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My Life Inside Carts of Darkness S&M: Short and Male Dance with a Serial Killer Anvil: The Story of Anvil

“Made in Mexico” could well be in for a rough ride due to the ongoing impasse around the release of Brenda Martin from her no-trial, 2-year incarceration in “one of Mexico’s finest jails.”  No doubt, her story will be featured at a future festival.  Not surprisingly, the Mexican offerings have all manner of crime at their core:  The Demons of Eden (child pornography), The Fallen (government corruption in the wake of a mine collapse—couldn’t happen here), The Infinite Border (illegal immigration, willful blindness style), My Life Inside (murder) and The Old Thieves:  The Legend From Artegio (career crooks from the ‘60s—a kind of Bonnie and Clyde with a taste for fajitas).

In the host country’s “Canadian Spectrum,” the work is as diverse as the docmakers.  Anyone who’s ever used a grocery buggy for more than its intended purpose will revel in Carts of Darkness.  The Toronto première chronicles the fun side of the homeless as they race their 4-wheel shopping carts down the paved slopes of North Vancouver.  Too late for an Olympic event?  Canada’s blood sport is showcased in Junior:  the camera takes a behind-the-scenes look at junior hockey in Québec—helmets are definitely advised.  Does size matter?  S&M:  Short and Male focuses on the plight and discrimination against those “vertically challenged,” where success is truly measured in inches.

With the overall concept for 2008 being “playful/serious,” the “World Showcase” section has many examples that prove the point.  From Germany comes 20 Seconds of Joy, cliff jumpers and their admirers will most certainly get off on this extreme sport.  Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home (Canada; world première) takes a breezy premise (hording 3 months of one family’s waste:  compost plus!) and morphs the laughs into an important environmental message.  Talking Guitars takes “playful” into the workshop of renowned Dutch craftsman, Flip Scipio.  And from Wales, who could resist Phillipa Lord: She’s the Shit?  It’s a mercifully short “short” that is awash in excrement galore worn bravely by a farm veterinarian.

On the somber side of the international street can be found Suddenly, Last Winter (Italy)—gay rights go to the Vatican.  From Israel:  Stalags – Holocaust and Pornography in Israel, which has much to say about the impossibility of preventing human nature.  Dance With a Serial Killer (France, UK) provides an in-depth examination of yet another psychopath’s horrendous acts and battle to avoid capture.

Everything gets underway with the opening night festivities:  an intriguing pairing of Green Porno (six minutes of naughty insect shorts from Jody Shapiro and Isabella Rossellini) then Anvil! The Story of Anvil (A Canadian metal band founded in 1973).  Hot Docs executive director Chris McDonald summed up the kick off’s content in true Hollywood-pitch fashion:  “Like many teenagers, the Festival will be celebrating its birthday with loud music and porn.”  Only in Canada, eh?

Canadian Features:

$4 Haircut, Wade Vroom
Air India 182, Sturla Gunnarsson
All Together Now, Adrian Wills
As Slow as Possible, Scott Smith
Be Like Others, Tanaz Eshaghian (Canada, Iran, UK, USA)
Bevel Up: Drugs, Users and Outreach Nursing, Nettie Wild
Blood and Incense, Carl Valiquet
Carny, Alison Murray
Carts of Darkness, Murray Siple
Club Native, Tracey Deer
Cuba Song, Fernand Bélanger, Louise Dugal, Yves Angrignon
Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D, Siu Ta
A Day in Palestine (Un jour en Palestine), Mary Ellen Davis, José Garcia-Lozano, Will Eizlini
Flicker, Nik Sheehan
Junior, Isabelle Lavigne, Stéphane Thibault
The Last Continent, Jean Lemire
Letter to Myself, Beth Miller
The Man Who Crossed the Sahara, Korbett Matthews
Mr. Edison's Ear, Francisca Duran
Murphy's Law, Chris Murphy
Passage, John Walker
S&M: Short and Male, Howard Goldberg
Shock Waves, Pierre Mignault, Hélène Magny
Tiger Spirit, Min Sook Lee
Umiaq Skin Boat, Jobie Weetaluktuk
Virtuoso, Terry Stone
White Vans, Aren Hansen

Reviews

Title		Country/Director
At the Death House Door		Steve James, Peter Gilbert
$4 Haircut		Wade Vroom
The Man Who Crossed the Sahara		Korbett Matthews
Mr. Edison's Ear		Francisca Duran
S&M: Short and Male		Howard Goldberg
The Mother		Antoine Cattin, Pavel Kostomarov