Doc Blog

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Hip-hop superstar Wyclef Jean played to a pumped-up crowd at the Ghosts of Cité Soleil premiere after-party last Saturday. Jean helped write the score for Ghosts, a film based in his native Haiti. The film follows the story of 2pac and Bily, brothers who are two of many gang leaders reputedly hired by former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to dispose of his enemies. Director Asger Leth presents an intimate portrayal of these thugs, not just in their street lives, but also in their love lives as they both fall for the...

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Everyone has heard of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, but few Westerners have seen much of the Iranian cinema and its impact on the country over the past sixty years. Director Nader Takmil Homayoun (right) decided to breathe life into the rich history of his native land's film industry with Iran: Une Révolution cinématographique, which made its premiere tonight to a sold out crowd at the Al Green theatre.

Iranian cinema has largely been off the North American radar, perpetuating an image in the West that Iranians are people of prayer and...

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It may not be Florida in 2000, but the state of Ohio has so much influence in American politics, many analysts, politicians and citizens alike believe that "as Ohio goes...so goes the nation." Making its worldwide premiere tonight, ...So Goes the Nation presents an intimate and candid look at this phenomenon, focusing on the northern state in the '04 US presidential election. The film gives us a first hand glimpse into the lives and views of the entire political spectrum in Ohio. Everyone from the average citizen to Democratic and Republican political strategists...

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A full house gathered at the ROM today for the premiere screening of My Life as a Terrorist: The Story of Hans-Joachim Klein. The film follows the life of Klein, a German man who went from being a left-wing radical to being linked to the murders of OPEC officials in 1975. Klein describes this transition and reveals how he feels the terrorist organization used and manipulated him.

Stock footage and photographs are used along with recent footage of Klein on a trip back to his...

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The second of three Doc Talks today focused on collaboration, featuring the creators of Manufactured Landscapes discussing how a project comes toghether with such difficult creative bridges to build. The film's director Jennifer Baichwal said it was very different to look at an image through the eyes of a photographer, which she needed to do in creating this film focused on the work of famed Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky.

When Burtynsky found out a film was in the works about him, he was hesitant to be part of a project full...

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Blindsight has its world premiere today at TIFF, garnering possibly the loudest and longest applause of any Real to Reel film so far at the festival. The film's director, Lucy Walker (background), documented the amazing story of six blind Tibetan children attempting to climb a 22,000 foot peak near mount Everest in 2004. The children were led by their teacher, Sabriye Tenberken, who is also visually impaired, and Erik Weihenmayer, a blind man who climbed to the top of Mount Everest.

Filled with emotion, struggle, triumph and a rousing rendintion of...

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One of the best draws at TIFF every year is the parties, not just for the open bar and great food, but it's a chance for the talented people that attend the festival to mix and mingle.

Al Maysles participated...

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One of the most anticipated films of this years festival, Kurt Cobain  About a Son, made it's worldwide premiere tonight, and did not disappoint delivering a rock-umentary unlike any other. The film is based on a series of audio interviews conducted by journalist Michael Azerrad (right), allowing the voice of Kurt to speak for himself . Young director, AJ Schnack (center) made his way to the microphone to introduce a project that he said means so much to him, and it showed as Schnack could barely get his thank yous out as he got choked up in...

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Rock and peace icon Yoko Ono was greeted by hundreds of fans today as she walked into the premiere of The U.S. vs. John Lennon. Many of these fans didn’t even have tickets but lined up for hours to get a glimpse of the legendary Ono. Inside, Ono received a standing ovation before the film, which was received greatly by the packed house at the Ryerson Theatre, including director Michael Moore, who also got a round of applause. The film documents the struggles John and Yoko faced from the late 60’s...

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American rockers, The Flaming Lips were on the scene at TIFF for Summercamp! (left), singing to a boisterous crowd last night at the post-screening party. The Lips supplied songs for film's soundtrack and came to TIFF to support its debut.

First the Lips attended the film's debut screening, donning the blinking, neon visors, with all the enthusiasm of the outrageouly dressed directors. Later, the Lips took another stage at Gabby's on Bloor to play to a pumped up crowd who ate roasted-marshmallows and scored some...

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Child-like laughter bellowed through the ancient halls of the ROM tonight as Summercamp made its debut. The three-year project, by directors Sarah Price and Bradley Beesley, documents a delightful group of children over their three-week summer camp. Everyone left the theatre with a sense of warmth, and even got some exercise before the film as its directors and even some of its stars climbed on stage with blinking hats and fluorescent life-jackets, leading the standing audience in some musical, child-ercizing antics.

When introducing the film, TIFF doc...

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Friday's premiere screening of The Prisoner: Or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair and Sari’s Mother, presented together, shocked the audience both on screen and on stage during the Q&A. The Prisoner follows the story of Yunis, an Iraqi journalist who was wrongfully detained by the American military in an Iraqi compound for 9 months.

After the film, Prisoner Director Michael Tucker read an email he received from an American soldier who had befriended Yunis at Camp Ganci where he was detained. Tucker then called former US soldier Benjamin Thompson on stage...

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Ghosts of Cite Soleil (right) didn´t have months or years of pre-production behind it when we started shooting. There was no production company. There was no extensive preparing for the great mission an undertaking like this film could be. There was the prepared desire to do a certain kind of film in the right setting and there was the sudden unraveling of historic events in Haiti that invited filming and immediate action. There was a clear dramatic line of events waiting to happen.  And then there was the...

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Director Sophie Fiennes (left) kicked off TIFF on Thursday with the North American premiere screening of her film, The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, to a packed house at the ROM on Thursday. The three-part film features the witty and insightful Slavoj Žižek discussing everything from sexuality in the works of Lynch, Kubrick and Hitchcock to how film is equal to viewing shit backing up a toilet. Needless to say, Fiennes had many questions to answer in the Q & A after the screening. The director also shared anecdotes about...

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CBC reporter Matthew McKinnon interviews TIFF Documentary Programmer Thom Powers here. Below is an excerpt...

[Right: Made in Jamaica]

Q: What specific challenges were involved in shaping this year’s lineup?

A: Music-related documentaries has always been a strong genre, but this year more than ever. We have [programmed] a great range, from Kurt Cobain: About a Son to Made in Jamaica to several others, not to mention the biggest...

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This is not a statement, just a quick reflection, late at night from Stockwell, South London. The guy in the flat below me is playing a very insistent trance music track and the soft but predictable bass is seeping through the floorboards like the smell of cooking. Perhaps this is his revenge for all the late nights he had to suffer at my hands, hearing the recorded voice of Slavoj Zizek (left), like a Balkan Zeus, booming away from above about "Libido!" - and unintelligible vibrations through the walls with...

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