What if you lived by the largest body of fresh water in the world but could no longer afford to use it?

In Liz Miller’s video documentary, The Waterfront, residents of Highland Park, a struggling community on the shores of Lake Michigan are shown looking with distress at water bills totalling between 3 and 9,000 dollars.

One woman sits on a porch with her children and grandchildren and explains that on a fixed pension she will be unable to pay her bill, and since the city has decided to attach water bills to mortgages she faces eviction and foreclosure on her property.

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Slate has posted a conversation between a few of its female contributors about American Girl, the doll superpower, on the occasion of their first major motion picture. American Girl dolls are, they suggest, the very opposite of Barbie. Or are they?

While some dolls represent different periods in American history, coming complete with their own historical biographies, the “just like you” dolls come in a wide variety of hair, eye and skin colours. Yes, that’s right – not all the dolls are white! Though, no surprise, their “dark” skin tone seems pretty light to me. And I don’t really know enough to judge the historical accuracy to Disney stereotype ratio of the accessories designed for Kaya, the lone First Nations character.

There was a time when I coveted these dolls, but even at age ten I felt some ambivalence. I knew that American history wasn’t my history, and the relentless patriotism wore a bit thin. But the dolls seemed to reflect my world – they played sports, learned math, and used computers.

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My taste in movies is a little eccentric – most of the time, I like documentaries better than “fiction film.” So a few days ago I was thrilled to stumble on Freedocumentaries.org, a website that streams hundreds of short and feature-length documentaries. Documentaries are divided by title, region or theme. There are a few weird ones thrown into the mix – 9/11 conspiracy videos and the like – but also a lot of big name documentaries, from Sicko to Shut Up & Sing. I was pleased to find Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, a great little film about Fox News. Maybe this means I will finally get around to watching The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a leftist favourite about Venezuela.

I have to say, though, that the legality of the site is a bit fuzzy. According to the frequently asked questions, they haven’t asked permission to host most docs, choosing instead to embed video from other, presumably sketchier, websites. That’s not to say that the site’s creators don’t have noble intentions – there are no ads, and they seem genuinely passionate about introducing their visitors to high-quality, educational films, and helping independent filmmakers get their work seen. But if copyright infringement really offends you, this won’t be your kind of site.

Toronto readers, this looks amazing. And it’s free.

The film is also showing in Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa.
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This year, Shameless Magazine is a proud sponsor of Inside Out’s Queer Youth Digital Video project. In the days leading up to the Inside Out festival, Shameless will be posting trailers of some of the films on offer at the festival that may be of interest to our readers.

On Saturday May 17 at 1:00 p.m. Inside Out brings a children’s television classic to a whole new generation with the free family screening of Free to Be … You & Me.

Free to Be… You and Me is a record album and illustrated songbook for children, first released in November 1972, and later in 1974 as a television special, featuring songs and stories from celebrities. Using poetry, songs, and sketches, the basic concept was to salute values such as individuality, tolerance, and happiness with one’s identity; a major thematic message is that anyone, whether a boy or a girl, can achieve anything one wants.

May 15-25 marks the 18th annual Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival.

This year, Shameless Magazine is a proud sponsor of The Queer Youth Digital Video Project, a series of workshops by Inside Out and Charles Street Video that teaches young people everything from development to editing to final post-production all in a queer-positive environment. Initiated in 1998, the Queer Youth Digital Video Project chooses a small group of youth to make a short video for the Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival. The final videos are premiered at the Inside Out Festival in May.

Nine talented, enthusiastic young people with something to say have spent the winter learning the A to Zs of no-budget filmmaking. Each participant brings style, humour, creativity and a unique perspective to the screen in this stellar series of short videos. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Project, several of Toronto’s best and brightest film and video makers showed their support by acting as mentors for these up-and-coming artists throughout the process. Proudly co-presented for a decade by Inside Out and Charles Street Video, this program is at the heart of the queer Canadian film community!

In the days leading up to the Inside Out festival, Shameless will be posting trailers of some of the films on offer at the festival that may be of interest to our readers. First up is Waterlillies (France, 2007), Céline Sciamma’s impressive feature debut: a raw, darkly funny story of three teenage girls taking their first awkward steps into an adult world. Catch it Monday, May 19 at 7:30pm at the ROM.

On May 29th at 7pm, The Toronto Cyclists Union is holding a fundraiser at the Bloor Cinema. They will be screening Pee-wee’s Big Adventure while a live Rocky Horror-style cast performs along with the film.

The cast will include members of The Hidden Cameras, Broken Social Scene, Apostle of Hustle, Kids on TV, The Old Soul, Republic of Safety, The Phonemes, and more.(more inside…)

I’m a big fan of documentaries, and North America’s largest documentary film festival Hot Docs is currently in Toronto until April 27th serving up an excellent roster of real-life movie genres.

So I thought I’d give you my take on two films so far that have rocked me to the core:

Club Native and Umiaq (Skin Boat)

Have you seen any Hot Docs this year?

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*Okay, it’s not a hard question. But hey, it’s Monday.

It’ll be here soon, so we really should ask…

Can a feminist really love Sex and the City?

For some, Sex and the City was a refreshing story of friendship and sexual freedom. For others, it was an orgy of consumerism and triviality. With the film version set to open, Alice Wignall asks if the series was good or bad for women.

What do you think? Do you think SATC is feminist? Vapid? Fun? Do you think it is in opposition to feminist ideals? Do you think it harms women or empowers them?