Image courtesy of TIFF In the leafy childhood paradise of Céline Sciamma's Petite Maman, you'll discover one girl's journey to understanding and love. Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) is an eight-year-old girl helping to pack up her recently deceased grandmother's house. Nelly's mother (Nina Meurisse) is sad because of the loss, and grief makes her distant. One morning,... Continue Reading →
The Wanting Mare Sets the Heart Adrift
Many directors try to translate dreams onto film, perhaps writing down snippets of memories before they float away, leaving their minds just as they reach for pen and paper. Nicholas Ashe Bateman spent five years creating the vision of his first feature, The Wanting Mare, and instead of fleeting pages, he immerses the audience in... Continue Reading →
BBC America Brings Pratchett’s The Watch to Life
Fans of Sir Terry Pratchett are vehemently protective of the worlds he creates. One, in particular, Discworld, is a place of mystical beings and magic. With trolls, imps, dragons and wizards, Pratchett wrote about social issues by using the world of fantasy to illustrate social injustice and classism, to name a few. Now, BBC America... Continue Reading →
Shudder Exclusive: We Are The Flesh (Tenemos la Carne)
Extreme cinema has its purpose, usually to tell a story in the most shocking manner to get a visceral response as we watch. While some directors use it for pure shock value, others reject the formulaic films cranked out of the incessant Hollywood machine. Some feel that extreme representation of brutality, sexuality, and gore is... Continue Reading →
TIFF 2020: The Water Man
Actor David Oyelowo's love for 80s cinema like The Goonies and representation inspired his choice for his feature directorial debut. In The Water Man, he takes us on a heartfelt journey with a boy, legend, and renewed faith in family. Gunner (Lonnie Chavis) is a creative child that his father, Amos (David Oyelowo), doesn’t understand.... Continue Reading →
TIFF 2020: Trickster
If you‘ve lived your life in a bubble with one reality, what happens when the bubble bursts, and the person you trusted the most harbors a big secret? In the new CBC series Trickster, a young man’s life turns upside down once he finds his true origin story. Jared (Joel Oulette) is a decent kid.... Continue Reading →
TIFF 2020: Night of the Kings (La Nuit des Rois)
Tall tales, danger, and a dark world of honor take center stage in Philippe Lacôte’s Night of the Kings. MACA is a notorious prison in Côte D’Ivoire, D’Abijan. It’s overcrowded and neglected, and the inmates are left to their own devices, creating a hierarchy and society that suits their needs. From the outside, MACA looks... Continue Reading →
Fantasia Film Festival 2020: Lucky
A woman’s fight to gain independence is a constant one. In Natasha Kermani’s Lucky, we see a motivational writer struggle to take her own advice within an endless loop fighting an unknown assailant. May (Brea Grant) is a successful self-help author, but her latest book isn’t doing so well. She’s also trying to reconnect with... Continue Reading →
In Plain Sight: She Never Died
As a programmer for The Blood in the Snow Film Festival, I have the privilege of seeing some fantastic films created here in Canada, and I feel even luckier when we acquire them. One such film, She Never Died, screened in 2019 to great acclaim. Directed by Audrey Cummings, it’s not exactly a sequel to... Continue Reading →
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