The day Expo 67 opened to the public, a Montreal radio station wrapped its yearlong countdown show with the following: “There really is no way to describe this spectacle. Superlatives are meaningless. Pictures do not do it any real justice. You only believe it when you’re actually seeing it. You feel like Dorothy must have
When Nettie Wid’s KONELĪNE: our land beautiful (2016) collected three Canadian Screen Award nominations this year, it was another highlight in British Columbia’s rich documentary legacy. It’s a history of innovation, resilience and social conscience that includes some of Canada’s best filmmakers—and it began even before films were called documentaries. [Watch KONELĪNE: our land beautiful for free at Knowledge
Launching TIFF’s doc section, Sophie Fiennes’s film Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami gave the audience at its first public screening the taste of ecstasy they hoped for. Both Fiennes and the living icon revelled in the wave of excitement that crashed through the Elgin. Driven by the almost 70-year-old Jones’s unstoppable energy as a performer and human
With music by Philip Glass and no talking heads, Jane will delight people who know about ecology and the animals but are genuinely in Ms. Goodall’s life as well.
Makala (France, 96 min.) Dir. Emmanuel Gras Programme: TIFF Docs (North American Premiere) Makala, Emmanuel Gras’ documentary about an episode in the life of a Congolese charcoal producer/salesman, Kabwita Kasongo, is just about the bleakest cinematic evocation of poverty, comparable to De Sica’s classic The Bicycle Thief in its pure hopeless desperation. It’s the
Not all of TIFF’s docs end up in TIFF Docs. In recent years, many of the festival’s most interesting documentaries have been screened in the avant-garde program, Wavelengths. This year is no different: with masters like Wang Bing, Ben Russell, Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor sharing the bill with younger talents like Sky Hopinka and Laura Huertas Millán, among others, Wavelengths
Silas (Canada/South Africa/Kenya, 80 min.) Dir. Anjali Nayar, Hawa Essuman Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) Liberian activist and political candidate Silas Siakor is a voice the world desperately needs. His commitment to preserve the environment and cultural life of Africa from multinational corporations is a heroic struggle. Silas chronicles Siakor’s fight against illegal logging
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me (USA, 100 min.) Dir. Sam Pollard Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) Sam Pollard, who directed Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, has an extensive list of credits as a film editor in addition to being a veteran director. He’s chopped and spliced over forty flicks in his
The Other Side of Everything (Serbia/France/Qatar, 100 min.) Dir. Mila Turajlic Mila Turajlic’s The Other Side of Everything is two things: on one level, it’s a first-person doc about a daughter’s relationship with her mother; on another, it’s the story of modern Serbia. The person who makes that move possible is Srbijanka Turajlic, the
The China Hustle Dir. Jed Rothstein Programme: TIFF Docs (World Premiere) You saw The Big Short, right? Of course you did. And you came away with two thoughts: they ought to do something about this, and they won’t. Well get ready to think those thoughts all over again when you see Jed Rothstein’s brisk