Montreal Fringe: Chlamydia dell’Arte: A Sex-Ed Burlesque
“Butt sex should never be a surprise.” So begins the very catchy tune that opens Chlamydia dell’Arte: A Sex-Ed Burlesque. Alternating skits and burlesque numbers with vox pop video segements,…
features
Montreal Fringe: Ginger Slurs & Slut Shaming
Project Gingervitis Project Gingervitis is a smart, funny take on discrimination, eugenics, geopolitics, and media manipulation. A one-man show written and brilliantly performed by Jordan Lloyd Watkins and set in…
Montreal Fringe: Kitt & Jane guide us through the ecological apocalypse
Kitt & Jane: an interactive survival guide to the Near-Post-Apocalyptic Future is environmental activist theatre disguised as charming comedy and shadow play. Created by the team behind the award-winning Little…
Montreal Fringe: Our Creation, Existence, & Destruction in 55 Minutes
Our Creation, Existence, & Destruction in 55 Minutes is a one-man show from recent John Abbott Theatre grad Ian Geldart. Supported by stage manager Natasha Gabriella Trepanier in minor speaking…
My Playwright Sister: a play about a play about a transgender sibling
My Playwright Sister, written and performed by James Diamond and Johanna Nutter, is a sequel of sorts to Nutter’s earlier work, My Pregnant Brother. My Pregnant Brother sets Nutter’s struggle…
Engaging and Enraging: A Review of The Secret Trial 5
The Secret Trial 5, director Amar Wala’s first feature, is an engaging and enraging look at five men labelled security risks by the Canadian government and detained without trial for…
An open letter to George W. Bush, the artist
Dear Mr. Bush, I was heartened to learn of your recent exhibition of paintings at your own Presidential Library in Dallas. Some may have considered this a crude display of…
Hugs With Arms will put affordable art on your walls
After seven years of putting political art on your computer screen, I’m now hoping to put some art on your walls. We started Art Threat in 2007 because we felt…
The Condemned exposes the dark lives of convicted murderers
On the outside, The Condemned is what you would expect of a documentary about a prison: bad food, unsympathetic guards, tearful family reunions, letters from Lonely Hearts, and a lot…
Asking the right questions: A review of Private Violence
Private Violence, a heart-wrenching documentary about domestic abuse, follows one advocate and survivor’s journey to improve upon the resources and support systems for abused women, as well as hold accountable…
A soulful assemblage: A review of Come Worry with Us!
Come Worry With Us! is a film by Helene Klodawsky that follows Montreal-based band, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra on a North American tour. A collage-like documentary, the film…
Sheen and gloss, personal and political: A Review of We are the Giant
We Are the Giant, a powerful portrait of five human rights activists in Syria, Libya, and Bahrain, personalizes the multiple, simultaneous, and in many ways ongoing struggles often monolithically referred…
A visceral, jarring work: A review of Children 404
“Children like me simply don’t exist for them.” With these ominous words, spoken over a crackling telephone connection, Children 404 draws to a close; its unsettling conclusion signaled by an…
Abortion at sea: A review of Vessel
Vessel (Diana Whitten, USA, 2014) is fast-paced, heart-thumping adventure into reproductive rights and activism on the high seas. This was one of my favourite films at Hot Docs 2014, and…
Evaporating Borders explores asylum-seekers in Cyprus
“… it’s a place I call home, although I blend in only as a familiar stranger.” Evaporating Borders, written and directed by Iva Radivojevic, is a five-act exploration of asylum-seekers…
Hot Docs 2014 preview: politically punchy program, diversity festival gap still needs work
It’s springtime in Toronto and that means Canada’s premiere documentary showcase is back for another jam-packed ten day event that will deliver the world of doc to eager local audiences…
Painting, Resisting, Giggling: An Interview with George Littlechild
I first stumbled upon George Littlechild’s art at the Comox Valley Art Gallery in my hometown of Courtenay, British Columbia. After reeling from the emotional turmoil and historical reopening, rapprochement…
VoiceOver documentary reframes the 2011 London riots
VoiceOver | Riots Reframed (2013) is Fahim Alam’s first film, shot in the aftermath of the 2011 riots in London and other UK cities, while Alam was under conditional release…
The Act of Killing: a step forward in a country that must look back
Editor’s note: Christine Phang, the author of this article, has also responded to attacks on the film by BBC critic Nick Fraser. Indonesia’s history as an independent state has been…
The Act of Killing: My family lived through it
Editor’s note: Christine Phang has recently written a contextual analysis of the Oscar-nominated documentary, The Act of Killing. After we read her essay we asked her to give us her…