Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2014: Saving Face

By: Addison Wylie

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival has made me exhale an astonished “wow” twice now.  That’s a compliment I haven’t admitted to in a while.  It’s absolutely true in the case of Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s harrowing doc Saving Face.

The mighty film, which deservedly won 2012’s ‘Best Documentary Short’ Oscar, shows audiences how disturbingly frequent and heartbreakingly affective acid crimes are.  Every year, numerous Pakistani women are dosed with different forms of acidic attacks.  The victims are left wondering what they did to deserve such torture and public humiliation.

Impressively, Junge and Obaid-Chinoy interview the alleged attackers – most of which are the husbands.  They give emotionless stories claiming they had nothing to do with the burns, and that they’ve been wrongfully accused.  The shiftiness in their testimonials as well as their unsupported proof doesn’t hold water – it’s blatant to see that.  The filmmaking duo don’t have an agenda to make all Pakistani men look like monsters.  They simply ask questions and let their cameras roll.  What they capture are sit downs with these apathetic, terrible contributors to lifelong injury.

The act of acid crimes gets lots of attention from those who want to bring justice.  A Londoner plastic surgeon, Dr. Mohammad Jawad, flies to Pakistan to survey the pandemic and offer his assistance to reconstruct facial features.  We see in every instance that he’s on screen how he tries to maintain his composure while his feelings of sadness and frustration seep out.

For a film that clocks in at under an hour (Saving Face is 52 minutes), the filmmakers pack a lot of development into the film.  Junge and Obaid-Chinoy select individual subjects and open their lives up to us.  The women, who embrace the filmmakers’ affection, show us what their living conditions are, take movie goers to the original spot where they were attacked, and explain personal barrenness.  Saving Face gives audiences a very intimate and utmost honest view behind the veils and burqas without anything feeling too intrusive.

Because these victims are worried that a similar attack will happen in the near future, audiences are also shown other resources where these women can seek protection.  We get an unbarred look at ASF – the Acid Survivors Foundation – and the kind saints who seek a change regarding the consequences the initiators face post-crime.

Saving Face is a powerful, well made and competently justified piece of work.  The doc may seem quick, but nothing is ever cut too short.  It has an impact in both its emotional connection and its respectful representation that beefier films would be jealous of.  Just “wow”.

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Catch Saving Face at Toronto’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival on Sunday, March 2 at 3:30 pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2014: In the Shadow of the Sun

By: Addison Wylie

I find myself in a predicament trying to review Harry Freeland’s documentary In the Shadow of the Sun.  Prior to the film, I was oblivious to the subject matter and found myself perplexed by the harsh reality that stalks Tanzanian albinos.

In the Shadow of the Sun is a perfectly fine documentary, but I keep feeling as if I’m rating Freeman’s doc on the content represented rather than the film the material resides in.  That isn’t the fault of Freeland’s wholehearted filmmaking, however.  The subject is just that powerful.

After a rumour circulates claiming that albinos are a rare form of future fortune and wealth, impoverished individuals or those simply seeking a good luck charm set out to retrieve parts of albinos to keep – resulting in nasty slaughters and diminishing hope for those born differently.  Besides the grisly tragedies, Tanzanian albinos are viewed as useless people who should be shunned.

You can see how it’d be easy to get sucked into this distressing situation, and shift focus away from the film itself.  Fortunately, audiences will still be able to appreciate In the Shadow of the Sun’s picturesque cinematography and the valuable minimalist filmmaking.

It’s important to note that Freeland doesn’t shy away from any details.  That description of the doc’s rawness shouldn’t entice you, but instead warn those who are faint of heart.  Movie goers will see the lengths others will go through to obtain a piece of “luck”.  Although, the uncensored look is helpful, these images are some of the most graphic content I’ve ever seen and will undoubtably make audiences queasy during their sympathizing.

The film’s core centres around Josephat Torner, an outspoken albino who wants to bring awareness to the effect this terrible rumour is having on his life and those around him.  He bravely takes to the road and speaks to multiple groups about the issue.  He gets them involved by asking questions and hearing them out before stating his opinion on the matter.  Smartly, Freeman steps back and lets his camera roll on Torner and the crowds during these passionate talks.

The doc is a little too long as it reaches the homestretch, and – understandably – becomes a bit of a broken record as Freeman tries to figure out how to make the main message take forms that offer variety to his project.

Otherwise, In the Shadow of the Sun is clear, concise, and a mannerly marvel.  Much like Josephat, Harry Freeman has made an meritable documentary successfully enlightening audiences around the world of these unfair circumstances.

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Catch In the Shadow of the Sun at Toronto’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival on Friday, February 28 at 6:30 pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

TIFF Next Wave 2014: For No Eyes Only

By: Addison Wylie

Tali Barde’s feature film debut For No Eyes Only is set as a tense thriller adding a modern twist to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.  It doesn’t come through on being a thriller.  Instead, it’s accidentally profound.

What I admired most about For No Eyes Only is Barde’s perceptual take on modern day voyeurism without being too on the nose.  Sam (a mopey loner played convincingly by newcomer Benedict Sieverding) suffers from a sports injury and has nothing better to do but hack webcams as he recuperates.  Something tells us that even if Sam was able bodied, he’d still get a kick out of watching the private lives of others.

When other people find out about Sam’s sneaky hobby, they’re shaken up briefly before being mesmerized themselves.  It goes to show us that even though this modern day hyperactive generation needs constant movement, they’re more entranced by letting their eyes slip into another world for long periods of time.  If you didn’t understand why teens were fascinated with online pop culture pitstops such as ChatRoulette, Barde’s movie may help you see eye-to-eye.

For No Eyes Only, however, loses its way.  When Sam and a friend witness questionable events over a fellow student’s webcam, the social commentary sits on the back burner and the thriller components take over the narrative.

There are rookie trip-ups (a muddy picture, over-stylized environments to emphasize a mood), but most of these are easily forgiven since this is Barde getting his feature film feet wet for the first time.  That said, whenever the film is going for big scares with high strung tension, it feels as if the film is stepping outside its natural element and trying to hit targets that are out of its range.  Sometimes independent minimalism can help make these situations believable, but Barde isn’t freaking anyone out with that mock musical score during those dry cat-and-mouse chases.

It’s nice to know Barde will be a filmmaker who will takes risks with his work, but his first feature needed to be something even simpler.  With his aptitude to dictate what he sees in relevant culture, it’ll be neat to see how he approaches another genre like a drama or a coming-of-age comedy.  But, until he can garner more experience, maybe he should take a break from thrillers.

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Catch For No Eyes Only at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox on Sunday, February 16 at 1:30 pm. Filmmaker Tali Barde will be in attendance.

More TIFF Next Wave coverage at Wylie Writes:

Read my review of G.B.F. (screening Sunday, February 16 at 6:15 pm at the TIFF Bell Lightbox)

TIFF 2013: JGL Goes to GTD – Gym, Tan, Direct

By: Addison Wylie

If you can bear with Don Jon’s vulgar vocabulary, you may find yourself swept up in Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut.  It’s a modern day romance with just the right dash of sweet and salty.

Gordon-Levitt plays the title character, a guido with a heart who loves to spend time with his boys, work out, and scope out chicks.  At the end of the day, he likes to come home and watch a lil’ porn.  Y’know, in the same way a mouse would consider seven blocks of monterey jack cheese a “snack”.

Gordon-Levitt’s quirky love story is amusingly crass, but soon becomes a very charming vehicle for the ambitious filmmaker/actor.  He’s also able to pull an adorable yet abrasive performance from Scarlett Johansson and an energetic portrayal from Tony Danza as Jon’s father, who looks as if he would explode if he became anymore frustrated at his son.

Don Jon slowly but surely shifts into more of a serious tone as it faces Jon’s pornographic addiction head-on.  Denial is handled well and none of his gradual weening seems forced or heavy-handed.  It’s not as much fun as the lively first act, but the added weight makes Don Jon into something more than a thumping, intentionally shallow fever dream.  However, during that stylized first act, Don Jon is able to maintain the party without feeling obnoxious.

Don Jon isn’t only a pretty good directorial debut from Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  It’s a pretty good movie overall.

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Don Jon has its Canadian premiere at TIFF on September 10 at 6:30 p.m. as well as an encore screening on September 11 at 3:00 p.m.

Can’t make the festival? Catch Don Jon in theatres September 27.

Rating: R
Language: English
Runtime: 90 minutes

Realted Links:

For more information on the festival, visit the official TIFF webpage here.

Check out the Don Jon TIFF page here.

Buy tickets here.

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TIFF: @TIFF_NET
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Inside Out 2013: I Am Divine

By: Addison Wylie 

If you think you know Divine, think again.  At least, that was the thought swimming through my head as I discovered new information about the drag queen turned actor turned musician turned superstar.

As a high school movie fanatic eager to watch anything and everything, I thought I had found the ultimate lost artifact when I picked up a copy of John Waters’ Pink Flamingos.  When I saw Divine’s Babs Johnson compete for the title of “the filthiest woman alive”, I was confused, disgusted, impressed, and laughing.

I wasn’t the only movie goer who felt this way.  Divine developed a small following through Waters’ much earlier, rawer movies as well as his participation with the stage group The Cockettes.  When Divine’s stomach-heaving performance in PInk Flamingos took the midnight madness circuit and then the world by storm, audiences didn’t know what to make of the actor.  They were aware, however, that what Divine was doing was different, unique, and bold.

Jeffrey Schwarz’s documentary is both a sincere love letter to the life and times of Divine and a bittersweet memoriam.  I Am Divine uses methods that were made famous by The Kid Stays in the Picture and executes this approach to storytelling very well.  Pictures spanning from Divine’s youth (when he was called by his birth name Harris Glenn Milstead) are accompanied with audio from an intimate interview recorded during the actor’s heyday.

These audible excerpts help lead the viewer on this path through Divine’s life while friends, family, and admirers comment on the actor’s successes and audacities.

The documentary shows the transition Divine made from being an intimidating, pre-punk drag queen to an admirable performance artist.  Schwarz makes this evolution seem flawless over the span of 90 minutes, but movie goers get that sense of hard working initiative Divine had.  It was a quality that was fuelled by how much fun Divine was having with his stardom and the celebrity title, plus the extravagancies that followed were the icing on the cake for the much bullied former middle schooler.

As someone who thought they had a clear idea of who Divine was, I was surprised to figure out new aspects about the actor.  I Am Divine does a terrific job at providing a stable backstory through Glenn’s childhood as well as the influences that helped mould his character of Divine – including late-night drag competitions with fellow actor/friend David Lochary and John Waters’ satirical approach to Divine’s flaunting. 

There are moments where it feels as if Schwarz is glazing over some possibly interesting stories, such as the ones that ensued in Divine’s love life.  But, it could also be a place where there’s not enough information to sufficiently side track the documentary on.  Considering how sensitive and personal Divine was off-screen, I imagine this is the case.

 I Am Divine is exactly how a documentary about Divine’s life should be.  Lots of glitz, lots of glamour, a lot of laughs, and some emotional surprises.  Plus, a sprinkling of Waters’ sleazy Baltimore charm makes this doc less of a misfit and more of who Divine would’ve gone on to be – a soaring success.

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Visit the official Inside Out webpage here!

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Inside Out Film Festival: @InsideOutTO
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Inside Out 2013: Valentine Road

By: Addison Wylie

A tragically troublesome story involving a 14-year-old executing a fellow eighth grader by aiming and shooting a gun at their head during class seems about as open-and-shut as cases come.  However, filmmaker Marta Cunningham explores the event from every angle to get every side of the story that she can in Valentine Road.

It isn’t because she’s suspicious and smelling something fishy in the events leading up to this kill.  As a devoted documentarian, she wants to show a fair view from every perspective.  You may not agree with what’s being said – and believe me, there’s no middle ground here – but, you’ll appreciate Cunningham’s courage and incredible ability to search for answers that better stabilize both sides of the story.

Lawrence “Larry” King was very much “out”.  Classmates and teachers, on the other hand, weren’t as confident as young King.  Larry King, who came from a less-than-decent lifestyle, found that by embracing his unique qualities he would feel more fulfilled – even if others saw these normalities as differentials.

Brandon McInerney, who was approached by Larry and asked to be his valentine, was one of these other people who didn’t agree with King’s expressiveness for whatever reason.  Some adults see his knee-jerk anger aimed towards King’s homosexuality, thinking Larry’s flamboyant personality made McInerney feel bullied.  Others also link McInerney’s violent antics as a product of unfit parenting as well as to the fact that accessible guns and ammunition were within arms reach.  It could even be related to McInerney’s inappropriate and racist draws in his notebook, triggering him to go after King for his mixed ethnicity.

It’s all upsetting, unsettling, and heartbreaking, but I’m glad the documentary travels on this route.  It’s important to see how McInerney – who stayed very clean and didn’t create trouble prior to the events – was labeled as a “bigot” by the media, immediately latching on to the fact that Larry was openly gay.  It’s important to see how Larry emotionally touched his friends and other teachers who felt the shockwave and were critically affected by this disaster.

With Downloaded and now Valentine Road, there’s something I’m finding absolutely enthralling about this innovative approach to the documentary genre.  This story about the murder of Larry King is told in a digestible and fluent narrative format without using fast editing to string thoughts together.  Cunningham applies a little bit of Christopher Nolan’s Memento telling a portion of the story and then rewinding to a time before the crime.  And, then telling that portion just to rewind even further.  It’s greatly effective and chilling while also being insightful.

Valentine Road isn’t telling any tales out of school and while the film is telling you both sides of the story, Cunningham is never yelling at her audience to sympathize with one person – or one group of people – in particular.  She trusts her audience will have enough competence to put together their own feelings with the proof provided.

It’s a skillful, brilliant documentary crafted by a filmmaker who has found the perfect balance between telling truths and delivering a story that has us on the edge of our seat every step of the way.

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Catch Valentine Road at:

Saturday, May 25 at 5:00 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox

Click here for more details and to buy tickets.

Visit the official Inside Out webpage here!

Do You Tweet? Follow These Tweeple:

Inside Out Film Festival: @InsideOutTO
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Inside Out 2013: In The Name Of

By: Addison Wylie

The quiet character study In The Name Of is driven by a superb performance by Andrzej Chyra. His character of Father Adam is mesmerizing to watch. Chyra handles the subtleties that lie within his role and Adams’ motives so carefully. His readings and lines are filled with sincerity, subdued frustration, and hurt, but Chyra is able to tell all of this with a single hopeful glance.

I really liked Malgorzata Szumowska’s film. I found that the themes of settling for a safe lifestyle were well stated and even though we so badly wish for Father Adam to find that ultimate plight of jubilation in his career and in his love life, we understand why he feels as if he feels he needs to keep his preferences hidden. It connects to his detailed back story, after all.

It’s by no means a bad movie, a decent movie, or a good movie. Szumowska has made a great movie that serves as an undeniable recommendation for a movie goer wishing to watch an interesting, struggle-filled character come full circle to the best of his capabilities.

However, I don’t think In The Name Of will stand the test of time like Andrzej Chyra’s performance will. It’s a film that feels very important and well told but doesn’t necessarily resonate as much as you want it to.

It’s because Szumowska’s drama is very slow. It allows events and character arcs to patiently play out and hopes the audience will have as much patience. A slow burn formatting is much appreciated, but In The Name Of feels a little too lethargic and brings attention to its slow pacing – something that shouldn’t be apparent in a slow burn type of movie.

The film is surprisingly profane as well. Father Adam oversees and accompanies a centre in Poland for teenage boys. There are extended sequences that feel heavily improvised and feel as if they’re almost giving the Dogme 95 cinema buffs something to chew on. These wandering segments are interesting at first, but are done in by a length that’s a little too long.

On top of the slight length issues is that aforementioned crassness. I understand Szumowska is wanting to portray this young commune as raw as he can, emphasizing the “boys will be boys” nature within all this tomfoolery. But, the language that’s spat out at others is so brash, it’ll make the saltiest of sailors cringe and make them wish the otherwise skilled writer/director had toned the language down.

When Chyra’s performance is soaring along with other actors like Mateusz Kosciukiewicz who plays Lukas – one of the rambunctious teens – in an equally phenomenal way, it’s hard not to wish the overall film had been as consistently capable as these high points. Of course, these key performances needed a talented director to tame them, so for that Szumowska gets multiple pats on the back.

Over time, I have no doubt Szumowska will polish the way he writes and the way he paces his movies. I’m not concerned at all for this filmmaker’s future. He’s shown a lot of promise. Hopefully, he’ll use this project as a stepping stone to further his career in storytelling and filmmaking.

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Catch In The Name Of at:

Thursday, May 23 at 8:00 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox

Sunday, June 2 at 5:00 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox

Click here for more details and to buy tickets.

Visit the official Inside Out webpage here!

Do You Tweet? Follow These Tweeple:

Inside Out Film Festival: @InsideOutTO
Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie

Hot Docs 2013: Shooting Bigfoot and Scoring Laughs

By: Addison Wylie

The documentary Shooting Bigfoot follows three expeditions led by four different devoted and off-kilter trackers.

One subject is Rick Dyer. Dyer has had his name besmirched in the world of hunting Bigfoot due to a scam that took the media by storm. Once he finds Bigfoot, he plans to capture it and take its life.

Another hunter is Tom Biscardi, a well known tracker who has no interest in killing Bigfoot, but was involved with Dyer’s hoax. By the skin of his teeth, he was able to somewhat clear his name even if both parties have different stories. He was, and still is, a man who is passionate about the hunt for the elusive creature and will stop at nothing to prove his truths.

The last team of hunters are a couple of best friends. Dallas and Wayne may look unprepared…and that may be true. However, with their prior experience hunting the mysterious beast and their ability to “successfully” make familiar calls to it, they’re the underdogs in this truly oddball story of dedication and the line that’s drawn in the sand between hopefulness and losing your marbles.

Filmmaker Morgan Matthews doesn’t make his subjects likeable or unlikeable, but rather lets their boisterous outgoingness speak for themselves. It works because our main hunters don’t come across as false personalities. Their aggressiveness, frustration, and dedication never feels cooked up by a cheeky editor, but rather by men who are very proud and simply do not think before they speak.

Each hunter, whether they like it or not, picks their on-screen destiny. Dallas and Wayne are goofy, but a hoot to root for and follow on their surreal quest. Biscardi, on the other hand, makes for a great anti-hero. He snarls and gets flustered easily when his team isn’t on the same page as him, but we can’t help but find him interesting when he shows how focused he is to find Bigfoot and how unintentionally hilarious he is when he demands people to get him peach Snapple.

Because Matthews doesn’t tell us what to think, his direction feels natural – even though I wish he was on mic when he asked questions behind the camera. I wasn’t a fan of how the doc would take on a smart aleck attitude occasionally with its music. At one point when Dyer is explaining a past run-in with the creature, the background music swells and gets more dramatic. As I explain it, it sounds as if Matthews is trying to add more tenseness to the scene, but when you see it on screen, it feels as if Matthews doesn’t have the right intentions.

With all the laughs, the eccentricities, and oodles of quotable lines (my personal favourite is when Biscardi is describing how long winded someone is: “You ask him for the time and he builds you a watch!”), it’s unfortunate Matthews drops the ball at the very end.

Shooting Bigfoot has a non-ending that feels as if the director’s patience wore too thin and eventually threw his hands up in the air and gave up. Once you see what happens in the surprisingly creepy last third, you’ll understand why Matthews feels resentment. However, the ending still feels too abrupt and doesn’t end the way moviegoers will want it to.

Looking past that ending – the doc’s only real noteworthy downfall – Shooting Bigfoot is a ton of fun and is strangely fascinating from start to finish.

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Catch Shooting Bigfoot at:

Tuesday, April 30 at 8:29 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox

Wednesday, May 1 at 11:58 p.m. at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

Friday, May 3 at 9:30 p.m. at The Royal Cinema

Click here for more details and to buy tickets.

Visit the official Hot Docs webpage here!

Do You Tweet? Follow These Tweeple:

Hot Docs: @HotDocs
Film Army: @FilmArmy
Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie

Beasts of the Southern Wild

By: Addison Wylie

It’s hard to make a solid judgement on the indie hit Beasts of the Southern Wild. On the one hand, it deserves praise for doing what it does so well. On the flip side, it does what it does so well, that it becomes frustrating.

Based on her one-act play called Juicy and Delicious, Lucy Alibar and director Benh Zeitlin adapt the story of survival after a tremendous flood for the big screen.

The film’s central character is Hushpuppy, a curious and rambunctious youngin’ played by first-time actress Quvenzhané Wallis. Hushpuppy lives in a primitive bayou called “the Bathtub” with a giddily rowdy community who are aware of the inevitable rising waters.

When danger strikes, Hushpuppy and her father Wink, played by first-time actor Dwight Henry, take cover and awaken to a washed out landscape of rubble and flowing waters.

Beasts of the Southern Wild isn’t about surviving a natural disaster. It’s about learning how to recover from such a tragedy.

The fun-loving community surrounding Hushpuppy and Wink are shown living in shanties. They’re represented as poor people but not broken people. They feed on the social interactivity around them and that’s what drives them to maintain high spirits.

Zeitlin, along with his talented cast, has done a strong job representing communal strength. We never see them cry or be weak because having that support from friends and family lights that fire underneath them to focus on what to shoot for.

Whether it’s an authentic representation of post-disaster behavior is questionable, but the friendships and the positive attitudes make rooting for this motley crew easy.

The film is told from the perspective of six-year-old Hushpuppy. This is where I really wrestle with a final grade.

Like the high spirits represented by the community, the portrayal of the innocence of a child is shown with equal competence. We always believe what we’re seeing is what this little girl would be focused on.

When Hushpuppy and her pals search for her mother in an establishment that may or may not be a brothel or a gentlemen’s club, Hushpuppy’s focus isn’t aimed at the scantily clad women asking them questions. She’s much too focused on the dust that lingers in the air in front of the lights.

Hushpuppy is fascinated with sounds. We see and hear her resting her ear up to animals to hear the pounding of their heart and when a noise is heard far away, she instantly thinks of the first thing that would make a similar crash. She also has an active imagination that cuts in and out as it pleases.

All of this adds to our energetic lead character but does it interrupt the story or cause distractions? Yes.

I appreciate Zeitlin wanting to tell this tale from the perspective of a young one and I applaud him for excelling, but this style shouldn’t get in the way of the story.

For example, there are scenes that occur where Hushpuppy will be daydreaming while a conversation goes on between the adults. All of a sudden, someone will start yelling. And then, Wink will yell at Hushpuppy to do something. Hushpuppy is taken off guard and confused and we can’t help but feel the same way.

These conversations may not provide much to the story but by constantly taking audiences out of the action to throw us into the mind of a daydreaming six-year-old is risky and creative but a tad maddening. What if those conversations were adding depth to the adults? You can still keep the visuals in the mind of a child while the audio captures the rowdiness of an adult.

The film does this often and at first we aren’t too sure what the film is doing. With Beasts of the Southern Wild being very light on a hard plot, we’re searching for problems to invest in but, the film doesn’t allow us to get involved.

However, during that brothel/gentlemen’s club sequence, audiences will officially realize what Zeitlin and Alibar were doing from the start and it’s up to us to decide if this was a step in the right direction or if this filmmaking could’ve been tamed.

After stewing on it, I walked away from Beasts of the Southern Wild with a strong appreciation and affection for it and I may even watch it again down the road (it has an appropriate and breezy runtime, by the way).

I don’t agree 100% with how often we’re taken inside the mind of young Hushpuppy but I’d rather see a filmmaker experimenting with different techniques in order to make a spark than a lazy filmmaker settling with a familiar fizzle.