Film Festival
TIFF Review: As in Heaven
In Europe today we take for granted the rights of children to have a childhood. Education is mandatory, for the vast majority, up until the age of 16 (or thereabouts). However, for millions of young people across the world this isn’t the case. This focus on learning has only really been in place since the …
TIFF Review: The Girl and the Spider
The butterfly effect theory posits that even a slight change in an initial condition can have a much greater impact on a later event. As the saying goes, if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon Rainforest it could eventually cause a tornado on the other side of the world. One small seemingly unconnected …
TIFF Review: Aloners
Traditionally, anyone living alone was, at best, considered odd, and at worst, a witch, warlock or some kind of pervert. The only people who generally managed to get away with it were those who devoted themselves to religion. Nowadays, it has become a much more common phenomenon. In Seoul, for instance, one third of homes …
TIFF Review: The Hill Where Lionesses Roar
Every craft, profession or career has its wunderkinds. Those young people who seem to be lightyears ahead of their peers. Making and producing work you’d expect from someone twice their age. The film industry is no exception. This normally manifests itself in front of the camera, with the likes of Kristen Stewart and Saoirse Ronan …
TIFF Review: The Odd-Job Men
The greatest comedies focus on the mundane. Those everyday events which can be hilariously funny in the right hands. The unusual relationships between people, often forced together through circumstance rather than choice. The most famous screen example of this is perhaps Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the adaptation of Neil Simon’s play, The Odd …
TIFF Review: Mlungu Wam (Good Madam)
While slavery was officially abolished in the territory which is now South Africa in 1834, by dint of being part of the British Empire, that didn’t suddenly mean that everyone became equal. Slaves essentially now became indentured workers, with few greater freedoms or rights than bondage. Even before the Apartheid regime came into power, Black …
Open City Docs Review: Shady River
Documentary filmmaking comes in many shapes and sizes. There are those which set-out to investigate and expose, some serve as biographies while others try to tell a story in (often) imaginative ways. Some of the most interesting and important attempt to serve as a document. To capture an event or a situation, using the voices …
TIFF 2021 Preview
The Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF to its friends, is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world. Now in its 46th year, each edition attracts almost 500,000 attendees. Obviously, things are a little different this time round and it will be both in-person and digital. Allowing as many Canadians to take part …
Open City Documentary Festival Preview
Open City Documentary Festival has always approached its task a little differently. Instead of just screening the biggest films it can get hold of they take a more inquisitive approach. Championing the art of creative documentary and non-fiction filmmakers, the festival looks to challenge perceptions and confound expectations within the genre. This year the festival …
FrightFest Review: The Retaliators
While vengeance might be a dish best served cold it’s more than likely that a wounded party will prefer a steaming-hot meal. It doesn’t matter how laidback someone is or what their beliefs are, we all have a ‘temperature gauge’. Pacifist or not, when pushed past the point of no return we can easily revert …