Media activists Stephen Marshall and Anthony Lappé’s first book, True Lies, packs enough journalistic punch and insight to shake to the core even those who have been paying close attention to the political scene in the United States for the last four years. In it, they posit that a combination of the Necessary Illusions that
Jorgen Leth: Translucent Being The Five Obstructions, a movie made with (and despite) Lars Von Trier, has pushed Jorgen Leth further into visibility on the global stage but there are long lines of light that led to that renowned collaboration. His coolly observational moments are the result of a restrained celebration, an embrace that knows
With the bloody 1976 Students’ Revolt, the American media snapped to attention, and discovered apartheid which from then on became the hypocritical rationale for covering the violence in South Africa, the real bait for the networks. The Soweto Uprising had caught the authorities by surprise. Newsreel crews from around the world, now equipped to record
The Paris Paradigm, by Adam Nayman To pilfer a phrase from a colleague, Rick Solomon’s One Night in Paris – or, as it’s more commonly and less punningly known, the Paris Hilton sex tape – is likely a vital work of “skinema vérité.” I say “likely” because, despite numerous, anonymous entreaties to my email account (o spam
During the 1990s, when working with producers as a DOP, deciding on which video format to shoot was pretty simple. Beta SP was the common denominator. But now, there are many more formats and new camera models to choose from. There are also many new aspects of video that are confusing to those who can’t
2004 marked the end of an era for the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). After 28 years, the festival is going annual. Why depart from the successful alternating year format? Well, there are benefits in funding and continuity but the main reason is that animation has changed. It’s big business now and the festival has
For the past several years, Winnipeg has been home to writer and filmmaker Clive Holden, the proprietor of Cyclops Press, and an intense observer of the urban emotional landscape. Holden’s ambitious film cycle Trains of Winnipeg—14 Film Poems premiered at Toronto’s Images Festival this past spring, and has since played Victoria’s Antimatter Festival, Winnipeg’s own Send
When Ali Kazimi’s latest film Continuous Journey premiered at the 2004 Hot Docs festival, the atmosphere in Toronto’s Royal Cinema was electric. Canada’s documentary filmmaking community was out in force as were a number of prominent South-Asian Canadians. They were there to see Kazimi’s most personal work, an exposé of the scandalous Komagata Maru Incident of
’s fitting that the feature documentary’s rise in profile has coincided with an era of unprecedented information control. What’s unfortunate is how often the films misinterpret control as concealment. For most of the stories that need to be told these days, it isn’t secrecy that’s the problem, but distraction—and reading secrecy over this enforced ignorance
“Imagine you’re a Roman Centurion.” Bare legged, draughty uniform, stationed in the damp northern colony of Britain surround by hostile natives—but enough about my school days. Although, that really was my first History homework essay and whilst it could have had the makings of a ripping yarn, it proved the basis for my first school