At a Toronto variety store, amid racks of candy, lottery tickets and cigarettes, a Korean couple battles their Canadian-born children. The father demands that his kids finish school, get married and start families. No exceptions. The children rail against his constant pressure, while outside the store they try to blend with their Canadian peers. They
Canada's Documentary Magazine
The documentation of landscape by photographers is as alluring today as it was at the beginnings of photography, perhaps because the genre offers a comforting niche for soul-searching and exploration of one’s time and place. Focusing a camera on a landscape can be a metaphorical way of focusing a lens on yourself, as three photographers
"I’m inspired by Sandra Steingraber every day. What she says is that she’s a biologist and she’s a mother. And so, the way that she fought was with her whole heart. And in one hand, she held the science, and in the other hand, she held love. And that’s how you win," says Chanda Chevannes.
The Devil’s Freedom (Mexico, 74 min.) Dir. Everardo González Introducing his new film at a RIDM (Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montreal) screening, Everardo González said that his primary motivation was to give voice to Mexicans brutalized by his country’s relentless violence. The horror can come from many directions. You can be kidnapped, tortured,
Zaatari Djinn (Netherlands, 90 min.) Dir. Catherine van Campen Years ago, in south-western Morocco, I was walking across a wide plain with Mohammed Baidou, a friend who loved telling tourists anything and everything about his village and its culture. It was a dark night, nobody in sight as far as the eye could see,
My Piece of the City (Canada, 60 min.) Dir. Moze Mossanen Earlier this year, Charles Officer’s Unarmed Verses wowed audiences at Hot Docs and other festivals with its story of youths in Toronto’s Villaways housing community. Officer’s doc centred on one young woman, Francine, and saw through her eyes the transformation and redevelopment of
Brasilia: Life After Design (Canada, 88min.) Dir. Bart Simpson Through scrutinizing the complexities behind Brasilia’s glossy surface and embracing its politics, economics and social issues, Bart Simpson embarks on a journey through the city’s inventive urban planning and architecture in his new documentary Brasilia: Life After Design. Simpson’s fascination with Brazil’s capital is understandable. The
24 Snow (Russia, 90 min.) Dir. Mikhail Barynin What’s it like to live in a place where temperatures drop to minus 65°C? Ask Sergei, a horse breeder from the Sakha region in Russia and the protagonist in new Mikhail Barynin’s documentary 24 Snow. Yakutia or the Sakha Republic is situated in northeastern Siberia, a land
Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas (Sweden/Germany/Finland, 80min.) Dir. Joakim Demmer Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas confronts and redefines the conventional Western understanding of international development by examining the toll this practice has taken on Ethiopia. Known for its fertility and biodiversity, Ethiopia grapples with famine and poverty, while relying on food aid to feed
Sans bruit, les figurants du désert from Collectif MML pays tribute to the actors of Ouarzazate, a cinematic underclass acting out Western fantasies of the Other.