Category Archives: Documentary

National Canadian Film Day 2020

April 22, 2020 flawintheiris

This week I received a press release from Elevation Pictures that reported "Canadian film distribution companies have joined efforts to highlight some incredible Canadian films for audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their own home" This is all to celebrate National Canadian Film Day on Wednesday, April 22. It continues: "Elevation Pictures, eOne, LevelFILM,…Read More

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band review — Ain’t that a lot of love

April 8, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Daniel Roher | 100 min | Crave You know these guys. This is the story of Robbie Robertson, Canadian songwriter and guitarist, and The Band, with which he'll always be associated. It's a lovely film, and includes fascinating interviews and a lot of terrific music. While it reminds us that the five men…Read More

Carbon Arc Cinema Winter 2020 Review

March 30, 2020 flawintheiris

The winter season at Carbon Arc started on February 7 with the Best Commercials of 2019, which was followed by the usual selection of quality international films and documentaries. Regular readers of this blog will know I'm a volunteer and programmer at the cinema. But just as the fall season was interrupted in places by…Read More

There’s Something In The Water review — A history of environmental racism revealed

March 27, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Ellen Page and Ian Daniel | 73 min | Netflix Screenings around here sold out in seconds flat, so the interest in this province is high, but I wonder how this film might be received across Canada and elsewhere. If Page's bravery in coming out inside the glare of Hollywood, and her Gaycation…Read More

Quarantine watching!

March 22, 2020 flawintheiris

Whether I'm one of the lucky ones I'll leave it up to you to judge, but I'm still going to work every weekday in this global coronavirus pandemic. I guess I'm considered an essential service in what I do, but it remains to be seen for how long. A lot of people in my life…Read More

Carbon Arc Cinema: The Fall 2019 Season (Part Two)

October 21, 2019 flawintheiris

The Carbon Arc season is in full swing, with films already screened including The Last Black Man In San Francisco, and a mini comedy fest, Wild Nights With Emily, The Art of Self-Defence, and Tel Aviv on Fire. (For the preview of those films, and their trailers, go here. For a review of The Art of…Read More

Fahrenheit 11/9 review — Moore of the same

September 27, 2018 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Michael Moore | 128 min As a centrist Canadian-Dane, I'd make a radical Yank, and so frequently find myself in Michael Moore's political wheelhouse. I'm concerned about many of the same things he's concerned about, and I tend to agree with him on the ways these socio-political problems need to be…Read More

Three Identical Strangers review — Doc dives deep into nature vs nurture

July 25, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Tim Wardle | 96 min It's a story beggaring belief: in 1980, three 19-year-olds who didn't know each other, David Kellman, Robert Shafran, and Eddie Galland, discovered that they are triplets, separated at birth. Cue an All-American story of minor celebrity, as these three New Yorkers head out on the town, toasted by…Read More

Won’t You Be My Neighbour review — A man with something to teach us

June 29, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Morgan Neville | 94 min I wasn't an acolyte—as a child I'd absorbed Sesame Street, The Friendly Giant, Mr Dressup, even Captain Kangaroo, but somehow never visited Mr Rogers' Neighborhood. So, watching this documentary on the life and work of Fred Rogers, I didn't quite believe it at first, his inherent goodness. Despite his protestations,…Read More

Human Flow review — Refugee documentary stuns in scope and scale

November 9, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Ai Weiwei | 140 min Children's faces: That's what you'll take away from Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei's documentary Human Flow, which hops from place to place to give us a look at the struggle and suffering of thousands of migrants. Some of this is simply images of people walking, trudging, through…Read More