Docs opening in Canada this week

Manifesto might be of the love-it-or-leave-it variety, but in our POV it’s the former. Cate Blanchett gives not one but thirteen award calibre performances in this ingenious hybrid documentary that finds truth in performance. Blanchett plays a baker’s dozen of characters who interpret various artistic manifestos and say that original art is hard to find these days. The range of Blanchett’s performances is impeccable. Through her shapeshifting ability to inhabit the mindsets of different cultural movements, Manifesto demands immersion and commitment to one’s art. It’s an bold film with some of the most incredible work of Blanchett’s career. Read the POV review of Manifesto here.

Catch last year’s winner for Best Documentary Feature at IDFA this week as Zaradasht Ahmed’s Nowhere to Hide hits theatres after a successful run on the festival circuit. Nowhere to Hide follows male nurse Nori Sharif raising his children in Jalawla, Iraq, an increasingly dangerous and inaccessible part of the world. When ISIS advances on Jalawla in 2014 and takes over the city, he too must flee with his family at a moment’s notice, and turns the camera on himself. “One day Nori is saving peoples’ lives, the next his family is in a car and they’re fleeing for their own future,” writes Fionnula Hannigan at Screen. “Nowhere To Hideis the most recent film to document the tragedy of the Middle East in such specific terms that the viewer is also given little escape.”

Hot Docs marks Canada’s 150th birthday with the valuable anthology film In the Name of All Canadians. This original production from the festival offers six short documentaries that consider violations of the rights and freedoms that we assume to be afforded to all Canadians. In the POV review for the film, we say, “In the Name of All Canadians does away with the navel-gazing, backslapping, and self-congratulation of Canada 150 to force the next part of the national conversation. A century and a half is a major birthday and the milestone invites collective self-reflection.” This doc is a far better way to mark Canada 150 than astupid rubber duck or a cross-Canada maple lobster bacon burger. Read the POV review of In the Name of All Canadians Here!

Opening this Week:

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Photography
Dir. Errol Morris | USA | 75 min.
-Calgary, AB: Globe Cinema – Fri, June 30 – Sun, July 2; Tues, July 4 – Thurs, July 6
-Regina, SK: Regina Public Library Theatre – Fri, June 30 – Sun, July 2
-Saskatoon, SK: Broadway Theatre – Sat, July 1 – Thurs, July 6
-Toronto, ON: The Regent – Fri, June 30 – Mon, July 3

Bill Frisell: A Portrait
Dir. Emma Franz | Australia | 114 min.
-Montreal, QC: Cinema du Parc – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6
—>Bill Frisell in attendance July 2

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
Dir. John Scheinfeld | USA | 99 min.
-Montreal, QC: Cinema du Parc – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6

The Gardener
Dir. Sébastien Chabot | Canada | 88 min.
-Kingston, ON: The Screening Room – Sat, July 1; Tues, July 4 – Thurs, July 6
-Ottawa, ON: Mayfair Theatre – Fri, June 30; Sun, July 2 – Mon, July 3

In the Name of All Canadians
Dir. Ariel Nasr & Aisha Jamal; Patrick Reed & Andréa Schmidt; Karen Chapman; Khoa Le; Jérémie Wookey, Annick Marion; Vivian Belik | Canada | 88 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6

Kedi
Dir. Ceyda Torun | Turkey/USA | 79 min.
-Montreal, QC: Cinema Beaubien – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6
-Montreal, QC: Cinema du Parc – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6

Manifesto
Dir. Julian Rosefeldt | Australia/Germany | 95 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6
-Vancouver, BC: Rio Theatre – Sat, July 2 – Sun, July 3

Mermaids
Dir. Ali Weinstein | Canada | 80 min.
-Ottawa, ON: ByTowne Cinema – Sun, July 2 – Wed, July 5
-Regina, SK: Regina Public Library Theatre – Thurs, July 6

Nowhere to Hide
Dir. Zaradasht Ahmed | Norway/Sweden/Iraq | 86 min.
-Toronto, ON: Carlton Cinema – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6
-Vancouver, BC: Vancity Theatre – Fri, June 30 – Sat, July 1; Wed, July 5 – Thurs, July 6

Quebec My Country Mon Pays
Dir. John Walker | Canada | 90 min.
-Montreal, QC: Cinema Beaubien – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6
-Montreal, QC: Cinema du Parc – Fri, June 30 – Thurs, July 6

Strangers on the Earth
Dir. Tristan Cooke | USA | 90 min.
-Winnipeg, MB: Winnipeg Cinematheque – Sat, July 1 – Sun, July 2; Thurs, July 6

Retro Screenings:

The Argonomist
Dir. Jonathan Demme | USA | 2003 | 90 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Thurs, July 6

Cousin Bobby
Dir. Jonathan Demme | USA | 1992 | 70 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Fri, June 30

Dogtown and Z-Boys
Dir. Stacy Peralta | USA | 2002 | 91 min.
-Regina, SK: Regina Public Library Theatre – Fri, June 30 – Sun, July 2

Eldorado
Dir. Olivier Assayas | France | 2008 | 129 min.
-Toronto, ON: TIFF Bell Lightbox – Sun, July 2
—> Stay tuned for an essay on the documentaries of Olivier Assayas!

Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains
Dir. Jonathan Demme | USA | 2007 | 125 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Sun, July 2

Manufactured Landscapes
Dir. Jennifer Baichwal | Canada | 2006 | 90 min.
-Toronto, ON: TIFF Bell Lightbox – Sat, July 1
—>Archival print!

Monterey Pop
Dir. D.A. Pennebaker | USA | 1968 | 78 min.
-Cobourg, ON: Cobourg Loft – Tues, July 4

My Winnipeg
Dir. Guy Maddin | Canada | 2007 | 80 min.
-Vancouver, BC: Vancouver Cinematheque – Wed, July 5
—>Free!

Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Dir. Jonathan Demme | USA | 2006 | 103 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Sat, July 1

Our Nixon
Dir. Penny Lane | USA | 2013 | 87 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Thurs, July 6
—>Featuring a post-screening discussion with former George W. Bush speechwriter and senior editor at The Atlantic David Frum and former CBC Washington correspondent Alison Smith

Storefront Hitchcock
Dir. Jonathan Demme | USA | 1998 | 77 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Tues, July 4

Swimming to Cambodia
Dir. Jonathan Demme | USA | 1987 | 85 min.
-Toronto, ON: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema – Mon, July 3

Totem: The Return of the G’psgolox Pole
Dir. Gil Cardinal | Canada | 2003 | 70 min.
-Toronto, ON: TIFF Bell Lightbox – Tues, July 4
—>Screens with the short film Totem: Return and Renewal and a conversation with Terry Snowball, J’net Ayayqwayaksheelth and Mark Engstrom

West Wind: The Vision Of Tom Thomson
Dir. Michèle Hozer, Peter Raymont | Canada | 2012 | 95 min.
-Ottawa, ON: ByTowne Cinema – Thurs, July 5

Via: POV Magazine