Film Festivals Reviews

Film Festivals

Exposure (2022)

SIFF DocFest 2022: Two tales on ice

As someone who loves vacations in cold places, and bursts into tears during the title music for the Olympics (really, I do), there were a couple must-see chilly-themed films...

Linda
SIFF DocFest 2022

SIFF DocFest 2022 returns – October 6th-13th

We’re excited that Seattle International Film Festival’s DocFest has returned for a second year, giving us the chance to see fabulous documentaries that you may not get the chance...

Linda
Hot Docs 2021 #1: It's baaaaaa-ack! And so are we!

Hot Docs 2022 #12: Final Fest Films

Another Hot Docs is drawing to a close. <sigh> It’s been an insanely busy and exhausting — but, as always, immensely satisfying — 10 days, filled with a slew...

Vickie
Hot Docs 2021 #1: It's baaaaaa-ack! And so are we!

Hot Docs 2022 #11: Compelling Characters

Troubled children in Ukraine. A jovial chef on a mission. A director grappling with identity. And a young Buddhist monk who loves metal. No matter which films you see...

Vickie
moviepieQsHotDocs

Hot Docs 2022: Qs à la mode with… Reed Harkness (Sam Now)

Director Reed Harkness’s Sam Now took more than 20 years to make, and chronicles the experiences of his younger half-brother as he unravels the mystery of his mother’s sudden...

Vickie
Hot Docs 2021 #1: It's baaaaaa-ack! And so are we!

Hot Docs #10: People Making Waves

From land defenders protecting the environment in the Philippines to social-media influencers navigating a problematic platform, people are making waves in these four wildly different films. Delikado (6/8) When...

Vickie
Hot Docs 2021 #1: It's baaaaaa-ack! And so are we!

Hot Docs 2022 #9: A Trio of Top-notch Docs

These three documentaries don’t really have much in common, topic-wise, but they’re all great films. Which, I think, is enough of a connection to merit grouping them together. So...

Vickie
moviepieQsHotDocs

Hot Docs 2022: Qs à la mode with… Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir (Band)

In Band, director Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir trains her lens on herself, and her fellow Post Performance Blues Band members, as they make a last-ditch effort to hit it big. We...

Vickie
Hot Docs 2021 #1: It's baaaaaa-ack! And so are we!

Hot Docs 2022 #8: A Few Films That (for me) Faltered

Look, I *love* documentaries, but that doesn’t mean I automatically think every film I see at Hot Docs is amazing. For whatever reason, and notwithstanding the effort that I...

Vickie
moviepieQsHotDocs

Hot Docs 2022: Qs à la mode with… Tracey Arcabasso Smith (Relative)

In the deeply personal Relative, director Tracey Arcabasso Smith turns the camera on the women in her family to explore the silence and inaction around the sexual abuse she...

Vickie
Hot Docs 2021 #1: It's baaaaaa-ack! And so are we!

Hot Docs 2022 #7: Family Ties

For many filmmakers, family — be it the one you’re born into, the one you choose or the one you never knew you had — is fertile ground in...

Vickie
moviepieQsHotDocs

Hot Docs 2022: Qs à la mode with… Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux (Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew)

In Handle With Care: The Legend of The Notic Streetball Crew, co-directors Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Kirk Thomas catch up with the titular Canadian phenoms 20 years after their dazzling...

Vickie