When we watch a movie, we are consuming an image presented to us, with established tropes, perceptions of beauty and relationships, and often from only one perspective (it's easy to guess which one, too). Independent filmmaker and professor Nina Menkes' documentary, Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power, turns the spotlight on who is creating the images and points of... Continue Reading →
TIFF 2021: Beba
Image courtesy of TIFF A young Afro-Latina woman filmmaker examines her life in four parts in Beba. Rebeca “Beba” Huntt is an artist and filmmaker who documents 8 years of archival film on her life with a Black Dominican father and a light-skinned Venezuelan mother. She goes back to how they met, the sacrifices they... Continue Reading →
TIFF 2021: Attica
Image courtesy of TIFF Dog Day Afternoon was my introduction to Attica. Al Pacino shouting "Attica, Attica!" in that memorable scene, referring to a riot I knew nothing about in my younger years. In the new Showtime documentary Attica, director Stanley Nelson speaks to former prisoners who survived the rebellion that September 1971, those who... Continue Reading →
HBO’s The Legend of the Underground
In many countries, living out and proud can be something that puts your life at risk. After seeing the HBO documentary The Legend of the Underground, that risk is more than evident. Living in plain sight but not living their truths, several young people in Nigeria struggle with acceptance due to strict Nigerian laws. Imagine... Continue Reading →
Tribeca Festival 2021: Claydream
How did a sneaker mogul and an animation virtuoso meet in a bizarre legal battle? The documentary Claydream shows us the ups and downs of an animation empire, crushed dreams and the legacy of artistic collaboration. There are some successful animation houses like Disney Nelvana, Jim Henson, and Toei, to name a few, and stop-motion... Continue Reading →
Hot Docs 2021: One of Ours
Transracial adoption is a difficult road travelled by well-meaning parents and children constantly looking for acceptance. In Yasmine Mathurin's One of Ours, she follows Josiah Wilson, a young Haitian-born Canadian with Native status due to his adoptive father, Don. Josiah's journey of acceptance in the Indigenous community and by himself is spurred by a human... Continue Reading →
Hot Docs 2021: Bangla Surf Girls
From Lawrencetown Beach in eastern Canada, Bondi Beach in Australia, to Senegal and South Africa, surfing is a worldwide sport. While more commonly populated by shaggy young men, women are taking charge and winning on the waves. Marginalized women are also taking their place in the surf with the Black Girls Surf Project, where young... Continue Reading →
Hot Docs 2021: Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra
The Aboriginal culture is unique, beautiful and ancient. With over 65,000 years of customs and traditions passed down from tribe to tribe, the preservation of the Indigenous people of Australia has been a continued struggle for centuries. Three brothers, Stephen, David and Russell Page, decided that they would also do their part to preserve their... Continue Reading →
Hot Docs 2021: Subjects of Desire
“Black women have historically been denied the power of beauty,” Ryann Richardson bluntly states. In that moment in time, she was a frontrunner for the 2018 Miss Black America pageant, and she speaks a truth that, in this moment in time, still follows us. Black beauty and culture have been mined for decades, with the... Continue Reading →
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