Dragonfly Eyes (China/USA, 81 min.) Dir. Xu Bing Programme: Wavelengths (North American Premiere) Xu Bing is a Chinese artist of Ai Weiwei’s vintage—they were even roommates in New York—whose most famous
Keep ReadingMrs. Fang (France/China/Germany, 86 min.) Dir. Wang Bing Programme: Wavelengths (North American Premiere) I don’t know if it’s Chinese master documentarian Wang Bing’s rare skills—pairing the professional’s easy way with subjects with
Keep ReadingGood Luck (France/Germany, 143 min.) Dir. Ben Russell Programme: Wavelengths (North American Premiere) The epigraph to Ben Russell’s Good Luck — an account of a mescaline-induced hallucination of a rock repeatedly
Keep ReadingHell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS (USA, 99 min.) Dir. Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested Programme: Special Presentations (International Premiere) Hell on Earth: The Fall
Keep ReadingPhoton (Poland, 107 min.) Dir. Norman Leto Programme: Nightvisions (North American Premiere) Imagine an elliptical and increasingly dystopian introductory physics lecture delivered by a slightly ornery Aussie version of David Attenborough
Keep ReadingRat Film (USA, 82 min.) Dir. Theo Anthony Programme: Nightvision (Toronto Premiere) Over Godardian snatches of string quartet music and images of a race car track, an incongruous voice emerges: “Acknowledgment
Keep ReadingCity of Ghosts (USA, 91 min.) Dir. Matthew Heineman Programme: Special Presentations (Canadian Premiere) City of Ghosts makes a strong case for being the definitive documentary of Syrian Civil War to
Keep ReadingA Memory in Khaki (Qatar, 104 min.) Dir. Alfoz Tanjour Programme: International Spectrum (North American Premiere) A uniquely lyrical documentary about the Syrian Civil War, A Memory in Khaki weaves five
Keep Reading69 Minutes of 86 Days (Norway, 71 minutes) Dir: Egil Håskjold Larsen Programme: International Spectrum. (North American Premiere) The banal, descriptive title is the key to 69 Minutes of 86 Days.
Keep ReadingLast Men in Aleppo (Denmark, 104 min.) Dir. Feras Fayyad Programme: World Showcase (Canadian Premiere) Somewhat better than last year’s slick, saccharine Oscar-winner The White Helmets, Last Men in Aleppo treads
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