Tag: Film Reel
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In the Blog
Hot Docs Reviews Part Two
Featuring documentaries from across the worldThe Hot Docs festival in Toronto runs from April 28 to May 28 2016. Check out part two of our reviews featuring the films Strike a Pose, Check It and The Legacy of Frida Kahlo. Students with valid ID have free festival admission for films screening before 5:00 p.m. READ MORE
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In the Blog
Hot Docs Reviews Part One
Featuring documentaries from across the world the Hot Docs festival in Toronto runs from April 28 to May 28 2016. Check out part one of our reviews featuring the films Ovarion Psycos and Café Désirs. Students with valid ID have free festival admission for films screening before 5:00 p.m. READ MORE
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In the Blog
Film Review: Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives
Framed through fictional narrative styled after the pulp lesbian novels of the 1950s, Forbidden Love features interviews from a handful of queer women who came of age in the middle of the 20th century. READ MORE
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In the Blog
Review: What It Was, at the Inside Out 24th Annual Toronto LGBT Film Festival
Is this the real life, or is this just memory? READ MORE
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In the Blog
Film review: Bettie Page Reveals All
The famous pin-up model from the 1950’s, Bettie Page is frequently described as “innocent” and “sweet” contrasted with her ability to pose in kinky positions and embody sexuality. This is an unfortunate, misogynist, manufactured, boring juxtaposition that Bettie Page Reveals All, directed by Mark Mori, unfortunately doesn’t avoid. READ MORE
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In the Blog
TIFF Next Wave Film Festival Competition
The Toronto International Film Festival Battle of the Scores showcase has just released its competition info, check it out below: TIFF is now accepting entries for the Battle of the Scores competition (BotS). High-energy, high-profile and unique, BotS showcases youth music and film talent by challenging high-school bands to create and perform original scores for short films. The competition is live, and a winner is determined by audience votes and a panel of esteemed judges from … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Review - TIFF’s The Hard Way: The Films of Bette Davis
Have you ever heard of the Bechdel test? Named after the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, the test examines gender bias in film by asking one basic question: does this film feature at least two [named] women talking to each other about something other than a man? It sounds simple enough, and you would think that most movies would pass this test with flying colours, but, in fact, the opposite is true. The truth is that … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Film review: Peaches Does Herself
The first time I heard a Peaches song was when Masti Khor did a burlesque number to her song song “Fuck the Pain Away” at a show. I was immediately drawn to Peaches, then and there. I had heard folks raving about Peaches, but had never bothered to get into her music. I think it was my rebellious nature not wanting to follow the crowd, but I soon realized I had been missing out, big … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Queers Who Pray: An Elisha Lim endeavour
I have had the pleasure of many run-ins with Elisha Lim at various community events, and have been totally blown away by their work. Thus, I feel compelled to promote their recent endeavour, a film called Queers Who Pray. Elisha is a brilliant and multi-talented artist who has illustrated comics, books and anthologies, as well as exhibited portraits in international galleries and screened short films all over the world. They have also self-published beautiful and endearing … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Film review: Facing Mirrors
With the Inside Out film festival just around the corner, I am reminded of last year’s festival where I saw some really interesting, amazing and heartwarming films that I hope to tell you all about. I had gone to an event called “Sister Spit” where I won a membership to the festival through their raffle prizes. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have been able to access the festival like I did. One of … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Resisting Paradise - A Q&A With Barbara Hammer
This week, the Toronto International Film Festival is running a program called Brave New World: The Films of Barbara Hammer. This three-night survey offers a fascinating retrospective of Hammer’s forty-five year career as a lesbian activist and experimental filmmaker. Hammer’s 2003 film Resisting Paradise, which deals with the concept of art as a tool of political resistance, was especially fascinating to me. Hammer, who was doing a painting residency in Cassis, France, when war broke out … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Hit So Hard
“Hit So Hard” is a compelling tale about Patty Schemel’s life and near death experience with substance abuse. Patty, the original drummer for the band Hole, gives us a personal recounting of her time in the spotlight, as well as what it was like for her coming out as a gay rockstar. The camera follows Patty and her band from modest beginnings to international fame. In the male-dominated, sexist music industry with the rock gods … READ MORE
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In the Blog
American Pie, Superbad and Lessons from Anxious Male Teens
by Abby Plener During a discussion about how the media contributes to teens’ sexual education, a classmate of mine in a feminist political theory seminar declared “I learned everything I needed to know from American Pie. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the 1999 hit teen comedy, the movie follows four male friends who make a pact to lose their virginities before they graduate high school. As their ringleader Kevin astutely puts it: [Transcription after … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Guest Post: Film review of The World Before Her, directed by Nisha Pahuja
by Nish Israni I love to explore the neighbourhoods in Toronto, and sometimes find myself walking along streets that I have never been to, just taking in the sights. The other night, I was walking by Royal York station when I came across the Kingsway theatre. Right away, a poster for The World Before Her, a documentary by Nisha Pahuja, grabbed my attention. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The World Before Her had won the … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Guest Post: Film review of Augustine, directed by Alice Winocour
by Nish Israni I love watching movies, especially good ones, and those are hard to come by. I feel like having a feminist approach to life has made going to the movies like going to the dentist. All I can do is clench my fists tightly to my sides and tense my body until he’s done attacking my teeth with a variety of instruments. Mainstream media can be so saturated with sexism, misogyny, homophobia, racism and more, … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Rape Culture in Popular Culture
Let’s start out with a few basic facts: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a dreamboat. Like, on a scale of one to super-ultimate-double-plus-dreamboat, he is pretty high up there. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is reaching unprecedented break-my-marriage-vows levels of attractiveness. I would pay good money to watch a movie that was nothing but Joseph Gordon-Levitt sitting on a chair reading the phone book. Not convinced? I present you with Exhibit A: And Exhibit B: [YouTube video of Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing a cover of … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Check out: What I LOVE about being QUEER
Toronto-based Vivek Shraya is a musician, performer, filmmaker and writer. He was nominated for LGBTQ Person of the Year at the 2012 INSPIRE Awards. His newest short film, What I LOVE about being QUEER, is a minimalist endeavour revolving around the title’s big question posed to 34 individuals. The film, which debuted in June in Toronto, is 18 minutes in length, and has screened at various Queer Film Festivals and universities across Canada, with more … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Racism and the Hunger Games
Like almost everyone I know, I saw The Hunger Games on opening weekend. I sat in a packed theatre, sandwiched between my friends and an opinionated preteen girl who read a massive fantasy novel until the lights dimmed. She wasn’t the only one; it was the first time in a while that I saw so many young people avidly reading in a movie theatre, and I’ve been to many midnight showings of Harry Potter. From … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Free film festival screenings: Spotlight on Muslim and Arab Women’s Stories
In April I made a short film for a class project exploring my love for moustaches and the pressure I feel to remove my natural facial hair. It was quite possibly one of the most empowering things I have ever done: to pick up a camera, create a narrative, edit film and have my own self-told-story shown on a TV screen. When a professor at Ryerson (where I go to school) got wind of the film … READ MORE
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In the Blog
The Made in Dagenham Method
When I was trying to figure out how to write about organizing collectively, several issues jumped out at me: 1) I have little experience making broad demands to my employer and 2) I have never had to go on strike. What I can tell you is how to ensure your manager purchases a new kettle for the staff room or making sure you are not shamed into taking 38 minutes for lunch instead of the … READ MORE