Posts Tagged ‘documentary film festival’

Did you know… I have a crazzzy bad obsession for Documentaries!

It’s true, they’re all I ever watch on Rogers on Demand these days… so naturally when an entire film festival dedicated to them comes to the City, expect me to get a bit excited!!!

From April 28th-May8th 2011 several downtown movie theaters will be used as venues for the various docs participating in the festival.  HotDocs is a pretty big deal for a lot of the films premiring, many will be having their worldwide debuts right here in Toronto.  Out of the hundreds that will be screening, I’ve narrowed my choices down to the following three:

First on my list is a doc by filmmaker Anthony Baxter titled “You’ve Been Trumped“. It stares Mr. Donald Trump (indirectly of course) and looks at the social and local issues surrounding his world class golf course being built in Scotland! I found this to be insanely interesting as I often watch “Donald J. Trumps Fabulous World of Golf” on the Golf Channel.  On TV they depict the golf course as one of the best in the world, mainly for it’s location. Mr. Trumps show on the Golf Channel puts him and his work in a very positive light whereas this film shows the not so glamorous side of the development. It looks to be a classic tale of urban planning gone wrong and I can’t wait to take it alllll in!

The film will have it’s international premier at the HotDocs festival in Toronto.  Check out the trailer above

Basketball, Brooklyn and building for the benefit of the private sector… The main points of my second HotDocs movie: The Battle for Brooklyn!  This doc follows the story of Daniel Goldstein and other Brooklyn residents who wage a war with the City of New York in an effort to keep their homes.

Also along the lines of urban planning, I originally though it was just another classice story of “nimby’s” hating on developers.  It’s not though.

In 2003 the US government had plans to sieze 22 acres of land in Brooklyn for a so a developer could build a sports arena and 16 residential towers.  The state of the art arena was designed by Toronto’s own Frank Gehry and was to be constructed in an effort to bring the New York Nicks to Brooklyn. Sounds great right? Expeccct, the land that it was to be built on land that was already in use…as a residential area!   The plan was to have the government expropriate the land and then flip it to the developer who would do with it as they saw fit.

I can’t wait to see how this one ends!

Last in my HotDocs adventures is an inside look at real life Superheros! According to Sarafina DiFelice on the HotDocs website:

Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, Superman is an alien and Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider that gave him the abilities of an arachnid. But they’re imaginary, and even in their fantasy universes they have substantial resources to draw on when fighting crime. So how can there be ordinary people—real humans with 9-to-5 jobs, rent to pay and families to answer to—who come home from work, put on their self-stitched super suits and take to the streets in the name of justice? And how can there be so many?

With the phenomenon turning up more frequently in newspapers around the globe, this Slamdance award-winner examines the motivations and repercussions of a new brand of activism. Wryly funny and patiently observed, this real-life Kick Ass shows it isn’t always easy to do the things you want, but a superhero never stops trying.

For a full list of movies and show times check out the HotDocs website!

Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, movie buffs and doc-heads alike…step right up and get ready for hotDocs 2010, live from various cinema’s across Toronto!

In it’s 17th year, the hotDocs festival will be in town for 11 days (April 29 to May 9). North America’s largest documentary festival will have over 170 films from more than 40 countries!  This will be my second year attending the event.  Last year I had the chance to watch “Jazz Baroness”, the story of a white British Baroness (Pannonica ‘Nica” Rothschild) who fell in love with the musical genius Thelonious Monk. (one of my favourites!)

This year, I have my eyes and appetite set to watch “Candyman: The David Klein Story“.  He’s been called the real life Willy Wonka because of his idea for Jelly Belly jellybeans!

From docs about Canada’s own Josh Dolgin aka “socalled” to films about Choirs singing songs of complaints (you’ve gotta check this one out…they even complain about haiting their condo association! lol) hotDocs is sure to have something you’ll enjoy!  Check out their full schedule here.

If you’re thinking of moving up to “Hollywood North”, give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!