to be a film where talking heads flap away while being accompanied with relevant b-roll. That’d be unfortunate because that’s not always the case. The Hot Docs International Documentary Festival tries to provide audiences with documentaries that set out to portray the genre from a different angle. The festival does a solid job at providing plenty of examples. However, there are…
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is fast approaching, which means it’s time to check out some of the docs that will be playing this year. The festival has been known to feature a variety of different work capturing all sorts of subjects and world events. There’s simply no other festival like it, which explains why it’s become the largest film festival for docs in North America. Hot Docs is one of my favourite festivals…
By: Addison Wylie The realism in Stranger by the Lake (or, L’Inconnu du lac) is what initially draws audiences in. It’s paced deliberately slow to match life’s sunny tranquilities, and the cruising men who attend this private beach looking for a getaway and the occasional hook up come across as real people. Stranger by the Lake is uneventful for the most part, but its serenely baked atmosphere is musing. Once a dangerous dramatic turn comes into play, that…