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James Wegg Review
Over 500 reviews, previews, interviews and short fiction
Featuring independent film/DVD (feature, documentary, shorts - from Amadeus to Romeo and Juliet to Bowling for Columbine) classical/jazz CD productions and books as well as outstanding work from global performing arts companies (orchestra, chamber music, theatre & dance)!
A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Documentaries
Reflecting on the “job” of making documentaries with colleague Jennifer Baichwal at his side, Nicholas de Pencier (Streetcar ,Five Doors and a prolific producer) opined that every project “is more like hitchhiking; putting it out there in hopes that someone will pick it up.” Indeed, the road to the 15th edition of HotDocs—North America’s largest documentary festival—was jammed with over 1,800 cinematic vehicles. At today’s media event the fortunate 173 survivors of the programmers’ scrutiny were revealed. The remainder must find another route to the big screen and public recognition for their labours of love.
In all, thirty-six countries will wave their cultural flags during the 11-day fest. From those, two are receiving special attention. “Spotlight on Iran” follows director of programming Sean Farnel’s visit to the autocratic country in the fall. Of the eight films included, the subject matter ranges from the plight of widows in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s Kurdish massacre in northern Iraq (All My Mothers) to the “Iranian reply to O.J. Simpson” in The Red Card—where the mistress of a revered soccer hero is charged with murdering her high-scoring lover’s wife. Travel bugs and social activists alike will want to see both Tehran Has no More Pomegranates and the international première of Where Do I Belong?
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Quote of the Month
"As an experience, madness is terrific ... and in its lava I still find most of things I write about."
- Virginia Woolf
(1882-1941)
English novelist
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May 2008
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