HotDocs13

Reviews

Hot Docs 2013: The Ghosts in our Machine is Hauntingly Good

By: Addison Wylie According to The Ghosts in our Machine, it’s easier for photographer Jo-Anne McArthur to go unseen in factory farms than it is to be seen in major publications. McArthur has dedicated her life to capturing the life of unkempt animals through her lens to spread the word of inhumane treatment aimed towards animals to garner material goods.  Whether she’s tagging along with other passionate individuals or executing guerrilla missions as we saw…

Reviews

Hot Docs 2013: A Breath of Fresh Air

By: Addison Wylie Morag McKinnon and Emma Davie’s documentary I Am Breathing is really good and moviegoers will be thankful that they were fortunate to see it. Audiences feel enlightened having spent time with Neil Platt. Platt, having been diagnosed with MND (Motor Neurone Disease), spends his life paralyzed as he plays with his son and humours his nurturing wife. He loves words and always has interesting things to say and even more interesting ways…

Reviews

Hot Docs 2013: Shooting Bigfoot and Scoring Laughs

By: Addison Wylie The documentary Shooting Bigfoot follows three expeditions led by four different devoted and off-kilter trackers. One subject is Rick Dyer. Dyer has had his name besmirched in the world of hunting Bigfoot due to a scam that took the media by storm. Once he finds Bigfoot, he plans to capture it and take its life. Another hunter is Tom Biscardi, a well known tracker who has no interest in killing Bigfoot, but…

Reviews

Hot Docs 2013: Alias Chokes at the Mic

By: Addison Wylie Alias made me frustrated.  Watching Michelle Latimer’s documentary provoked me in a way that pushed me to talk back to the screen – something I rarely do. Alias focuses on a small handful of Toronto rappers trying to be heard and to please an audience with their music and lyrics.  According to the synopsis, Latimer’s doc “digs deeper than the usual portrait of the rap world as glamour, guns and swagger.”  I…