The Voice of Hind Rajab delicately captures pure despair

On January 29, 2024, Red Crescent (also known as Red Cross) volunteers in Gaza received a call from a family trapped in a car under Israeli military fire. Moments later, only five-year-old Hind Rajab remained on the line, begging to be rescued. As paramedics had been killed in the area days earlier, the Red Crescent was forced to navigate a maze of military and governmental approvals before a rescue attempt could even be considered. Hind stayed on the call, scared and alone, as dispatchers tried to help. The Voice of Hind Rajab is an expertly dramatized retelling of the tragic…

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Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk struggles to balance humility amidst the raw display of human connection

Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk still (Courtesy of TIFF Media Library)

Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk was one of the only films at the Toronto International Film Festival that I was actively disappointed by. It is hard to find space for criticism of such a documentary given the tragedy of its main subject, Fatma Hassouna, a 25-year old Palestinian photographer who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on her family home. The ache I felt in watching someone so full of life and so clearly optimistic for her future in the wake of terrible indiscriminate violence perpetuated by a rogue state is more than palpable.  Director Sepideh Farsi’s…

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Artists Against Artwashing calls out Scotiabank investments in Israeli military tech at TIFF

On September 6, a paper mache head of Scotiabank’s portfolio manager David Fingold was paraded in front of the Scotiabank theatre during TIFF rush hour. The grand mache-Fingold had marionette hands carrying a large cheque with red paint dripping from the top, signed for $300,000,000 USD  addressed to Israel. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) demonstration, organized by the No Arms in the Arts coalition, drew crowds of festival-goers to stop and take photographs, as well as a hefty police presence. “We are protesting Scotiabank’s stake in Elbit Systems,” said demonstrator Mitra Fakrashrafi, in an interview with Antler River Media.…

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The republic, the regime and you: Eagles of the Republic Review

Propaganda is everywhere. Whether it’s promoting social values, or uplifting (or disparaging) political figures, there are oceans of propaganda curated to shape how we see and interact with the world around us. Dangerous as it is, no one is immune to propaganda — and a world of trouble exists for those who might be forced to create it.  In the third film of his Cairo-set film series, Swedish-Egyptian director Tarek Saleh takes on the world of Egyptian propaganda films, with a daring peek into the life of actors under the current el-Sisi regime in Egypt. The film, which premiered at…

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Heartbreak after heartbreak intensifies in Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake

The President’s Cake joins my list of child-starring international features that I stand firmly behind.  The film captures what it is like to live under an authoritarian regime through the innocence of a young girl, as she struggles to do what the regime asks of her — bake a cake for Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Set in 1990s Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s rule, Hasan Hadi’s directorial debut follows nine-year-old Lamia (played by Baneen Ahmed Nayyef), a schoolgirl living in poverty in the Iraqi marshes under the care of her grandmother, whom she calls Bibi (played by Waheed Thabet) as the two…

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“We believe in what we’re trying to fight for”: OPSEU strike enters fourth week 

Since September 11, around 650 full-time college support staff at Fanshawe College have been on strike. Workers on the picket line share concerns about supporting their families as the financial hardships of the strike become increasingly straining. “For some of them it’s a real financial hardship. A strike means you don’t perform work and you don’t get paid,” says Adam Rayfield, president of OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employees Union) Local 109 representing full-time college support staff at Fanshawe College. “But what it’s really done is strengthen their bonds. The silver lining I see from this is that folks are connecting…

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