“Travels to a Different Time” : 15July1975: Dombas, Norway: Norwegian Mountain Climbing

My goodness waking up to a sunny day! Kiel my Danish friend and I headed out into town on his motorcycle to get some grub for breakfast. After we ate breakfast we both washed some clothes and decided to go for a hike in the mountains. We hopped on his East German motorcycle travelling about 10 kms out of Dombas. We headed straight up the mountain and it was hard going at first. Beautiful hiking with waterfalls to the left and right. We stopped a few times to fill up our bottles in the cold-water streams. After 3 hours we stated our final ascent up past the snow and this last part of the hike was not without risk however after reaching the summit were rewarded with a tremendous view. Green valleys below and snow-capped mountains in the distance. We spent 20 minutes admiring the view and in 3 hours back to the motorcycle. Zoomed back to the hostel and stopped for ice cream and my ice cream ended up falling out of the cone on the sidewalk. The second one behaved itself. We had some supper and met a couple of girls from South Africa and went to play some Frisbee. In bed after listening to one of the girls play her guitar.

RKS Film: “Coextinction”: Humanity on the Edge

The EarthX Film Festival in Dallas Texas will be showing both in Cinema and virtually “Coextinction” a Canadian documentary focusing on the impending extinction of Southern Resident Killer Whales and then veers off to examine why many of these whales appear to be suffering from starvation and disease. There remain 74 of them in the Pacific Northwest of British Columbia and Washington State.

Part of the problem is the amount of recreational boats and whale watching vessels creating noise that disrupts the whale’s sonar crucial to locate the salmon that comprise 80% of its diet and add a degree of stress. An even greater source of noise are commercial vessels such as tankers and freighters and with the completion of Canada’s Transmountain Pipeline marine traffic is expected to increase by 700%.

But control the noise which will be impossible once the pipeline is completed the problem may be the rapidly declining Pacific salmon population which is threatened with extinction with some 109 fish farms in British Columbia that leak viruses and sea lice into the open ocean. The Canadian government has promised to close all these fish farms by 2025 but has not released any transition plan. In a documentary “Smell of Money” pig shit lagoons in North Carolina leak out feces into the environment with disastrous consequences. Same for salmon fish farms

The problem for salmon health is the presence of 4 money losing dams in Washington’s Snake River that have virtually wiped-out access to Pacific Salmon’s spawning ground. Despite public consultations and public support to breach these dams the United States Government announced in 2020 it would not breach these dams.

The declining Pacific salmon stock threatens the health of the indigenous population in British Columbia that relies on salmon consumption and has done so for thousands of years. Also the bear, eagle, seal, wolve and forests are suffering.

So the end result is extinction of an ecosystem that relies on salmon and when that ecosystem is destroyed where will we be as humans…close to extinction. Think again before you buy farmed salmon!

The film was directed by the two environmentalists Gloria Pancrazi and Elena Jean that take us on this emotionally depleting journey. Aside from refusing to buy and consume farm raised salmon which humanity has an unlimited capacity to consume it will be political action that saves the ecosystem of which by the way we humans are part of.

RKS Film Rating 90/100.

RKS Wine: Battle of the Okanagan Rosés

When rock started getting heavier in the 1960’s do you remember “The Battle of the Bands” which in our modern day parlance is a rock festival. May the best band win was determined by the loudness of the claps in the audience. I think they still exist although I haven’t heard of one in Toronto for some time.

Can we have a Battle of the Rosés or is that fair considering differing styles of rosés? Oh what the heck may the best Okanagan rosé win. I’ll be the audience.

The first rosé up on the stage is a Mayhem 2021 Rosé from the Okanagan Valley. It has a light pink colour so I am not expecting heavy guitars to be wailing. As for aromatics very solid aromas here. Raspberry, watermelon, strawberry and Orri Tangerine peel in a frame of rose petal jam. The palate is weighty and solid. It ain’t no Beach Boy harmony more along Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused”. The acids (not that type of acid man) are well in check thank goodness but they are perky enough to handle a field tomato salad. The palate has notes of fresh baked raspberry waffles, sweet red cherries and cactus pears. It finishes off its performance with an Eaglelish tune “Hotel Kelowna”. The finish is short and dry. Perfect for grilled or roasted baby goat or eggplant and potato gratin. The audience meter gives it an 89/100.

The grapes were destemmed after being hand harvested. Aged 89% in stainless steel and 11% in neutral oak. 220 cases were produced.

Best bet is to order from the winery at www.mayhemwines.com

(Mayhem BC VQA 2021 Rosé, Okanagan Valley, Mayhem Wines, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, $20.87, 750 mL, 13%, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

The next rosé taking the stage has a refined Pinot Noir heritage with its massive hit “Heartbreak Grape”. It has a darker complexion than the Mayhem rosé. On the nose it also has a more assertive nose with hints of its Pinot Noir heritage such as notes of raspberry, cherry and bits of strawberry. On the palate it seems slightly less acidic than Mayhem rosé and there is a bit more fruit on its palate with riffs of watermelon, cranberry and raspberry. The finish is longer than the Mayhem. As for food matches the same as for the Mayhem. It finishes off its performance with “My Okanaganie Achy Breakey Heart”. Audience meter reads 91/100). It wins $200,000 and the “Pat Burns CKGO You Are on the Line Doll Award”.

Unfortunately a scant 122 cases were produced.50% fermented in older oak barrels and 50% in stainless steel. The oak fermentation seems to diffuse the acidity a tad and gives the wine more mouthfeel than the Mayhem.

Best to contact the winery for availability and shipping at www.mfvwines.com

(Meyer Family Vineyards BC VQA, 2021 Rosé, Okanagan Valley, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls British Columbia, $20.96,750 mL, 13.5%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” :14July1975: Dombas Norway: Hopefully not Gangrene: Travelling with the Souvenir Salesman

A restless night as had to sop up water in my leaking tent with my bathing suit. A lull in the rain enabled me to take down my tent and then it started to belt again. As the Zambian and Aussie girls were sleeping I had to find shelter under a tree until they woke up. One of the Aussie girl’s leg looked ugly which meant they had to drive back to Trondheim for medical attention so we said good-bye. Hopefully it is not gangrene and there will be no need to amputate. In 10 minutes a lift with a souvenir salesman, wife and two children. It was but a 30 km lift. It was so cold up 2000 feet in the mountains. The next lift was with the Zambian and the Aussie girls. I got a lift to the youth hostel in Dombas. After camping out in the wild the youth hostel seemed like luxury. Met a Dane and we went for a spin on his motorcycle through Dombas. A tourist trap full of gaudy souvenir shops but ignore them and you have a spectacular view of the mountains. We are up at 2,500 feet. Back to the youth hostel for a swig of duty-free vodka the Dane had purchased. Off to bed at 22:00.

RKS Film: “Strictly for the Birds”: Finally, a Geezer Trans Film!

In the LGBTQ genre it is the lithe young’uns that rule the roost. This becomes a bit tiring. “Strictly for the Birds” breaks out of the youth stereotype and has 68-year-old Kate Birdsall recount her coming out as a trans and then later undergoing a gender change surgery to transform from Dan Birdsall into Kate Birdsall. The film is based on Kate Birdsall’s memoir “In Between: Strictly for the Birds”.

Dan Birdsall had a fascination with dressing as a woman from childhood which intensified as he divorced his wife in 1983 and gave up custody of their child Casey to his wife. Perhaps unrealistically there is nothing in the film about the hostility Dan may have faced coming out as a trans and then having surgery to become a Kate. It seems focused on the support Dan received.

Kate Birdsall (playing herself) relocated to a white bread senior’s community where they sing in a choir and attend church services. She meets Andrea Drury (playing herself) a twice divorced woman who falls for Kate knowing she was once he. Does that make Andrea a lesbian? Enough perhaps of all these categorizations as the relationship is based on two persons loving each other as persons. As Kate muses at the outset that we are told we are either man or woman but there are others who are outside that box but so many spend their life in a box. This is the most significant statement made in the film and worth remembering.

Kate and Andrea play themselves and at times their acting is hesitant and wooden but seconds later it is not acting on the screen but heartfelt emotion and that saves the film. Dynamo Zoe Taylor playing herself adds some comic relief in a delightful fashion.

Perhaps it is time for a cheesy Trans movie as this may signify just how far the genre has progressed. The soundtrack by Wonderly adds to the cheese.  

It is never too late to truly embrace who you are and thanks to “Strictly for the Birds” for reminding us of that.

Directed by Jon Garcia.

The film is now on digital platforms now including iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and Vudu.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49XpoVq7Y3Y

RKS Film Rating 73/100.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 13July1975: Trondheim, Norway: The Zambian Squabbles with the Aussie Girls: Peeing in a Luxury Hotel

Woken up by the Aussie girls and I ate a breakfast of bread and honey. I packed up my tent and we drove into Trondheim. The Aussie birds wanted to go to a music museum but not the Zambian and I who stayed in the van while the girls trundled off to the museum. The Zambian and I headed into town to buy a small Norwegian flag he could patch his jeans with. I don’t like Trondheim as it is a tourist trap with souvenir shops., We headed back to our site and had a beer in a tavern for the outrageous price of $1.20. We had another beer in the van and listened to music but with beer what comes in must come out so we crossed the road to a luxury hotel walking in like we owned the joint and found the WC. The girls returned chattering about how wonderful the museum was. They had their lunch and we headed out through Trondheim. It was belting rain as we left Trondheim. The Zambian and the Aussie girls began squabbling about where to park the van. The Zambian is increasingly annoyed with them as all they do is write letters all night and want to go to Post Restante to pick up their mail. They share expenses but what is the connection of the Zambian and the Aussie girls? There was lull in the rain so I rushed out and set up my tent. Damn it the water began leaking in.

RKS Film: The Documentary Film Reviewer and the Psychiatrist

Yes Mr. Stephen you have told me a jarring story of watching too many documentaries with a less than uplifting and joyous content.

You have mentioned a recurring theme in documentaries that have been causing you emotional difficulties.

You have mentioned countless documentaries dealing with.

  • Victims of war
  • Genocide
  • Climate change
  • Pedophilia
  • Drug abuse
  • Alzheimer’s
  • Rogue mining
  • Illegal poaching of endangered species
  • Political violence
  • Overflowing pools of pig waste
  • Homelessness
  • The destructive force of global tourism
  • The threat of genetic engineering
  • Corruption
  • Human rights abuses
  • The threats of artificial intelligence

You have indicated several factors that concern me and your Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) indicates borderline depression. Additionally your flashbacks to horrific scenes in these documentaries constantly plays out in your head and this may be Post Documentary Stress Disorder (PDSD).

Based on our conversations and your BDI you are on the verge of a major depressive disorder called Documentariaphobia. It is a newly discovered psychiatric disease and dealt with in our DSM Manual. The good thing is that it is rarely suicidal. I recommend that you:

  • Stop watching documentaries
  • Take a two-week vacation
  • Increase your Vitamin C intake to 5,000 mgs a day
  • Take a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course (MBSR)
  • Accept the pain that documentary film makers have caused you and exercise self compassion
  • Join a self-help group for documentary film makers with your disorder. There is only one such group in North America at the Will Smith Centre for Non-Violence for The Film Industry in Carmel California.

I will see you in two weeks and we can discuss what choices you have made. I will write a prescription of a steady dose of Harlequin romance films and hours you must watch Fox News for comic relief. No documentaries for two weeks. You and I will work to stem the tsunami of negativity. Perhaps through therapy we can reach a conclusion that this glumness is educative and not destructive.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 12July1975: Hitting the Red Cross Slot Machines in Norway

Up at 06:30 dismantling my tent in a cloud of mosquitos and flies that are all over the place in your eyes, mouth, ears and hair. Worse than being attacked by a lion. After a two hour wait a 30 km ride from a guy in an Opel. He stopped for a coffee and I played a slot machine owned by the Red Cross. I broke even, rolled a cig and back on the road. But the driver forgot his lighter so we headed back to pick it up. He let me off in a small town where I bought some breakfast. I hit the road with a cloud of insects following me. After being feasted on by bugs a lift in a Ford van with 3 Aussie birds and a guy from Zambia. At 4 we stopped at a lake where I had a wash in very cold water. We had lunch on the grass of bread, honey and beer.  30 kms from Trondheim we found a place to camp in the woods. I set up my tent near the van. We had a delicious supper and after that we sat in the van listening to music. It was good to speak English again! Off to bed at 22:00.

RKS Film: “Xenia” Some Eight Years Later

“Xenia” is a 2014 Greek/Belgian/French production. In Greek Xenia means hospitality towards guests and foreigners and is derived from Xenos meaning foreigner. Given that the main characters in the film Ody (Nikos Gelia) and Dany (Kostas Nikouli) are half Greek and Albanian and that Dany is gay in the Greece of 2014 there is not much Greek hospitality shown to them. In fact there are scenes of immigrants in Athens being taunted and beaten by the far right epitomized by the rise of the xenophobic New Dawn Party. Those were rough economic times for Greece under the thumbs of German and French creditors.

Dany joins Ody in Athens with news that their mother has died in Crete. They decide to find their father in Thessaloniki. He had abandoned them when Dany was two. Dany is turning 16 and Ody 18. Dany dresses urban confused gay, sucks lollipops and has a pet rabbit Dido. He acts cool urban gay but he is but a child lost in a fantasy world. Ody is on the verge of deportation to Albania. Ody and Dany believe that their long-lost father can be a key to obtaining Greek citizenship and that they can have a share of his rumoured wealth.

Off they go on an epic journey from Athens to Thessaloniki and despite a quasi “Dog Day Afternoon”  hostage taking incident the viewer is left hanging if indeed they found their father.

But what they find is each other a la “Odd Couple”. Ody also auditions for the “Greek Star” talent show reflecting the Americanization of Greece.

A journey of the immatures. The stuffed animal rabbit scenes only highlight the immaturity of Dany which is regulated by a slightly more mature Ody. This is an overly long film which veers toward losing the viewer with a long scene in the woods and in an abandoned hotel “Xenia” but it snaps back into place when the bothers reach Thessaloniki. I know very well the location where the Greek Star auditions were filmed in Thessaloniki.

Winner of 6 Hellenic Film Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor.

Directed by Panos Koutras.

Streaming May 6-15 as part of Greek Films on Demand from Hellenic Film Society USA. For more information www.helenicfilmsusa.org

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yPiz6rJICk

RKS Film Rating 84/100.

PRESS RELEASE

HOT DOCS WRAPS 2022 FESTIVAL 

ETERNAL SPRING TAKING BOTH ROGERS AUDIENCE AWARD AND HOT DOCS AUDIENCE AWARD; TOP THREE CANADIAN FEATURES SHARE $50K PRIZE 

Toronto, May 9, 2022— Hot Docs 2022 wrapped last night, bringing 225 films from 63 countries to audiences in Toronto cinemas and across Canada online. The 11-day hybrid festival featured 318 live screenings on nine screens at four venues across the city with 223 live filmmaker Q&As, and five special extended discussions with filmmakers and special guests as part of the Big Ideas Series, presented by Scotia Wealth Management. Further building on national audiences cultivated by the past two online editions, all official selections also streamed nationwide during the 2022 Festival with additional content, including recorded filmmaker Q&As, a panel discussion presented with UNHCR, and two special Curious Minds sessions, which paired films with panel discussions featuring subject experts.  

“The past 11 days have been an exhilarating and deeply rewarding experience after a three-year pause to our in-person Festival,” shared Chris McDonald, President of Hot Docs. “We are proud of the multitude of rich, important, and timely stories that were shared at Hot Docs 2022, proving that documentary cinema matters more than ever. We are thankful to our volunteers, filmmakers, industry stakeholders and partners who helped make this year such a success, and we look forward to celebrating 30 years of Hot Docs at next year’s Festival.” 

The Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, which recognizes the top Canadian feature as determined by audience poll and awards cash prizes totaling $50,000 to the top three Canadian features in that poll, was announced last night at a special free encore screening at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Eternal Spring (D: Jason Loftus | P: Jason Loftus, Masha Loftus, Yvan Pinard, Kevin Koo | Canada), in which exiled Chinese illustrator Daxiong recreates the daring hack of Chinese state television by activists, placed first and received the top prize of $25,000 CDN. Okay! (The ASD Band Film) (D: Mark Bone | P: Gregory Rosati, Amalie Bruun | Canada), a backstage look at a band of four talented autistic musicians as they prepare for their first live show, placed second and received a $15,000 CDN prize. Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children (D: Barri Cohen | P: Craig Baines | Canada), a searing account of abuse inside Ontario’s oldest government-run home for disabled children, placed third and was awarded $10,000 CDN.  

Hot Docs Audience Awards are determined by votes submitted by Festival audiences after in-person screenings and via the Hot Docs at Home streaming platform. At the close of the Festival, it was determined that Eternal Spring also placed first in the overall audience poll and won the Hot Docs Audience Award in addition to the Rogers Audience Award.  

The top mid-length film in the audience poll, winning the Audience Award for Mid-Length Documentary, was Sexual Healing (D: Elsbeth Fraanje | P: Willem Baptist, Nienke Korthof | Netherlands), in which a middle-aged disabled woman explores what intimacy means to her. The top short film, winning the Audience Award for Short Documentary, was Dad Can Dance (D: Jamie Ross | P: Jamie Ross | Canada), the self-affirming story of a son who discovers his father’s long-buried secret passion for ballet.  

The 20 documentaries in the audience poll are: 

1.      Eternal Spring (D: Jason Loftus | P: Jason Loftus, Masha Loftus, Yvan Pinard, Kevin Koo | Canada)

2.      Okay! (The ASD Band Film) (D: Mark Bone | P: Gregory Rosati, Amalie Bruun | Canada)

3.      Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children (D: Barri Cohen | P: Craig Baines | Canada)

4.      Beautiful Scars (D: Shane Belcourt | P: Corey Russell | Canada)

5.      The Smell of Money (D: Shawn Bannon | P: Shawn Bannon, Jamie Berger | USA)

6.      Navalny (D: Daniel Roher | P: Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris | USA)

7.      Handle with Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew (D: Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, Kirk Thomas | P: Ryan Sidhoo | Canada)

8.      Hunting in Packs (D: Chloe Sosa-Sims | P: Hannah Donegan, Ann Shin | Canada)

9.      The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks (D: Reg Harkema | P: Nick McKinney, Kim Creelman | Canada, USA)

10.   Batata (D: Noura Kevorkian | P: Paul Scherzer, Noura Kevorkian | Canada, Lebanon, Qatar)

11.   Returning Home (D: Sean Stiller | P: Andrew Lovesey, Gilles Gagnier | Canada)

12.   The Quiet Epidemic (D: Lindsay Keys, Winslow Crane-Murdoch | P: Daria Lombroso, Lindsay Keys, Chris Hegedus | USA)

13.   Category: Woman (D: Phyllis Ellis | P: Phyllis Ellis, Howard Fraiberg | Canada)

14.   In the Eye of the Storm: The Political Odyssey of Yanis Varoufakis (D: Raoul Martinez | P: Sol Tryon, Amir Amirani | UK)

15.   How Saba Kept Singing (D: Sara Taksler | P: Sara Taksler | USA)

16.   The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith (D: Nathalie Bibeau | P: Tara Jan | Canada | 2022)

17.   Dad Can Dance (D: Jamie Ross | P: Jamie Ross | Canada)

18.   Who We Will Have Been (D: Erec Brehmer, Angelina Zeidler | P: Erec Brehmer | Germany)

19.   Alis (D: Nicolas van Hemelryck, Clare Weiskopf | P: Alexandra Galvis, Radu Stancu, Nicolas van Hemelryck, Clare Weiskopf | Colombia, Romania, Chile)

20.   Relative (D: Tracey Arcabasso Smith | P: Tracey Arcabasso Smith, Laura Poitras, Jenya James Hamidi | USA)

Hot Docs’ wildly popular Docs For School program also ran during the Festival, offering teachers across Canada free access to 13 films, including five official selections from this year’s Festival, and accompanying teaching resource linked to curriculum. Hot Docs also presented a hybrid edition of its annual market and conference, welcoming 1,941 delegates from 74 countries. The Hot Docs Industry LIVE program featured three days of knowledge sessions and networking events and online offerings included Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs Dealmaker and Distribution Rendezvous, along with additional industry content.