Based on true events. Set in 1948 Palestine, Farha tells the story of a 14-year-old girl (Karam Taher) whose dreams of receiving a formal education are taken away from her due to the start of what would come to be known as the Nakba (the catastrophe). Confined to a small supply room, Farha watches as …
Tag Archives: coming of age
AF French Film Festival Review – ‘Summer of 85’ (Été 85)
François Ozon’s new film ‘Summer of 85’, an adaptation of the novel by Aidan Chambers, is a coming of age story that’s often predictable when exploring the romantic feelings of a boy suddenly crushing on his new friend, before tragedy strikes and capsizing altogether. The 80s aesthetic is incredibly endearing and well established, without ever …
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FIFF2020 Review – ‘La Déesse des mouches à feu’
Canadian director Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s 90s coming of age drama ‘Goddess of the Fireflies’ (aka ‘La Déesse des mouches à feu’), is set against the backdrop of a rural Québec town and grunge music’s rise. 16 year old Catherine and her friends are loitering between shacks and mall parking lots, partying and learning about life and …
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Review – ‘Once Upon A River’
John Ashton as Smoke and Kenadi DelaCerna as Margo Crane. Once Upon A River arrives in virtual cinemas beginning October 2, 2020 from Film Movement.CREDIT: Daniel Klutznick Based on the best-selling novel by Bonnie Jo Campbell, ‘Once Upon a River’ could easily be described as a less gritty ‘Winter’s Bone’. Haroula Rose directs Kenadi DelaCerna …
TIFF20 Review – ‘Trickster’ Episodes 1-2
Everybody knows TIFF is the place to be for groundbreaking new content. This year they gave Michelle Latimer the chance to present two projects she’s worked on. The first one, ‘Inconvenient Indian’ – a documentary that explores the cultural colonization of Indigenous peoples in North America – was previously reviewed by us (review can be …
TIFF20 Review – ‘Concrete Cowboy’
Ricky Staub’s unrestrained coming-of-age urban western Concrete Cowboy, adapted from Greg Neri’s novel, follows a teenage boy’s reunion with his estranged father, telling a story of finding your place in the world, rejecting the easy way out while growing into the person you were all along. During one summer we watch Cole, involuntary having to …
TIFF20 Review – ‘Beans’
Based on true events, Tracey Deer’s feature debut relives the 78-day standoff between two Mohawk communities and government forces in 1990 in Quebec, seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old Mohawk girl named Beans. Most of us know Canadians are kind and loving people, but even they have a dark past that can’t be forgotten. …
Review – ‘The New Mutants’
The final chapter in Fox’s X-Men Cinematic Universe has finally arrived. ‘The New Mutants’ was originally slated for a mid-2018 release, but was then pushed back to 2019 for re-shoots that in the end never happened. After Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) was finalized, the film got pushed back another …
Fantasia International Film Festival Review – ‘Dinner In America’ & Short Film ‘You Wouldn’t Understand’
‘Dinner In America’ Fantasia International Film Festival has a killer line up this year. ‘Dinner In America’ is by far one of the best films on their 2020 program and will definitely end up in my top 10 films of the year. This is for the misfits! Simon (Kyle Gallner – ‘Ghosts of War’) and …
Review – ‘Babyteeth’
The film literally opens with the image of a babytooth slowly sinking to the bottom of a glass full of water. A shot that comes back in the final ten minutes of the film, translating to the protagonist’s loss of innocence and so much more. Babyteeth tackles a range of weighty subjects, and how this …