We don't often get Canadian documentaries in French but Family of the Forest. Somehow, we got French subtitles on Geographies of Solitude, which is a great way to learn a language. We even had a pair of documentaries in the WIFF Prize in Canadian Film category.
Family of the Forest asks the question about whether the next generation wants the same things. The family moved from Belgium to Sainte-Foy in Quebec. The parents live this rural farm life with their 3 young men. They are building houses for their sons in the hope they will stay. The mother expresses nuanced contrasts between her sons that will warm your heart. If you thought about being isolated, you might take notes. Their story is still rather interesting if you enjoy the idea of living in a large, urban area.
Geographies of Solitude has a setting more ideal after going through the heart of a pandemic. Zoe Lucas, a naturalist and environmentalist, lives and works on Sable Island where she studies the path of horses, birds, and other animals who have very little human contact. Sable Island is about 100 miles south of the mainland of Nova Scotia. The film is a bit nuanced; trying to find live bugs in horse waste may not make for scintillating cinema. If you fall within the obvious audience for this film, this will be very satisfying.
The Long Rider has a tough task of summing up a 2-year journey in about 90 minutes. The horse ride from Calgary to Brazil is filled with border issues. The task of getting a horse across an international border proves to be more harrowing than one might imagine. We get an expert with a bad mustache as if completing some kind of documentary bingo. The end of the journey should have been the end of the film yet our rider is obsessed with long rides that he can't stop. We don't learn much along the way except this quest is hard, which we could have guessed. If you do watch the film, you can leave when the journey is done.
Ever Deadly presents the world of throat singing with Tanya Tagaq, who stars and co-directs with Chelsea McMullan. The film starts with an intense duet of throat singing. Once you get past that beginning, the film bounces back and forth between Tagaq's world and the world she lives in, such as the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women. The film feels like 2 documentaries in one viewing experience. Boring, no, but you might not be sure how you feel after you see the film.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On was covered in an earlier review.
Becoming a Queen spotlights Joella Crichton as the reigning queen of Carnival in Toronto in her final run. She has won 7 in a row and 9 overall titles. Her older sister, Mischka Crichton, is a past champion in the female individual category. Mischka is also competing for the final time. This is the centrepiece of a larger story about the Caribbean culture in Toronto and why Carnival is a big part of that culture. We learn the complexities of the costume making and how a team is needed behind each contestant.
Fire of Love covers the dual worlds of volcanologists Katia Krafft and Maurice Krafft. They studied volcanoes together; a couple destined to die together in a volcano explosion. Knowing this doesn't distract from a wonderful story that is more about volcanoes than love yet a bit of both. There is an amazing amount of footage, as if this documentary was foretold many years ago. If volcanoes are your jam, you are in luck.
Ice-Breaker: The Legacy of the '72 Summit Series tells the straightforward presentation of the 1972 Summit Series with Canada and the Soviet Union. The 4 games in Canada are spread out to Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver all in arenas that no longer exist. By contrast, the Soviet games were all in the same arena in Moscow. The documentary interviews fans and experts. You can view the documentary through the lens of the Cold War or hockey.
Canadian film review: Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Canadian film review: Eternal Spring
WIFF Prize in Canadian Film
Eternal Spring was covered in an earlier review.
To Kill a Tiger was the film we had to skip. We hope to see and review the film at some point.
photo credit: Ever Deadly film
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