Inside Out LGBT 2019 Film Festival Toronto

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Thursday, 23 May 2019 23:43

Written by Gilbert Seah

LGBT INSIDE OUT 2019

This year’s 2019 Inside Out LGBT film festival scores two big mainstream movies for its grand opening and closing night Galas. 

The Opening Night film is ROCKETMAN, the lively bio of Elton John that opens commercially next week.  The Closing Night movie is the Emma Thompson vehicle LATE NIGHT which also opens the following week.

The films will be screened at the prestigious comfortable TIFF Bell Ligthbox.  Check the Inside Out website for the full program of films. 

Capsule Reviews of Selected Films:

DRAG KIDS (Canada 2019) ***
Directed by Megan Wennberg

DRAG KIDS is a Canadian documentary about drag kids i.e. kids that dress up in drag to perform, just as their adults counterparts - drag queens do.

Director Megan Wennberg’s doc takes advantage of this curiosity  as well as proposes answers to questions like why would kids want to do drag and how their performances affect themselves and their close ones.

Four children are chosen from Canada, Europe (Spain) and the United States.  The children are as diverse as they are drag kids.  The four are: (their stage names used; just as their adults counterparts use) Queen Lactatia, Laddy GaGa, Suzan Bee Anthony and Bracken Hanke.  The climax of the film is their performances, their first time at Fierte Montreal (the new name for Pride Montreal) where they come together and interact, just as their parents do.  Needless to say, they have the times of their lives as in the words of Suzan: “This is the best time in my life - ever!”  Suzan is the only female doing drag.  One the music starts, and the kids go on stage, the remarkable happens!

One encouraging thing the doc exposes is the support provided by the parents of these children regardless of which continent they come from.  The parents speak highly of their children and their ability to do what they want.  One parent makes a good point putting down the fact of the question on whether his child is straight or gay.  My son is only 9, is the valid response.

The doc offers close to equal time devoted to each of the 4.  Which drag kid is the best? The answer is revealed at the end of the competition, but it does not really matter when everyone is having a good time, parents included.

It is also no easy task to perform drag, kid or adult as the film reveals.  The children undergo intense choreography lessons in preparation for their show.

One glaring fact is that Wennberg only skims the surface of drag kids in her doc and fails to go deeper into any connecting issues.  The result is an ok doc, pleasant to watch with a little information on the subject but fails to offer major insight to the its subject.

DRAG KIDS premiered at the Hot Docs in Toronto 2019.  There will be two other opportunities to view the film - one at the LGBT Inside Out Film Festival that runs from the 23rd of May and the other, when it premieres on the Documentary Channel in July of this year.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUto5LJ2AmY

A NIGHT AT SWITCH ’N’ PLAY (USA 2019) ***
Directed by Cody Stickels

SWITCH ‘N’ PLAY is a drag show/Burlesque that takes place regularly at a Bar in Brooklyn. Tickets are modestly prices between $10 - $12.  Audiences will be for a time of a grand night.  But the audiences there are always respectful of the performers.  The performers are part of an LGBT collective.  hey claim the audiences is very good and they have never been heckled .  A NIGHT OF SWITCH ’N’ PLAY documents a night out with the show, with various performs doing their thing.

All of the performances, hosted by Femmecee Miss Malice are spicy, hilarious and inventive.  But beware that a few of them are sexual in-your-face. 

The film begins with the introduction of Miss Malice as she opens the show with her aide Zoe Ziegfeld.  Ziegfeld is dressed so that her pubic hair can be seen through her costume, which she keeps pulling (the hair not the costume).  Ziegfeld performs again later on during the film, including a part where she does a hand stand on one of the audience’s chest.

Other performers on display include Divina Grans3parkle (with her Twinkie the Dik costume), Pearl Harbor, Max Satisfaction and Drag Kings, Vigor Mortis (Brooklyn Nightlife's Awards Drag King of the Year 2017) and K. James.  Beside the regulars (not everyone feared in the doc), the show also features guest performers.  Two of them Qualms Galore and Veronica Viper are featured in the doc.

Of all the performances, the most outrageous belongs to Nyx Nocturne.  The reason will not be revealed in this review - but thus performance is the most shocking and outrageous and the audience loves it.  Warning - be prepared to be utterly shocked for this one.  But my favourite performances are the two done by the Drag Kings.  The striptease by K. James as a milkman is both sexy and entertaining.

Besides the performances, the performers also talk how their drag characters have developed, how they chose their drag names and the reasons they do what they do (besides having a great time).

A NIGHT AT SWITCH ’N’ PLAY ends up more entertaining that it actually deserves.  Sit back, enjoy the infectiously enjoyable show and ignore all the shit that is otherwise happening around the world.  This doc is playing at the LGBT Inside Out Festival that runs this week.  And a few of the drag performers including Miss Malice will be present at the screening.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/335301344

YO IMPOSIBLE (Being Imposible) (Venezuela/Colombia 2018) ***

Directed b Patricia Ortega

Finding ones identity is difficult at the best of times, but what if a critical piece of your history has been kept from you? When Ariel (Lucia Bedoya) has sex with her boyfriend for the first time she experiences intense pain.  Her mother, who is quite ill and in hospital finally hints at the truth.  The mother gives her strict instructions to visit a very specific doctor but will tell her nothing else.  To make matters more confusing, Ariel has developed a strong attraction to her new co-worker, Ana.

YO IMPOSIBLE (BEING IMPOSSIBLE) is a film about intersex.  There have not been many films (The recent Human Rights Film Festival this year in Toronto had a documentary entitled INTERSEX), particularly fictional ones about this human condition, so Ortega’s film makes intriguing viewing, despite its slow pace and fact that it comes in Spanish from South America.

Otherwise, the film’s production values are apt.  The cinematography, particular the night scenes are well lit and certain scenes like the fist lesbian kissing scene is naturally blurred.

It is a slow paced movie that allows the audience to think and contemplate each segment - ow the protagonist feels and how she would react to different situations.

One problem of the film is that those entering the theatre before the film starts know that the subject is an intersex girl who discovers that an operation had been done on her without her knowledge.  The knowledge of this key plot point spoils the otherwise well built up climax to this point of revelation in the film - which takes place close to just after the film’s half way mark.

Ortega’s film is very sexual, but not in an erotic sense.  There are scenes with dildos that are used not for masturbation but for treatment of pain.  In  the sex scenes, Ariel is usually writhing in pain rather than pleasure.  But the pain is not always physical.  In Ariel’s words, when asked what hurts her the most, her reply is “the lie”.

Ortega’s ups the ante by including scenes at Ariel’s work in a garment manufacturing facility.  The other female workers are nothing short of nosy bitches.  Ariels’ s closest colleague turns out to be quite the nasty bitch, minding other people’s business.  When a new employee, Ana arrives and Ariel begins a lesbian affair with her which he closest colleague discovers, all hell breaks lost including a cat fight.  Ana is finally fired from work for being a threat to good morals.  This indicates the unaccepted state of gays in South American society.

The film contains a tacked on happy ending that otherwise spoils the film’s narrative flow.

The film is shot in Spanish.  Warning that the English subtitles are not perfect and arrive with a lot of spelling errors.  The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and will also be played at this year’s LGBT Inside Out Film Festival.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/317169006

DRAG KIDS (Canada 2019) ***
Directed by Megan Wennberg

DRAG KIDS is a Canadian documentary about drag kids i.e. kids that dress up in drag to perform, just as their adults counterparts - drag queens do.

Director Megan Wennberg’s doc takes advantage of this curiosity  as well as proposes answers to questions like why would kids want to do drag and how their performances affect themselves and their close ones.

Four children are chosen from Canada, Europe (Spain) and the United States.  The children are as diverse as they are drag kids.  The four are: (their stage names used; just as their adults counterparts use) Queen Lactatia, Laddy GaGa, Suzan Bee Anthony and Bracken Hanke.  The climax of the film is their performances, their first time at Fierte Montreal (the new name for Pride Montreal) where they come together and interact, just as their parents do.  Needless to say, they have the times of their lives as in the words of Suzan: “This is the best time in my life - ever!”  Suzan is the only female doing drag.  One the music starts, and the kids go on stage, the remarkable happens!

One encouraging thing the doc exposes is the support provided by the parents of these children regardless of which continent they come from.  The parents speak highly of their children and their ability to do what they want.  One parent makes a good point putting down the fact of the question on whether his child is straight or gay.  My son is only 9, is the valid response.

The doc offers close to equal time devoted to each of the 4.  Which drag kid is the best? The answer is revealed at the end of the competition, but it does not really matter when everyone is having a good time, parents included.

It is also no easy task to perform drag, kid or adult as the film reveals.  The children undergo intense choreography lessons in preparation for their show.

One glaring fact is that Wennberg only skims the surface of drag kids in her doc and fails to go deeper into any connecting issues.  The result is an ok doc, pleasant to watch with a little information on the subject but fails to offer major insight to the its subject.

DRAG KIDS premiered at the Hot Docs in Toronto 2019.  There will be two other opportunities to view the film - one at the LGBT Inside Out Film Festival that runs from the 23rd of May and the other, when it premieres on the Documentary Channel in July of this year.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUto5LJ2AmY

Hot Docs 2019 (Capsule Reviews)

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Thursday, 25 April 2019 19:22

Written by Gilbert Seah

HOT DOCS 2019 Begins this Week April 26th in Toronto.

For complete program,please check the HOT DOCS website.

(There are deals for senios and students with free movie screenings.)

Capsule Reviews of Selected Films:

ADVOCATE (Canada/Switzerland/Israel 2018) ***

Directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaïche

The doc is he story of tireless and fearless Israeli lawyer Lea Tsemel who defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from nonviolent demonstrators to armed militants.   She is not popular among the Israelis.   ADVOCATE follows Tsemel’s caseload in real time, including the high-profile trial of a 13-year-old boy — her youngest client to date — while also revisiting her landmark cases and reflecting on the political significance of her work and the personal price one pays for taking on the role of “devil’s advocate.” Directing duo Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche assume the privileged position of a fly on the wall of Tsemel’s practice, where a year of documenting is like gathering a lifetime of evidence.  The film is exciting as the two cases presented, and the audience sees not only Lea at work but how judicial systems work.  Even if the accused is innocent, a plea bargain is created for the accused to plead guilty for a lesser charge or face greater penalty if found guilty.  The film is hastily edited with the intercut cases and a lot of padding is evident from the life of Lea from student to her current position.  The interviews of her family - husband, son and daughter break the flow the court cases.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/320517522

BUDDY (Netherlands 2018) **

Directed by Heddy Honigmann

BUDDY follows the stories of six guide dogs and their owners exploring  the close bond between animal and human.  Among them are a now 86-year-old blind woman who reflects back upon all the dogs that have been at her side since she was 21,  an autistic boy who explains how his loyal friend Utah can tell when he’s upset and a war veteran suffering from PTSD.   These owners are not very interesting to listen too and director Honihmann spends more time on the humans than the dogs.  Nothing is revealed on how these dogs are trained on how they are bred or why a certain  breed is suitable for different disabilites.  The dogs look really sad in the way they are forced to care for their masters.  I love dogs and dog movies, but BUDDY does not do anything for me nor shed any insight of these poor lovable caretakers.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xQjL-hmPiA

THE DAUGHTER TREE (Canada 2019) ****
Directed by Rama Rau

Indians are stubborn to have a boy.  They abort the girls.  Changing the natural order results in unbalances in the human ecology of things.  There are insufficient girls to be married off and many males end up singles, unable to find a wife.  Brides are often sold to willing males.  The insightful doc THE DAUGHTER TREE, filmed in India is an entertaining  and absorbing examination of the problem.  This is a totally new Canadian documentary written, produced and directed by Rama Rau, an epic documentary film, six years in the making, about the disappearance of women in India resulting in all-male populations in some villages.  If there is a feminist themed movie, this is the one as it deals with the subject from the roots.  Females are just as important if not more important than  their male counterparts.  The film explores the aftermath of a cultural preference for baby boys sweeping through interior India, through the eyes of a fearless Warrior midwife called Neelam who counsels and advocates for baby girls, while a lone man in the Village of Men - so called because no girl has been born here the past three decades - goes on a quest to find a wife.  The film is also beautifully shot by D.P. Nagaraj Diwakar.  India never looks so stunning, especially not in a documentary.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/244731236

FOR SAMA (UK/USA/Syria 2019) ***
Directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts

The doc begins with the image of a baby and a picture of a an 18-year old girl, that is supposed to be taken 10 years prior to the making of the doc.  It turns out that the girl is Waad Al Kateab, the doc’s co-director and mother of the baby named Sama.  She is making the doc for her daughter Sama, detailing the experiences she and her husband went through in evacuating the city of Aleppo, Syria, where she grew up.  Over the course of several years, Waad al-Kateab has been filming the uprising in her home city of Aleppo, Syria.  Capturing the brutal conflict all around her comes with added personal stakes as she falls in love and becomes pregnant with her first child.  The film also attests the strength of women in war.  At one point in the film, the women chant: “We are resilient!  We are strong.”  The film contains disturbing images of war.  After six months of the city under siege, the camera pans the destruction of rubble and dust ads the citizens of Aleppo prepare their evacuation.  FOR SAMA captures the danger and turmoil the citizens of Aleppo have gone through.  Trailer: (unavailable)

INSIDE LEHMAN BROTHERS (Canada/France 2018) ***1/2
A film by Jennifer Deschamps

INSIDE LEHMAN BROTHER is a documentary about finance.  Those involved in the world of stocks and finance will find this doc timely, insightful and interesting but how about the other group of people not dealing with the financial world.  Director Deschamps, a French journalist (who co-wrote the script) attempts to bring interest to this group of people as well so that the film will have a larger target audience.  The doc begins with what appears to be an ordinary woman caught in extraordinary circumstances.  She is in a big residence in a large wooded area and says: “I would scream but no one would ever listen.”   Deschamps clearly has got her audience’s curiosity piqued.   As mortgage brokers for Lehman’s subsidiary BNC, Linda Weekes and her Californian colleagues were at the forefront of the subprime crisis.  The whistle blower is Matthew Lee then headquartered in New York, who was the first leader to have refused to validate the accounts tainted by fraudulent transactions.  Former CEO Richard (Dick) Fuld Jr. is the chief villain on display, an an evil villain at that.  There are appearances of President Trump (another villain) and ex-President Obama (the hero) in the film.  If Deschamps's aim is to infuriate the audience at the injustice, she has done a great job.  The details are explained, making up the bulk the movie.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_2k-OXzgXY

PUSH (Sweden 2019) ***
Directed by Fredrik Gertten

Housing prices are skyrocketing in cities around the world.  Incomes are not. PUSH sheds light on a new kind of faceless landlord, our increasingly unlivable cities and an escalating crisis that has an effect on us all.  Cities that director Gertten examines and takes his audience to include Toronto and London.  The film follows Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, as she is travelling the globe, trying to understand who’s being pushed out of the city and why. “I believe there’s a huge difference between housing as a commodity and gold as a commodity.   Gold is not a human right, housing is,” says Leilani.  The film shows that lean can make a difference as she organizes meeting around the world to combat the villains like Blackrock Funds.  Gertten and Leinai will both be present during the film screening at Hot Docs.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/324962587

PREY (Canada 2019) ***1/2

Directed by Matt Gallagher

PREY opens with a shot of a man dress  up in a tie and suit.  He is Rob Tallach, a Civil Lawyer.  He is nicknamed the priest hunter as he hunts down these priests perpetuators that prey on young boys.  And he has quite a number of cases to his credit.  Many have only recently come forward to speak publicly, while others have been silenced through settlements. One of the perpetrators, Father Rod Marshall, (interviewed in the movie when he was still alive) pled guilty to 17 assault charges; a colleague, Father David Katulski, called him a “very good pedophile.” One of his victims, seeking closure for this traumatic part of his childhood, filed suit against the Basilian Fathers of Toronto for its role in enabling Marshall’s depravity. The film is partly courtroom drama.  Everyone loves a solid courtroom drama and PREY provides one of the best.  But this trial was not about guilt or innocence, but about how much money the church should pay in compensation for the devastating fallout from the abuse.  The climax of the film is the verdict. 

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/323986619

THE WORLD OR NOTHING (EL MUNDO O NADA) (Canada 2019) **
Directed by Ingrid Verninger

The film, the first doc from Canadian director Ingrid Verninger is a portrait of 29-year-old Cuban twin brothers, Rubert and Rubildo Donation Dinza, which begins two-months after their arrival in Barcelona, Spain.  The film, shot in Barcelona explores the obsession and opportunity of today’s social media, the emotional cost of having big ambitions, the intimate bonds of sibling love, and the challenges of building a new life.  For the brothers, “The World” means achieving one-million friends on social media, making their parents proud, starting a family, and gaining international recognition as a dancing, singing, performing duo. “Nothing” is not really an option.  The twins are not particularly bright nor do they have anything worthwhile to offer, except maybe a bit of cool dancing.  Why Verninger has selected these two as her subjects is puzzling.  She has done better with her fiction films that are down-to-earth that offer the occasional insight on life.  This one is simply boring.

Trailer: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5m82wqsb1dx13ql/WorldorNothing_Trailer.mp4?dl=0

TIFF Cinematheque Presents - Films from Iceland

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Friday, 10 May 2019 10:24

Written by Gilbert Seah

TIFF CINEMATHEQUE Presents - Films from Iceland

The title of this new series on Icelandic films is Wayward Heroes: A Survey of Modern Icelandic Cinema because that is calling the series what it is.  Those who are fortunate to have traveled to Iceland (myself included) will reminisce of the amazing natural beauty of the island as they watch these films, many of which celebrate the landscape and beauty of the country,

The total of 10 films showcase the diversity of genres explored by Icelandic filmmakers, from Baltasar Kormákur’s Nordic noir Jar City to Ágúst Gudmundsson’s deadpan comedy Golden Sands, Gudný Halldórsdóttir’s absurdist Under the Glacier to Baldvin Z’s post–financial crisis drama Life in a Fishbowl.

The series will also feature introductions by three of the directors included in the retrospective: Fridrik Thór Fridriksson, who is considered to be the modern godfather of Icelandic film; Kristín Jóhannesdóttir, known for her masterful use of magical realism; and Róbert I. Douglas, whose satirical looks at Icelandic society premiered to substantial domestic box-office success in the early ’00s. 

For a complete program, ticket pricing and descriptions of each film in the series check the TIFF website at: 

tiff.net

Capsule Reviews of Selected Films:

CHILDREN OF NATURE  (Iceland 1991  ) **** 

Directed by  Fridrik Thór Fridriksson

The only Icelandic film ever nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Fridrik Thór Fridriksson’s CHILDREN OF NATURE is the story of two seniors who escape their old age home because they’ve nature.  The film begins sadly with Thorgeir (Gísli Halldórsson) biding a silent farewell to the farm he has devoted his life to as he hoots his dog and prepares to move in with his grown married daughter in Reykjavík.  He is eventually put into a retirement home, where he is unexpectedly reunited with an old flame, Stella (Sigrídur Hagalín).  Stella’s words to the retirement home’s attendants: “You have no right to decide for me,” is indeed very sad and moving and has the audience rooting for her.  They flee the home, stealing a jeep to travel back to their country home while the baffled police gather the clues.  Extremely well put together and one of the most effective dramas about old age I have ever seen.  The film also celebrates the countryside beauty of Iceland.

JAR CITY (Myrin) (Iceland/Denmark/Germany 2006) ***1/2

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur

As Detective Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson) investigates what he calls a messy and pointless murder where the culprit does not even bother to hide the evidence, he uncovers a three decade long crime involving a rape and some genetic dis-order.  Erlender is one tough cop and unafraid to go all out to solve the murder.  Director Kormákur (he made the Hollywood film ADRIFT and is now remaking Hollywood version of JAR CITY) ups the angst in this gruesome mystery by making the atmosphere so foul (Erlendur is shown eating  sheep’s head; he uncovers a rat infested wrapped body among the pipes) that one can almost smell the stench and rot. At the same time, another story of pathologist Örn (Atli Rafn Sigurdsson) embarking on a parallel odyssey searching for the cause of his little daughter's incurable hereditary disease is intercut with the murder mystery.  The two stories are neatly tied together in one of the most satisfying and grossest mystery thrillers seen in a while.  The film also makes extensive use of the Icelandic landscape which makes this film a must in the Icelandic Films series.

UNDER THE GLACIER (Iceland 1989) ***

Directed by Gudný Halldórsdóttir 

Directed by Gudný Halldórsdóttir from the 1968 novel by her father, Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness, this absurdist fable (shades of Monty Python) follows Umbi (Sigurdur Sigurjónsson), a young emissary from the Bishop of Iceland who is dispatched to a village at the foot of the famous Snaefellsjökull glacier to investigate the local pastor (Baldvin Halldórsson), whom the church authorities fear has allowed his flock to slip back into older, pagan ways.  What is the greatest challenge of the church? Paganism? Homosexuality.  Apparently what is happening under the glacier is the most pressing problem.  The script slyly encompasses world issues like commercial religion, capitalism and life itself.  This film oddly enough had a commercial release in 1989 and is an entertaining parody on how we live life.

WHEN THE RAVEN FLIES (Iceland 1984) **

Directed by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson

WHERE THE RAVEN FLIES is the first of Gunnlaugsson’s epic Viking trilogy.  The story unfolds in a straight forward fashion, opening as a young Irish boy witnessing the slaughter of his parents and the kidnapping of his older sister by marauding Icelandic warriors.  The film quickly moves years later, the now grown boy (Jakob Thór Einarsson) now arriving in Iceland with vengeance on his mind.  He systematically sows discord among the Viking clan that killed his family, secretly murdering some and playing off their suspicions of one another as he works his way towards their leader.  The film takes its time to establish any interest as the start of the film looks cheesy and cheap due to the music and badly staged set-ups.  The film eventually picks up with a bit of violence and Icelandic flare.  The film has promise but could have been better.

Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2019

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Category: Cinéma - Movies

Published: Thursday, 28 March 2019 13:17

Written by Gilbert Seah

THE 2019 TORONTO HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL

TIFF ® and Human Rights Watch co-present the 16th annual Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival with a bold new lineup of films that spotlights global crises and provides a platform to expose stories that have long been hidden in the shadows.  The films present compelling and urgent narratives on topics ranging from free speech and LGBTQ+ rights to religious freedoms and the effects of censorship on democratic society. 

This year’s festival, running from April 3 to 10, 2019 at TIFF Bell Lightbox, features seven powerful films from nine countries: Brazil, France, Germany, China (Hong Kong), Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States.  Four of the seven films were directed or co-directed by women.  Most screenings will be accompanied by discussions with filmmakers, Human Rights Watch researchers, or subject-matter experts, to spark conversations around the challenging issues featured in the films and to add important context. 

At this year’s Opening Night, Human Rights Watch honours and pays tribute to trailblazers and award-winning filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier at the festival’s opening reception. Berlin Peace Film Award winner and Oscar-shortlisted documentary The Silence of Others is the Opening Night Film, which follows the victims of Francisco Franco and their ongoing fight for legal reparations against the Spanish dictator’s surviving fascist henchmen.  Additional highlights from this year’s lineup include: the TIFF 2018 selection Ghost Fleet, examining the global fishing industry as a Thai human-rights activist, Patima Tungpuchayakul, and her team seek to bring home workers essentially enslaved at sea; the Prix Europa winner and Sundance selection The Cleaners, an inside look at people hired to moderate online content for corporations and at those affected by such censorship; and the closing night film, the Tribeca selection Roll Red Roll, the true story of a whistle-blowing blogger who exposed a community’s complicity in a vicious crime while examining the pervasiveness of rape culture and the ways in which it must be dismantled. 

For the complete film lineup - Visit tiff.net/humanrightswatch.

Opening Night. 

The Silence of Others Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar | USA/Spain | 2018 The Silence of Others reveals the struggle of victims of Spain's 40-year dictatorship under the fascist general Francisco Franco who continue to seek justice. Filmed over six years, it follows the survivors as they organize the groundbreaking Argentine lawsuit to fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity, and explores a country still divided four decades into democracy. The Silence of Others, whose executive producers were Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar, and Esther García, is the second documentary feature by the Emmy-winning filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar (Made in L.A.). Wednesday, April 3, 8pm 

A Family Tour Ying Liang | Taiwan/Hong Kong/Singapore/Malaysia | 2018 Five years ago, the Chinese filmmaker Yang Shu made a film that offended the Chinese government. She has since been forced to remain in exile in Hong Kong. When her mother, who had been ill, suffers a relapse, Yang Shu uses the opportunity of a film festival in Taiwan to reunite her family while keeping to the strictly regulated schedule of a Chinese tour company. Introduced by Farida Deif, Canada Director, Human Rights Watch. Thursday, April 4, 6:30pm 

No Box for Me. An Intersex Story Floriane Devigne | France | 2018 Intersex is often still dealt with as a pathology that must be treated and repaired. This film reflects on the ways intersex people seek to reappropriate their bodies and construct their identities, and questions the standards our societies impose in the name of social norms. Introduced by Neela Ghoshal, Senior Researcher in the LGBT Rights program, Human Rights Watch Friday, April 5, 6:30pm 

Ghost Fleet Shannon Service, Jeffrey Waldron | USA | 2018 People normally think of slavery as a part of history. But in the global fishing industry, a modern form of slavery takes place far out at sea where no one can bear witness.  A Thai human rights activist, Patima Tungpuchayakul, has led a crusade to help her country's victims and expose their conditions. In Ghost Fleet, viewers follow her team on a seafaring rescue mission to bring home prisoners who have spent years in captivity. Introduced by director Shannon Service followed by Q&A discussion

CAPSULE REVIEWS OF SELECTED FILMS

THE CLEANERS (Germany 2018) ***
Directed by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck

THECLEANERS, the new doc that premiered to sold-out performances at this year’s Hot Docs brings the audience into the hidden third world shadow industry of digital cleaning, where the internet rids itself of what it doesn’t like.  The new documentary THECLEANERS unashamedly touts the all importance of ‘cleaners’ at the very start of the film.  Words (titles) on screen emphasize the millions of tweets, posts on youtube and the millions of people connected on social media going to say how much the internet would be a mess without THECLEANERS. TheCleaners delete images, videos and texts that violate the rules of social media. his is none from, (surprise! surprise!) none other than Manila in the Philippines.  The film introduces five “digital scavengers” among thousands of people outsourced from Silicon Valley whose job it is to delete “inappropriate” content off the net. In a parallel struggle, we meet people around the globe whose lives are dramatically affected by online censorship.  The film is even more shocking when it shows glimpses of a few of these deleted images.  The directors cannot resist sensationalization from their film.  There is a disturbing segment which shows an image of a beheading done with a dull knife (like  kitchen knife) resulting in a crooked cut with lots of blood.  The film lacks a proper conclusion for the reason that problems presented in the film have no clear resolution.  Promises by the high tech giant executives are difficult to keep despite good intentions.   

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA1DxRdT2hA

NO BOX FOR ME. AN INTERSEX STORY (France 2018) ***

NI D’EVE NI N’ADAM UE HISTOIRE INTERSEX

(French title: Neither Eve, Neither Adam: An Intersex Story)
Directed by Floriane Levigne

“Intersex” is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that do not seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.   It is estimated that 2% of the population are born with some kind of gender variation.  For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside.  This doc is abut Intersex people.  The main issue is to decide for the intersex person whether to be male or female and in many cases, an operation done at an early age to fix the gender.  However, as the body develops, the chromosomes might turn out the opposite.  NO BOX FOR ME examines this problem with 3 intersex subjects, letting them have their say.  Animation is used to illustrate the problem they go through.  The film though running just around 60 minutes, will be an eye-opener for many, myself included for the one reason that I do not know any intersex people.  The films best line is uttered by an intersex man to an intern lady, of the people that have insulted him because of his condition: “I pity them.  They will always be normal.  We will always be different.”

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ0mW1OQaK4

ROLL RED ROLL (USA 2018) ***1/2
Directed by Nancy Schwartzman

RED is the colour and name of the famous football team and pride of the town Steubenville, OHIO.  But part of the fame comes from a scandal which rocked the nation.  Two of the football team members, Hays and Richmond were arrested for allegedly raping an unconscious and drunk underaged girl (referred to as Jane Doe) at a drunk-fest pre-game party.  The doc is an example in which the subject is so upsetting and intriguing that the audience would be totally glued to the screen regardless off how good the doc actually is.  Thankfully, the doc is not half bad and gets the audience to be on the side of the female victim right from the start with the narration performed by a crime blogger, Alexandria Goddard whose work actually brought this crime into light.  The climax of the film is the revelation on whether the two boys will be convicted with a guilty verdict.  There is another twist in the plot which adds nicely to the film’s conclusion.  The film is also totally relevant in these times of sexual harassment.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/295637537

THE SILENCE OF OTHERS (Spain 2018) ***1/2

Directed by Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar

(OPENING NIGHT FILM)

One of the biggest docs to premiere at Toronto’s HOT DOS 2018 was Pedro Almodovar’s presentation of THE SILENCE OF OTHERS, a film about the evil of the Franco regime of 40 years.  The film gets personal at the film’s start when a 90-ish old women places flowers at the side of the road.  She is still mourning the death of her mother, who was taken away by the townsfolk way back in the 30’s and left by the side of the road.  Her body was not allowed to be taken to the cemetery.  Footage taken in 1936 the shows Franco next to Hitler followed by massacre of rows of people and other injustices such as brutal beatings by Franco troops. All the above occurs within the first 5 minutes of the film so the audience is primed for a solid riveting historical documentary.  This elderly woman is just one person seeking just for inhumanities done during the Franco regime.  She and many others want their relatives’ graves exhumed for their remains.  Others were tortured by officials in the regime.  They,understandably want justice.  The film follows a select few of those who suffered under the Franco regime.  Many want the torturers punished and go to jail while others want the bodies of their dead ones back for proper burial.  The film centres on their emotions especially showing their joy and relief after the courts have passed sentence.

Trailer: http://www.critic.de/film/the-silence-of-others-11676/trailer/