Category: Hot Docs
Hot Docs 2011: No Entry No Exit
No Entry No Exit Directed by Marelle Klein and Julie Kreuzer 2011, Germany, 82 mins. This is the trouble with fairness: nobody can agree exactly on what is fair. This is the disagreement at the crux of No Entry No … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: Knuckle
Knuckle Directed by Ian Palmer 2011, Ireland/UK, 97 mins. Knuckle did not start begin life as a documentary. Rather, director Ian Palmer met a bare-knuckle fighter at an Irish Traveller wedding in the mid-nineties and agreed to film an upcoming … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles Directed by Jon Foy 2011, USA, 88 mins. “Toynbee idea / in Kubrick’s 2001 / resurrect dead / on planet Jupiter” – this message, appearing in colourful tiles sunk into asphalt, has … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: Hollywood Complex
Hollywood Complex Directed by Dan Sturman and Dylan Nelson 2011, USA, 85 mins. For every face we see in a film, TV show, or commercial, there are thousands of others who auditioned. Thousands. They say that Hollywood is the only … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop’ – the personal odyssey of a terribly funny man
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop Directed by Rodman Flender 2011, USA, 89 mins. Conan O’Brien doesn’t just turn lemons into lemonade; he turns bile into ambrosia. Accordingly, this isn’t a documentary about his very public firing – although it does contain … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘Mothers of Bedford’
Mothers of Bedford Directed by Jenifer McShane 2011, USA, 93 mins. The title Mothers of Bedford belies the emotional expanse covered by the film. Though it is indeed mothers who are locked up in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘Kumaré’
Kumaré Directed by Vikram Gandhi 2011, USA, 84 mins. After watching Kumaré, an old aphorism comes to mind: the best way to learn is to teach. When Vikram Gandhi set out to teach people that gurus and other religious teachers … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘Fightville’ – nothing short of incredible
Fightville Directed by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein 2011, USA, 85 mins. I am not a fan of mixed martial arts. It is not something that I know much about, nor something to which I have devoted much thought. Yet, … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘St-Henri, the 26th of August’
St-Henri, the 26th of August Directed by Shannon Walsh 2011, Canada, 86 mins. The people behind St-Henri, the 26th of August seem to be of the mind that even the ordinary can be extraordinary – a noble sentiment, to be … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘Mighty Jerome’
Mighty Jerome Directed by Charles Officer 2011, Canada, 83 mins. Harry Jerome is no longer a household name, but he was once one of Canada’s most famous athletes, owing to the fact that he was breaking track and field records … [Read the Rest]
Our Ten Most Anticipated Hot Docs Films
Hot Docs starts this Friday. It’s one of my favourite festivals – so much so that I’ve already posted a handful of reviews and I’ve got a few more in the works. This is what I’m most looking forward to … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘Beauty Day’ more than just a story about the original Jackass
Beauty Day Directed by Jay Cheel 2011, Canada Most of the best documentary films are about outsiders, about people and events that exist within our society but reside in a fringe culture that most of us are unaware of or … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘The Lumberfros’
The Lumberfros Directed by Stéphanie Lanthier 2011, Canada, 71 mins. If there is one thing the NFB does well, its showcasing parts of Canada and walks of life of which the rest of us are unaware. The Lumberfros neatly fits … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘The Chocolate Farmer’
The Chocalate Farmer Directed by Rohan Fernando 2011, Canada, 70 mins. The appeal of The Chocolate Farmer isn’t broad, but it certainly straddles a few niches. The eponymous farmer, Eladio Pop, is a Mayan in southern Belize who farms cacao … [Read the Rest]
Hot Docs 2011: ‘Bury the Hatchet’
Bury the Hatchet Directed by Aaron Walker 2011, USA, 86 mins. Bury the Hatchet’s box describes it as a portrait of three major Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs of New Orleans (Alfred Doucette, Monk Boudreaux, and Victor Harris), and whilst I’ll … [Read the Rest]
