Skip to Content

Hot Docs 2011: Knuckle

Knuckle Directed by Ian Palmer 2011, Ireland/UK, 97 mins. Knuckle did not start begin life as a documentary. Rather, director Ian Palmer met a bare-knuckle fighter at an Irish Traveller wedding in the mid-nineties and agreed to film an upcoming bout, in part to ensure that fair play was followed, but also to make some …

Read More about Hot Docs 2011: Knuckle

Hot Docs 2011: Hollywood Complex

Hollywood Complex Directed by Dan Sturman and Dylan Nelson 2011, USA, 85 mins. For every face we see in a film, TV show, or commercial, there are thousands of others who auditioned. Thousands. They say that Hollywood is the only place where you can be encouraged to death – actors take professional pictures, hire agents, …

Read More about Hot Docs 2011: Hollywood Complex

Hot Docs 2011: ‘Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop’ – the personal odyssey of a terribly funny man

Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop Directed by Rodman Flender 2011, USA, 89 mins. Conan O’Brien doesn’t just turn lemons into lemonade; he turns bile into ambrosia. Accordingly, this isn’t a documentary about his very public firing – although it does contain the briefest of recaps. Rather, it is about the months between shows, which he spent …

Read More about Hot Docs 2011: ‘Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop’ – the personal odyssey of a terribly funny man

Hot Docs 2011: ‘Kumaré’

Kumaré Directed by Vikram Gandhi 2011, USA, 84 mins. After watching Kumaré, an old aphorism comes to mind: the best way to learn is to teach. When Vikram Gandhi set out to teach people that gurus and other religious teachers are unnecessary by growing out his hair and beard, putting on an exaggerated Indian accent, …

Read More about Hot Docs 2011: ‘Kumaré’

TJFF: The Hilltops

The Hilltops Directed by Igal Hecht 2011, Canada, 45 mins. There are few hard and fast rules when it comes to film. Usually when a film feels longer than it is, it’s a bad thing. In the case of The Hilltops, it’s not. The film’s forty-five minute runtime belies the sheer weight of substance crammed …

Read More about TJFF: The Hilltops