Adopted out of a war torn country at 10 years old, Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is raised by two Caucasian Americans, Amy (Naomi Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth). Luce grows up to essentially be the perfect child and student. He’s smart, lovable and ambitious, with very impressive future prospects. As a result, the expectations surrounding… [Read More]
Free Trip to Egypt: Leaving Your Baggage Behind
Tarek Mounib, the producer and coordinator of Free Trip to Egypt, is a Canadian-born Muslim entrepreneur and filmmaker who had an idea. Largely because of the way they are portrayed in the media, he felt that many people have such a skewed view of Middle Eastern countries. So, Mounib decided that he wanted to bring… [Read More]
Desolate: Lost in the Darkness
Director and writer Frederick Cipoletti and writer Jonathan Rosenthal bring us Desolate, a very aptly named piece about a town devastated by drought. Without anymore vegetation or cattle and property that is impossible to sell, the town seems to have been forgotten. In the obvious absence of any form of law enforcement, the townspeople begin… [Read More]
1on1 with Anupam Kher (HOTEL MUMBAI)
In this 1on1, Julie Levac comes to you live from the red carpet of the Toronto premiere of Hotel Mumbai on March 20, 2019. Hear star Anupam Kher tell her why Hotel Mumbai is one of the most important films of our time. You can also stream the episode above on podomatic, Spotify or on… [Read More]
Arctic – We’ll Take A Better Way
I must admit that when I read the synopsis of Arctic (directed by Joe Penna), it reminded me of The Mountain Between Us, the Kate Winslet and Idris Elba film that graced TIFF in 2017: A plane crash; the impossible decision of whether to stay with the plane for shelter in hopes of rescue, or… [Read More]
All These Small Moments
What moments shape you? In this coming of age tale, we see a snippet of the daily struggles of Howie (Brendan Meyer). Howie is simultaneously navigating his parent’s rocky relationship, infatuation with an unknown girl he sees on the bus, and another girl who is infatuated with him. We get a good indication of Howie’s… [Read More]
Islam and the Future of Tolerance
An atheist and a former Islamist extremist walk in to a bar… Joking aside. Sam Harris is a known atheist and the author of The End of Faith, among many others. The End of Faith was Sam’s immediate reaction to the events of 9/11, and includes numerous references to Islam. To roughly quote Sam, he… [Read More]
Beautiful Boy: Everything
David Sheff (Steve Carell) dabbled in his share of drugs as a youth but seemingly grew out of that phase and developed into a responsible adult. On the other hand, his son, Nic (Timothee Chalamet), didn’t have the same luck in his experimental drug phase. Although experimenting with numerous drugs, Nic specifically became addicted to… [Read More]
Green Book: Because You Can Do Better
Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) was a tough New York bouncer working hard to provide for his family. When the club he worked for closed, Tony needed quick work to pay the bills. He heard of an opportunity driving and providing security for a doctor. Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) (a doctor of music, psychology… [Read More]
Boy Erased: Shame On Me
Based on the memoir of Garrard Conley, and written and directed by Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased is based on a true story that shows us the struggle of coming out, particularly in a religious home, and the dangers of conversion therapy. Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges) was the son of a pastor and grew up in a… [Read More]
