Hotel Coolgardie (DIR. Pete Gleeson) By: Addison Wylie I find myself with Hot Docs déjà vu. I liked a movie – at least, I think I did – but I feel sick to my stomach. A similar love/hate set of emotions I felt towards last year’s The Wolfpack.
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.
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.
Jeremy Saulnier, the director of the unusually and undeservedly lauded Blue Ruin, concocts a second feature where hot punk rock meets cold blooded murder.
Holy Hell (DIR. Will Allen) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Cults have almost become a stereotype in our society to a point where anyone can practically spot one on sight. This is one of the main reasons why Holy Hell is so powerful.
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…
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…
Aim For The Roses (DIR. John Bolton) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi After describing the premise of this documentary to a friend, her response was short and simple: “sounds stupid.” I have to say, I didn’t disagree with the sentiment that it sounded “stupid”, but the final result is one of the most exciting, most unusual documentaries I have ever seen.
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…