Category Archives: Canadian

Do I Know You From Somewhere? review — Lovely, sad Maritime fantasy

June 4, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Arianna Martinez | Written by Martinez and Gordon Mihan | ▲▲▲ | At Park Lane Cinema in Halifax on June 7 A supernatural mystery/break-up drama from New Brunswick isn't something we get a chance to see every day. This first feature from filmmaker Martinez got into TIFF, and it's easy to see why.…Read More

The Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival is on now!

May 28, 2025 flawintheiris

As regular readers of FITI will know, I'm a programmer and artistic director at Carbon Arc Cinema in Halifax. We're going dark this week to give the cinema spotlight to the Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival, happening until Sunday at the Bus Stop Theatre on Gottingen Street. I've had the opportunity to see a couple of…Read More

The Shrouds review — Portals to the grave, and other good times

April 24, 2025 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by David Cronenberg | 119 min | ▲▲▲▲ | VOD An earlier version of this review appeared on FITI in September 2024 during coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival. David Cronenberg isn't the only legendary filmmaker in his 80s still making interesting, relevant films, or at the very least taking big…Read More

Seven Veils review — Atom Egoyan’s disastrous soap opera

March 12, 2025 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Atom Egoyan | 107 min | ▲1/2 This film is a testament to Amanda Seyfried's astonishing talent. She's at its centre, delivering a passionate, emotionally grounded performance. It's also the one thing keeping this ill-advised effort on the rails. I don't blame Seyfried's cast mates for this — it's as if…Read More

Allen Sunshine review — Warm first feature from Harley Chamandy

November 19, 2024 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Harley Chamandy | 76 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Digital and VOD Montreal raised, New York-based director Harley Chamandy is receiving the 2024 Werner Herzog Film Prize for this feature, chosen by the German filmmaking legend himself. The award recognizes young directors, and Chamandy was in his early 20s when he made…Read More

#AIFF24 All We Imagine As Light, When The Light Breaks, Sweet Angel Baby, and The Substance

September 15, 2024 flawintheiris

I'm just in from The Substance and my head is still spinning from the heavy dose. More on that below. My understanding of Indian art house movies pretty much starts and ends with Chaitanya Tamhane's Court and The Disciple, so it's a pleasure to encounter this one, All We Imagine As Light. It's told through the…Read More

Atlantic International Film Festival 2024 Preview #AIFF24

September 9, 2024 flawintheiris

2024 marks the 21st year I've attended the Atlantic International Film Festival, formerly FIN, formerly the Atlantic Film Festival, and almost 20 since I've been covering it as an arts journalist. I've seen it swell to a massive, 10 day festival with hundreds of movies and red carpet events attended by a constellation of stars,…Read More

#TIFF24: Meet The Barbarians, Sharp Corner

September 7, 2024 flawintheiris

You'll find me a longtime fan of Julie Delpy the actor, writer, and director — in the Before series, Three Colours: White, and Two Days in Paris. She's back with this quite broad, clever comedy called Meet The Barbarians, (in French, Les barbares) where a well-meaning group of village folk in a corner of Brittany…Read More

#TIFF24: The Shrouds, Daniela Forever, and The Apprentice

September 6, 2024 flawintheiris

A gorgeous, sunny day in Toronto and I'm the idiot that chose two films about grief for my first two screenings — not intentionally, but that's sometimes how it rolls. The first was The Shrouds, written and directed by David Cronenberg, and the second also an auteurist drama, Daniela Forever, by the fantastically named Nacho…Read More

Close To You review — An unflinching look at the trans experience

August 17, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Dominic Savage | Written by Savage and Elliot Page | 100 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Crave A capsule version of this review ran on FITI during the coverage of the Atlantic International Film Festival 2023. Close To You is a very Canadian film — shot in the greyest of Southern Ontario winters, where…Read More