Crime Scene: The Vanishing at The Cecil Hotel and Losing Elisa Lam

The Elisa Lam case was mysterious, perplexing, and one that received a lot of attention. I'm sure I saw the news reports of her disappearance in 2013, but she resurfaced through paranormal Youtube videos I'm prone to watching late at night. Many accounts speculated that the young woman popping in and out of an elevator... Continue Reading →

February 16, 2021

TIFF Next Wave Film Festival 2021: Unapologetic

Black women and girls have a heavy load to bear. We are nurturers and fighters, supporters and innovators, working behind the scenes caring for families, lovers and doing the work. Often, we go unnoticed because that has been the narrative for so long. We can be rendered voiceless, and when we speak up, we are... Continue Reading →

February 11, 2021

Black Art: In The Absence Of Light Uplifts Black Artists

Growing up, I was lucky enough to have a father who was an artist, and I have fond memories of gazing at each brushstroke that made up his vibrant paintings hung all over our house. In general, however, black artists seem to be an invisible resource. They have always been here, creating anything from paintings... Continue Reading →

February 9, 2021

TIFF 2020: Underplayed

The world of a DJ is the world of imagination. Blending sounds to get the right beat, hitting the right pitch, and driving the crowd into a frenzy. As a twentysomething in the early 90s, I lived the life in Toronto’s warehouse scene. A friend who was DJ got me into the best after-hours parties... Continue Reading →

September 21, 2020

TIFF 2020: Enemies of the State

Questions and conspiracies arise from one young man’s story of persecution in the intriguing documentary Enemies of the State. Matt DeHart was accused of being involved with child pornography in 2010, but his parents felt something else afoot. They thought the FBI was after their son because he was hiding sensitive information uploaded onto his... Continue Reading →

September 18, 2020

TIFF 2020: The Way I See It

Dawn Porter, who brought us John Lewis: Good Trouble about the late activist and Congressman earlier this year, does it again. If you’ve seen the John Lewis documentary, you’ll fall in love with this candid look behind the scenes with a former White House photographer in her new documentary The Way I See It. Porter... Continue Reading →

September 11, 2020

In Plain Sight: Hot Docs 2020-Coded Bias

What happens if you want to create a fun project for your MIT class only to find that you don’t exist to your own project? This happened to then graduate student Joy Buolamwini when she wanted to create a facial recognition mirror, the “Aspire Mirror”, that would project fun filters to start your day. Because... Continue Reading →

May 31, 2020