Back in 2013, Jason Mojica, who heads Vice Documentary Films, the recently launched new division of Vice Films, encountered Kim Jong-un. He met North Korea’s Blessed Leader during production of Vice on HBO’s Season One finale. “It was the most surreal experience of my life,” recalls the affable, thoughtful Mojica. “We were invited to a special private dinner,
It’s the Canadian sesquicentennial, a time when this country can engage in celebrations, critiques and a vast array of looks at what has happened here over the past 150 years. CBC must have been pleased when Big Cedar Films’ producer-director Geoff Morrison suggested that his company make a ten-part series about Canada’s “brand” and how
Risk (USA/Germany, 92 min.) Dir. Laura Poitras Featuring: Julian Assange, Sarah Harrison, Jacob Appelbaum, Jennifer Robinson, Edward Snowden Communications, security systems and global politics have shifted dramatically since Julian Assange started WikiLeaks in 2006. An Internet startup like no other, Assange’s organisation hasn’t made billions but it’s changed the world. The complete tale of
Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS (USA, 99 min.) Dir. Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested Programme: Special Presentations (International Premiere) Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS, Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested’s new documentary, is the closest thing we’re likely to see to
Thierry Garrel, a French Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, joined the Research Department of French Television (ORTF) at the age of twenty and went on to become the Head of the Documentary and Junior Authors Division at the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA). From 1987 until 2008, he was the Head of the Documentary
Long Strange Trip (USA, 240 min.) Dir. Amir Bar-Lev Programme: Special Presentations (International Premiere) One can’t help but appreciate the nod to the longevity of The Grateful Dead in the running time of Long Strange Trip. This epic four-hour rock doc is a cradle to grave saga of one of the most peculiar success
Rebels on Pointe (Canada, 90 min.) Dir. Bobbi Jo Hart Programme: Singular Sensation(s) (Toronto Premiere) In Rebels on Pointe, Montreal filmmaker Bobbi Jo Hart profiles Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the successful New York based company that knocks the stuffy art of ballet off its pedestal and makes it an open, inclusive, and
An Austrian who lives in Miami Beach, producer-director Rudi Dolezal’s music videos and docs have platformed musicians ranging from Bob Marley to Queen, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie. Best known for the Grammy-nominated Miles Davis and Quincy Jones: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and Freddie Mercury, the Untold Story, Dolezal had a long, warm relationship
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord But you’re gonna have to serve somebody – Bob Dylan Many of Federico Fellini’s films were steeped in the guilt, fear, and mysticism of the Catholicism he grew up with in northern Italy. When Fellini was a child, priests told him that a
Give Me Future (USA/Cuba, 85 min.) Dir. Austin Peters Programme: Artscapes (Canadian Premiere) Before The Stones rolled into Cuba for their 2016 Havana Moon show, Major Lazer drew huge crowds of young Cubans to a groundbreaking performance. The core of this electronic dancehall world music unit are the deejaying trio of Florida’s Diplo, Jamaica’s