Much to my chagrin, today was my final day at HotDocs 2010. I have to head out of town at the crack of dawn tomorrow, so I’ll be missing the festival’s final three days. It’s been a wonderful week filled with so many wonderful films, and this festival remains my favourite of them all. Anyway, …
HotDocs 2010 Day Seven: Call Girls, Controversy, Cameras and Closing Thoughts Read More »
Sometimes I think covering HotDocs – or, more specifically, watching a slew of documentaries all at once – would be a lot easier if I were dead inside or had a heart made of stone. But I don’t, and I get immersed in the stories onscreen, and I cry… a lot… and it gets emotionally …
Sometimes, I find myself lucky enough to be present for a really magical festival experience. Something that’s so special it reminds me why I attend film festivals in the first place, and something so unique that it couldn’t really happen in any other context. And, for me, it’s usually not the big, fancy premieres or …
The skies were blue, the clouds were fluffy and white, and the winds were fairly strong as I headed out for a pair of screenings this afternoon. Given that my first film was all about George Lucas, I wondered – yes, in an admittedly narrow-minded way – whether the theater would be filled with “enthusiasts.” …
Despite the ongoing threat of decidedly inclement weather, I once again managed to elude rain today and, even better, saw a trio of excellent films. My first screening of the day was the mid-length documentary, i bought a rainforest (7/8), which turned out to be a wonderful, moving, infuriating and yet remarkably hopeful little film …
HotDocs 2010 Day Three: Rainforests, Revelation and Rivers Read More »
Let me begin by saying something I say every year, and something that merits mentioning yet again: Myrocia Watamaniuk kicks ass. And I’m not just saying that because she actually used the word “meh” in one of her introductions today. Know what else kicks ass? The fact that every pre-film introduction explicitly and emphatically requests …
HotDocs 2010 Day Two: Sexuality, Secrets and Surrogacy Read More »
Toronto’s annual documentary film festival (April 29th – May 9th) is back for its 17th year with, fittingly, 170 films from the four corners of the globe. There’s a little something for everybody – from politics to religion, sexuality to aging, jelly beans to killer fish – and the docs themselves range from the hilarious …
HotDocs 2010 Day One: Fish, First Years and Food Read More »