With his new film Diego Maradona,Asif Kapadia concludes his loose trilogy of biographies of complicated superstars after the acclaimed Senna and Oscar winning Amy.
Chris Dainty’s animated documentary Shannon Amen is as raw and organic as the materials from which it was made. Using a mixture of ice, animation, and even his own blood, Dainty resurrects his close friend, queer artist Shannon Jamieson.
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (USA, 93 min.) Dir. Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman Earlier this week, I performed a familiar routine. I opened a Vimeo link, cut and pasted a password, and let a film buffer. Then began the familiar opening act: a few hit tunes, some famous talking heads, some early concert
City Dream (China, 100 min) Dir. Weijun Chen Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) It doesn’t seem to matter whether a system is capitalist or communist. The consequential things remain the same. Weijun Chen’s latest documentary City Dreams dramatically reveals what happens to an individual trapped in an urban structure that isn’t of his devising. We quickly find out that
Ibrahim: A Fate to Define (Denmark/Lebanon/Qatar/Slovenia/Palestine, 110 min.) Dir. Lina Al-Abed Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) We’ve seen films like Ibrahim: A Fate to Define before, the ones where family members find out much—sometimes too much—about their missing relatives. It’s a great doc genre, incorporating thriller and mystery elements while allowing for deeper dives into questions of character and
Paris Stalingrad (France, 86 min.) Dir. Hind Meddeb w/Thim Naccache Programme: TIFF Docs (International Premiere) Back in 1960, the filmmaker Jean Rouch, already acclaimed for Moi, un Noir, his genre-busting semi-fictional documentary shot in Africa’s Ivory Coast, combined with philosopher Edgar Morin to create Chronique d’un été, the first cinema verité feature. Shot in the summer, the film covered