Year: 2022 Runtime: 104 minutes Writer/Director: Tearepa Kahi Actors: Cliff Curtis, Jay Ryan, Manu Bennett, Simone Kessell By Joan Amenn A thriller that reveals that police are corrupt and native peoples are being abused? Sounds like we have been here before and as sincere an effort as “Muru” (2022) is, it does not break out of old cliches. However, the performem takes on us a … Continue reading Muru: TIFF Review
Year: 2022 Runtime: 120 minutes Writer/Director: Marie Clements Actors: Grace Dove, Philip Lewitski, Remy Girard, Alyssa Wapanatahk, Gail Maurice, Jonathan Whitesell, Cara Gee By Joan Amenn That the Native people of the United States and Canada have suffered horrific treatment at the hands of the respective governments of each country is well known. What is not acknowledged until recently is that innocent children by the … Continue reading Bones Of Crows: TIFF Review
Year: 2021 Runtime: 70 minutes Director/Writer: Celine Sciamma Actors: Josephine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Margot Abascal, Nina Meurisse, Stephane Varupenne By Joan Amenn One of the hardest lessons a child can learn is the loss of a grandparent. Celine Sciamma, whose “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (2019) enraptured viewers two years ago, returns with an intimate and personal meditation on the cyclical nature of life. … Continue reading Petite Maman: TIFF 2021 Review
Year: 2021 Runtime: 77 Minutes Director: Rob Savage Writer: Rob Savage, Gemma Hurley, Jed Shepherd Stars: Annie Hardy, Amar Chadha-Patel Rob Savage’s “Host”(2020) was one of the biggest breakout films of 2020 as it showcased a strong horror story and execution perfectly fitting for the pandemic. Now, Savage returns with another film shot during the pandemic that blends social media monsters with a more mysterious, … Continue reading Dashcam: TIFF 2021 Review
“These are strange and important times,” she said this month at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). “Because truly, you can feel in the very vibration of the day, one day after the next, that we are in the midst of history. That 2020 will be long remembered. That we will be talking about this year and this time and remembering how we felt and what we thought and where we were and who we were engaged with for the rest of our lives. Continue reading Ava DuVernay @TIFF: “We are in the midst of history”
Year: 2020 Runtime: 77 minutes Writer: Emma Seligman Directed by: Emma Seligman Stars: Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Danny Deferrari, Fred Melamed, and Dianna Agron By Rosa Parra Shiva is a seven-day mourning period following the death of a family member in the Jewish religion. In “Shiva Baby,” written and directed by Emma Seligman, a young bisexual Jewish woman (Rachel Sennott) finds herself in … Continue reading TIFF Movie Review: “Shiva Baby”
By Valerie Kalfrin Halle Berry knows how to be a fighter. The Oscar-winner and action star plays an MMA fighter in “Bruised,” her upcoming directing debut. But she’s also battled throughout her career to showcase her talents instead of her appearance. “I have always known that I’m more than the shell that I walk around in,” Berry said at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) … Continue reading Halle Berry @TIFF: “Write. Direct. Produce. That is the power”
By Caz Armstrong The “We Are One” Global Film Festival has begun in earnest. This is a free online festival hosted on YouTube and curated by the best international film festivals in the world. Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, London, Berlinale, Tokyo, Sydney, Annecy, TIFF, you name it they have something for you. The films each have a set start time but most are available for around … Continue reading We Are One Film Festival: Five to Watch
This year at Toronto International Film Festival a retrospective, Here and Now: Contemporary Arab Women Filmmakers was held, casting a spotlight on the largely under screened cinema of the Middle East and North Africa. Showcasing the likes of Saudi-Arabia’s Haifaa Al-Mansour, Lebabon’s Nadine Labaki, Syria’s Soudadi Kadaan as well as Tunisia’s Raja Amari.
The programme celebrates female filmmakers from within the MENA region which is rich with female-filmmakers and female-centred stories and which has been at the forefront of feminist filmmaking far longer and far more powerfully than the vast majority of Western cinema. To celebrate this retrospective I will be taking a closer look at feminist filmmaking within Tunisia through Raja Amari’s “Red Satin” (2002), examining her deeply empowering use of the female gaze when depicting desire, sexuality and freedom. Continue reading TIFF Arab Women Filmmakers Retrospective: Desire, Sexuality and Freedom in Raja Amari’s “Red Satin”
In Their Own League 