ARISE, ARISE, O ye great-grandchildren of Grierson, Brittain, and Perrault. THE DOCUMENTARY, the only original Canadian art form that means anything to the rest of the world, is in peril. We’re on
Keep ReadingA good story department is a military operation, led by the showrunner(s) who carries the vision of the series.
Keep ReadingThe best part of the latest monograph put out by the Toronto International Film Festival Group is the last—Pierre Perrault in his own words—where the passionate, sometimes in-your-face documentarian ends up sounding
Keep Reading“To search for the good and make it matter: that is the real challenge for the artist. Not simply to transform ideas of revelations into matter, but to make those revelations actually
Keep ReadingJUDGE JUDY MEETS FREDERICK WISEMAN in French filmmaker Raymond Depardon’s compelling feature doc, 10e Chambre, Instants D’Audiences (The 10th District Court, Moments of Trials), a hit on the 2004 film festival circuit.
Keep ReadingTheatrical cruelty, fairytale morality, dime-store surrealism; Freudian sexuality, alchemical symbology, Black Magick; four-colour Grindhouse violence and more aphorisms per minute than any given episode of Kung Fu, back when people still thought
Keep ReadingZERO THE INSIDE STORY, the latest film from Elida Schogt, deals with personal pain, the meaning of life, self-image and, not incidentally, the history of the number zero. Schogt, sitting comfortably on
Keep ReadingIf you grew up in Canada in the Sixties, Patrick Watson was as distinctive a figure as Gordon Lightfoot, Jean Beliveau and Pierre Trudeau. His acute features and dry, slightly nasal voice
Keep ReadingHere’s a scenario to consider: What if, instead of spending hours commuting to a job environment you didn’t like, you were just seconds away and your partner in work also happened to
Keep Reading“The single most important thing for all of us is to get a better understanding of the real world. And what better way to define what a documentary is about? As you
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