“Kimmapiiypitssini” in Blackfoot in short means empathy and involves giving kindness to each other and feeling for others and you are blessed if you show it. Perhaps for me it is a vital component of mindful living. Aa one police officer on the Blackfoot Reserve in Southern Alberta muses what would our people be likeContinue reading ““Kimmapiiyipitssini”: The Scourge of Fentanyl and Opioids in the Kainai Blackfoot Community in Southern Alberta: Toronto Hot Docs”
Category Archives: film
“Ostrov – Lost Island”: Misery and the New Tsardom: Toronto Hot Docs
The Russians have perfected the art over the last hundred years of criticizing authoritarian power through allegory in literature and poetry. Sometimes they get away with it but sometimes with novels from Solzhenitsyn like “Cancer Ward” or “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” it goes too far for the authorities to tolerate. InContinue reading ““Ostrov – Lost Island”: Misery and the New Tsardom: Toronto Hot Docs”
“About Endlessness”: Dare I Interpret?
This is a film that the director likes to taunt you into trying to interpret what it means. Yes a Swedish-Norwegian-German production puzzling you and challenging some sort of interpretation. No this is not “The Joker” or “Black Panther”. Instead you may be asking:” What the hell is going on here?” And that can beContinue reading ““About Endlessness”: Dare I Interpret?”
“Perfumes”: Not as Sure as I Thought I Was
Make no mistake French film can produce just about everything from the banal to the complex as far as films go. Having been watching them for 45 years, often late night when I lived in Montreal, hopefully you can take my word on this. For example, there is the classic “Indochine” with Catherine Deneuve whichContinue reading ““Perfumes”: Not as Sure as I Thought I Was”
“Magaluf Ghost Town”: An awkward documentary: Toronto Hot Docs
The promotional material from the film’s distributor leaves the impression that the town of Magaluf will be the subject of the documentary “which during season becomes a Deadwood-like capital of sin and vice”. Magaluf is a beach town on the Spanish island of Mallorca invaded in the summer season by British youth or better saidContinue reading ““Magaluf Ghost Town”: An awkward documentary: Toronto Hot Docs”
“Lady Buds”: Women and Cannabis in California: Has legalization created criminalization? Toronto Hot Docs
Most of this documentary is focused on the Emerald Triangle of California, namely the counties of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity Counties where over 60 % of California cannabis is grown but mass production seems to be shifting to Santa Barbara and the Mojave Desert. The documentary focuses on women cultivators, distributors, educators and activists. InContinue reading ““Lady Buds”: Women and Cannabis in California: Has legalization created criminalization? Toronto Hot Docs”
“The New Plastic Road”: Poor Tajik Peasants Take a Crack at International Commerce: Toronto Hot Docs
In 2004 the Silk Road between China and Tajikistan re-opened creating economic opportunities for Tajikistan the poorest of the former USSR republics. We meet Davlat who had a meagre poverty-stricken childhood with 11 people living in his family home. He lived in Kazakhstan for 8 years and then one year in Germany before returning toContinue reading ““The New Plastic Road”: Poor Tajik Peasants Take a Crack at International Commerce: Toronto Hot Docs”
“Seyran Ateş: Sex Revolution and Islam”: A Courageous attempt to bring Islam into the 21st century: Toronto Hot Docs
Seyran Ateş is a Turkish born woman who at a young age moved to Berlin. She had a strict Muslim upbringing making her feel like a prisoner. Only whores would go to movies with their friends. Women don’t read books so that was forbidden. Hating her lonely and oppressed teenage years she ran away fromContinue reading ““Seyran Ateş: Sex Revolution and Islam”: A Courageous attempt to bring Islam into the 21st century: Toronto Hot Docs”
“It is Not Over Yet”: Making the best of an unpleasant situation; Toronto Hot Docs
Of course, if you live in North America and the United Kingdom you simply can’t ignore how COVID-19 ripped through “long term care” or “nursing homes” drop-off depots for the immobile and those suffering from some form of dementia. Is this our fate and it could well be since Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the thirdContinue reading ““It is Not Over Yet”: Making the best of an unpleasant situation; Toronto Hot Docs”
“Hell or Clean Water”: Not in Canada You Say! Toronto Hot Docs Festival
Yes you have seen huge islands of floating plastic in the ocean but this sort of pollution can’t happen in Canada. Right? Well perhaps we don’t have huge islands of plastic washing up on the shores of provinces that have oceans. But” Hell or Clean Water” certainly exposes that on the coast of Newfoundland, particularlyContinue reading ““Hell or Clean Water”: Not in Canada You Say! Toronto Hot Docs Festival”
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