The subject of the 2017 Hot Docs Focus On retrospective, Maya Gallus is a sophisticated, innovative feminist filmmaker. Since her sensational debut feature Elizabeth Smart: On the Side of the Angels premiered at TIFF (then called the Festival of Festivals) in 1991, she has created an exciting and provocative body of work, which includes Girl Inside (2007), Dish: Women, Waitressing & the Art of
Canada's Documentary Magazine
Finnish director Selma Vilhunen has been making films for over a decade. Having worked in both documentary and fiction, she gained acclaim in 2014 for her Oscar-nominated short film Do I Have To Take Care of Everything?, and made her fiction feature debut with Little Wing at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016. This year
A notable pleasure of attending the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival comes before and after the screenings, as one strolls along the Promenade that stretches for many kilometres around the waterfront.
Eye, Camera (USA, 17 min.) Programme: Singular Sensations In 2005, artist Tanya Vlach lost her eye in a car accident. Looking towards artistic influences, such as science fiction or superhero narratives, Vlach begins to think of the experience as not a loss, but something to make her stronger. In Brittney Shepherd’s Eye, Camera, we
The Monster (Sweden, 29 min.) Dirs. Lisa Gustafsson & Johan Palmgren Programme: Magnificent Obsessions (International Premiere) Putting a new spin on the term “blood lust,” Lisa Gustafsson and Johan Palmgren’s new film The Monster follows Elena, a young woman with hematophilia: she is aroused by blood. Gustafsson and Palmgren show us Elena’s journey through
Veteran filmmaker Alan Zweig returns to the life and hard times of Steve Fonyo in Hope. The doc continues the story that began in Hurt, Zweig’s 2015 film about the fallen Canadian hero who once ran across Canada and raised awareness for cancer before descending into a trap of drugs, violence, and petty crime. Hurt, a tough
On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 29, 1992, a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers of criminal charges in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. By nightfall, the city was in flames, ignited by the rage of an African-American community that had been denied justice time and again in a city
Rumble: Indians Who Rocked The World (Canada, 103 min.) Dir. Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana Programme: Special Presentations (Canadian Premiere) As a music film this talking-head style documentary may not break much new ground, and the cynical may dismiss it as just another in a long line of similarly themed retrospective works. Yet the key
Mommy Dead and Dearest (USA, 82 min.) Dir. Erin Lee Carr Programme: Special Presentations (International Premiere) Fans of true crime must see Mommy Dead and Dearest. If documentaries such as Amanda Knox, The Imposter and OJ: Made in America chilled and enthralled you, Mommy is for you. This doc tells one twisted tale. One
Last 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 similar ground but takes advantage of a feature-length format to spread out a bit, mixing the first responders’ heroism with off-duty camaraderie and