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Image from the documentary film ”Backlash: Mysogyny in the Digital Age

Documentary by two Quebec filmmakers exposes horror of cyber violence against women

Marisela Amador, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

MONTREAL - A documentary on cyber violence opening Friday in Toronto follows four women who recount their stories of being attacked, denigrated and threatened because they choose to speak their minds.

“Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age” explores the online violence and hatred faced by women and girls across the world. The French-language version of the film, directed by Léa Clermont-Dion and Guylaine Maroist, premièred in the fall in Quebec to critical acclaim and broke box office records in the province for a documentary film.

Maroist says the goal of the documentary, produced by La Ruelle Films, is to bring awareness to online misogyny and provide a voice for victims, who she says have few recourses to turn to. She says the idea for the film came after Clermont-Dion experienced online threats in 2015.

“I think in the past seven years, we have witnessed the growth of this phenomenon," Maroist said in a recent interview. "In 2015, we weren’t talking about cyber violence. But now, unfortunately, it has become a very important issue in our society."

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‘Fabelmans,’ ‘Top Gun’ get boost with producers’ group nods

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

‘Fabelmans,’ ‘Top Gun’ get boost with producers’ group nods

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 1 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

The Oscar chances for “Top Gun: Maverick” just went into hyperdrive. The high-flying blockbuster, along with Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Tár” have all been nominated for the Producers Guild of America’s top honor, the organization said Thursday.

All five got top Directors Guild nominations just Wednesday. “The Fabelmans” and “Banshees” also won big at the Golden Globes earlier this week.

The Producers Guild nominates 10 films annually for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. Also nominated were “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Elvis,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and “The Whale," all films still hoping to be in the best picture race come Oscar nomination morning on Jan. 24.

PGA picks are generally a good predictor of the Oscars best picture nominees and winners. Last year, the group gave out awards to the producing teams behind “CODA,” “Encanto” and “Summer of Soul,” which all went on to win Oscars in their respective categories.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Colin Farrell in a scene from "The Banshees of Inisherin." (Jonathan Hession. Searchlight Pictures via AP)
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Colin Farrell in a scene from

Q&A: Filmmaker Alice Diop mines darkness in ‘Saint Omer’

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

Q&A: Filmmaker Alice Diop mines darkness in ‘Saint Omer’

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 1 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

In 2016, French documentary filmmaker Alice Diop made an unusual decision. She decided to travel to a town in Northern France to watch the trial of a Senegalese woman, Fabienne Kabou, who one night in 2013 left her 15-month-old daughter on the beach to die.

Diop didn’t tell anyone she was going. She wasn’t even quite sure herself. But what she witnessed over the course of those few days would inspire her first narrative film, “ Saint Omer,” which opens in U.S. theaters Friday.

Quiet and haunting, “Saint Omer” is not your standard courtroom drama, nor is it a garish “true crime” spectacle. In it, a pregnant novelist, Rama (Kayije Kagame), bears witness to the testimony of Kabou stand-in Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda). Since winning the feature debut award at the Venice Film Festival, “Saint Omer” has continued to collect accolades and nominations, including a spot on the Oscars shortlist.

With an English translator by her side, Diop spoke to The Associated Press this week about her intentions for the film, the “invisible women” at its heart and the unexpected catharsis she found that she wanted to also give to audiences. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

French filmmaker Alice Diop poses for a portrait to promote "Saint Omer" in New York on Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Christopher Smith/Invision/AP)
French filmmaker Alice Diop poses for a portrait to promote

Review: Spellbinding ‘Saint Omer’ straddles truth, fiction

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

Review: Spellbinding ‘Saint Omer’ straddles truth, fiction

Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press 1 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

First, the real-life facts of the case, more shocking than you’ll find in most fiction: In November 2013, a mother took a train from Paris to the northern French coast, along with her 15-month old daughter. She checked into a hotel, walked down to the water at night, fed the hungry child, and left her to drown at high tide.

That mother, Fabienne Kabou, went on trial in 2016, where she acknowledged the killing and spoke of sorcery and witchcraft, but added: “Nothing makes sense in this story.”

Sitting in that courtroom was French documentary filmmaker Alice Diop. Like Kabou a woman of Senegalese descent, Diop had been fascinated by the case since she’d seen a grainy surveillance photo in a newspaper and felt that “I know her so well, I recognize myself.” She spent days sitting in the courtroom, staring at the woman in front of her, seeking to understand the impossible.

What emerged from that experience is the spellbinding Saint Omer, Diop’s debut feature, but really a film that exists somewhere in the space between documentary and scripted narrative, between truth and fiction. Most crucially, it's a film so original in approach that one feels only Diop could have made or even conceived of it.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

This image released by Neon shows Guslagie Malanda in a scene from "Saint Omer." (Neon via AP)
This image released by Neon shows Guslagie Malanda in a scene from

Review: Gerard Butler keeps ‘Plane’ grounded

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

Review: Gerard Butler keeps ‘Plane’ grounded

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press 1 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

After “Airplane!” “Airport,” “Up in the Air,” “Flight," “Snakes on a Plane," “Non-Stop” and “The Terminal," we have finally arrived, like weary passengers reaching an unexotic destination, at “Plane.”

The Gerard Butler thriller, straight and to the point, has dispensed with anything too complicated in its title. We can, no doubt, look forward to future installments like “Bus,” “Automobile” and, if we're lucky, “Boat.”

But if “Plane,” which opens in theaters Friday, seems, well, kind of plain, it effectively reflects the ethos of Jean-François Richet's straightforward and serviceable action flick. Man fly plane. Plane go down. Man (maybe) fly plane again.

And Butler has gotten quite good at keeping these kinds of movies grounded. He plays Brodie Torrance, a pilot for Trailblazer Airlines whose next flight is a New Year's run from Singapore to Tokyo. Despite a worrisome storm system in between, he's ordered by the airline to fly directly through it, to economize fuel.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

This image released by Lionsgate shows Mike Colter in a scene from "Plane." (Kenneth Rexach/Lionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Mike Colter in a scene from

Film helps renew search for 1st Black Navy pilot’s remains

Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

Film helps renew search for 1st Black Navy pilot’s remains

Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 1 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

The film “Devotion” reignited efforts to repatriate the remains of Jesse Brown, America's first Black Navy pilot, who died in 1950 after having to crash land his damaged plane during the Korean War.

Fred Smith, the founder of Memphis-based FedEx, financed the film about Brown because he thought Brown deserved wider recognition, a feeling his surviving relatives share, and lobbied the Trump administration to support the search efforts after consulting with Brown’s daughter, Pamela.

“I’m still determined to try to get Jesse Brown home and put him where he ought to be in Arlington (National Cemetery),” Smith said. “Among the other heroes of the republic next to his wingman, Tom Hudner.”

Smith's daughters, Rachel and Molly, who produced the film, met members of Brown's family at the 2018 funeral of Hudner, who received the Medal of Honor after attempting to rescue Brown. Hudner returned to North Korea in 2013 in an attempt to locate Brown's remains, but was unsuccessful.

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

FILE - This circa 1950 photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows Jesse Brown in the cockpit of an F4U-4 Corsair fighter at an unidentified location. In December 2022, FedEx founder Fred Smith gifted the proceeds from the film “Devotion,” which he financed, that tells the story of groundbreaking Naval aviators Brown and Thomas Hudner. The proceeds will fund in part scholarships for the children of Navy service members studying STEM. (U.S Navy via AP, File)
FILE - This circa 1950 photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows Jesse Brown in the cockpit of an F4U-4 Corsair fighter at an unidentified location. In December 2022, FedEx founder Fred Smith gifted the proceeds from the film “Devotion,” which he financed, that tells the story of groundbreaking Naval aviators Brown and Thomas Hudner. The proceeds will fund in part scholarships for the children of Navy service members studying STEM. (U.S Navy via AP, File)

List of nominees for the 2023 SAG Awards

The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

List of nominees for the 2023 SAG Awards

The Associated Press 1 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nominations for the 29th annual Screen Actor Guild Awards, which will be handed out on Feb. 26 in Los Angeles and shown live on Netflix:

FILM

Ensemble: “Babylon”; “The Banshees of Inisherin”; “Everything Everywhere All at Once”; “The Fabelmans”; ““Women Talking.”

Male actor in a leading role: Austin Butler, “Elvis”; Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”; Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”; Bill Nighy, “Living”; Adam Sandler, “Hustler.”

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Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

This image released by A24 Films shows, from left, Stephanie Hsu, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan in a scene from, "Everything Everywhere All At Once." (Allyson Riggs/A24 Films via AP)
This image released by A24 Films shows, from left, Stephanie Hsu, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan in a scene from,

Apple-Movies-Top-10

The Associated Press 1 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023

Movies US charts:

1. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

2. Knives Out

3. Ticket to Paradise

Charlotte Wells’ ‘Aftersun’ dominates Toronto Film Critics Association awards

Noel Ransome, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Charlotte Wells’ ‘Aftersun’ dominates Toronto Film Critics Association awards

Noel Ransome, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Monday, Jan. 9, 2023

TORONTO - The father-daughter drama "Aftersun" by first-time director Charlotte Wells scored big with the Toronto Film Critics Association, netting four awards including best picture.

The film was also named best feature and earned Well the best director prize and star Paul Mescal the best actor award. Best actress went to Cate Blanchett of "Tár."

Best picture runners-up include Sarah Polley's adaptation of Miriam Toews’ novel "Women Talking," and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" by the film team of Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, known as The Daniels.

Best animated feature went to "Turning Red," helmed by Toronto's Domee Shi, about a Chinese-Canadian girl wrestling with puberty in 2002 Toronto.

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Monday, Jan. 9, 2023

The father-daughter drama "Aftersun" by first-time director Charlotte Wells scored big with the Toronto Film Critics Association, netting four awards including best picture. Set in the early 2000s, “Aftersun” follows Sophie, an 11-year-old Scottish girl, on vacation with her father at a Turkish resort on the eve of his 31st birthday. Frankie Corio as Sophie and Paul Mescal as Calum are shown in this undated photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-A24
The father-daughter drama

Throwback murder mysteries breathe life into genre

Alison Gillmor 1 minute read Preview

Throwback murder mysteries breathe life into genre

Alison Gillmor 1 minute read Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Streaming services may be facing an uncertain new year, but Glass Onion, the followup to 2019’s Knives Out, was a reliable hit for Netflix over the holidays. In fact, writer-director Rian Johnson is already dropping some clues about the next Knives Out pic. Also backed by Netflix, this will be the third outing for Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), the famous detective known for his laser-like precision of mind and his somewhat amorphous Southern accent.

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Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023

Edward Norton ( left), as Miles, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey and Daniel Craig as Det. Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. (John Wilson / Netflix)
Edward Norton, left, as Miles, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey and Daniel Craig as Det. Benoit Blanc in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” (John Wilson/Netflix/TNS)

New this week: Margo Price and ‘Gold, Lies & Videotape’

The Associated Press 1 minute read Preview

New this week: Margo Price and ‘Gold, Lies & Videotape’

The Associated Press 1 minute read Monday, Jan. 9, 2023

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.

MOVIES

— In “I Didn't See You There,” filmmaker Reid Davenport captures his perspective navigating the world in a wheelchair as a disabled man with cerebral palsy. The film, which premieres Monday as part of PBS's “POV,” is a portrait of the challenges many with disabilities face and their often invisible struggle. (In one scene, Davenport is stuck on an airplane after landing.) But it's also the work of a keenly observant filmmaker, with an eye for beauty and a uniquely poetic point of view. Davenport shot this autobiographical film largely with a handheld camera and, sometimes, with one affixed to his wheelchair. Last year, the film won him the documentary directing prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

— The title of Sierra Pettengill's “Riotsville, USA” refers to a fake town the U.S. military created in the 1960s to hold exercises mimicking police and military response to rioting. The drills, staged in front of cardboard storefronts, helped make a violent playbook for controlling the era's social unrest. “A door swung open in the late ’60s,” reads Charlene Modeste in narration penned by essayist Tobi Haslett. “And someone, something, sprang up and slammed it shut.” Using archival footage from those exercises, “Riotsville, U.S.A,” which debuts Thursday on Hulu, wearily surveys the militarization of the police force.

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Monday, Jan. 9, 2023

This combination of images shows “Good Thing We Stayed” by Julia Wolf, left, and Margo Price’s fourth studio full-length album, “Strays." (BMG/Loma Vista Recordings via AP)
This combination of images shows “Good Thing We Stayed” by Julia Wolf, left, and Margo Price’s fourth studio full-length album, “Strays.

Winnipegger’s costumes speak volumes in Women Talking

Ben Waldman 1 minute read Preview

Winnipegger’s costumes speak volumes in Women Talking

Ben Waldman 1 minute read Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

When the film Women Talking opens here, two Manitoba-raised artists will be vaulted into the bright lights of Hollywood, their names attached to a film destined to draw both Oscar consideration and provincial intrigue.

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Friday, Jan. 6, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Quita Alfred, the wardrobe co-ordinator for Women Talking, was the ‘weirdo wearing vintage dresses’ as a teenager in St. Vital.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Quita Alfred, the wardrobe co-ordinator for Women Talking, was the ‘weirdo wearing vintage dresses’ as a teenager in St. Vital.

Composer Joseph Koo, linked to ‘Golden Era’ of Hong Kong culture, dies in Vancouver

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Composer Joseph Koo, linked to ‘Golden Era’ of Hong Kong culture, dies in Vancouver

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

VANCOUVER - Renowned composer Joseph Koo, whose music helped form the soundtrack for what his family called the "Golden Era" of Hong Kong culture in the 1970s and '80s, has died in a Metro Vancouver hospital.

Koo's family said in a statement that he died of natural causeson Tuesday, six days short of his 92nd birthday.

The composer is closely associated with the heyday of Cantopop, writing songs for some of the biggest names of the Cantonese music genre as well as scoring movies including Bruce Lee's "Way of the Dragon" and "Fist of Fury."

He also wrote "Below the Lion Rock," the theme tune for a popular '70s TV series of the same name, which became an unofficial anthem for Hong Kong.

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Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

Joseph Koo, shown in a handout photo, one of Hong Kong's most respected composers, has died at the age of 91. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ken Koo **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Joseph Koo, shown in a handout photo, one of Hong Kong's most respected composers, has died at the age of 91. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ken Koo **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Bill Cosby documentary spotlights role of community in healing from trauma

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Bill Cosby documentary spotlights role of community in healing from trauma

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

TORONTO - Though it may be called "The Case Against Cosby," a new documentary soon to premiere on CBC TV focuses more on some of the women who came forward with allegations against the comedian — and what it takes for them to heal from lasting trauma.

The film, which debuts on Sunday, focuses on the story of Andrea Constand, bringing her together for the first time in person with four other women who have come forward with sexual assault allegations against Cosby, who has consistently maintained his innocence.

They gathered at a retreat led by the Hungarian-Canadian physician Gabor Mate, with shots of the meeting interwoven throughout the film. There, they discussed their specific allegations against Cosby and the broader effects trauma has on a person.

"I think one of the most important things for healing trauma is recognizing that you're not alone," said Toronto-based director Karen Wookey. "In community, the opportunity to heal is so much greater because it's a safe container."

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Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023

Andrea Constand is shown in a handout photo from the documentary "The Case Against Cosby." The documentary, soon to premiere on CBC TV, focuses on some of the women who came forward with allegations against the comedian and what it takes for them to heal from lasting trauma. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-CBC **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Andrea Constand is shown in a handout photo from the documentary

‘That ’90s Show,’ ‘The Menu,’ ‘The Last of Us’ among January streaming highlights

David Friend, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

‘That ’90s Show,’ ‘The Menu,’ ‘The Last of Us’ among January streaming highlights

David Friend, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

TORONTO - Here's a look at some of the standout TV series and films debuting on subscription streaming platforms in January:

“That ‘90s Show”

Swap out your bell bottoms for cargo pants and disco records for grunge CDs. Many things changed in the two decades between “That '70s Show” and its new sitcom update, but one hasn’t: Red and Kitty Forman. The Wisconsin parents watched their teenage son Eric grow up and marry his high school sweetheart Donna. And now, their granddaughter Leia is staying with them for the summer. That’s where “That ‘90s Show” picks up, as the cast quickly eases back into the familiar suburban habits: from high school crushes to getting high in the basement. Newcomer Callie Haverda steals the show as the youngest Forman, while many of the original “That '70s Show” cast members return for appearances throughout the season. (Netflix, Jan. 19)

"The Menu"

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Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023

Kurtwood Smith as Red Forman, left to right, Topher Grace as Eric Forman, Debra Jo Rupp as Kitty Forman and Callie Haverda as Leia Forman in a still from "That ‘90s Show,” premiering Jan. 19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Netflix *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Kurtwood Smith as Red Forman, left to right, Topher Grace as Eric Forman, Debra Jo Rupp as Kitty Forman and Callie Haverda as Leia Forman in a still from

France’s César movie awards take stand against sexual crimes

The Associated Press 1 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023

PARIS (AP) — Movie stars and other film industry workers convicted of or facing possible prison time for sexual or sexist violence are being banned from France’s top movie award ceremony “out of respect for the victims.”

The handing out of the César awards — the French equivalent of the Oscars and scheduled this year for Feb. 24 in Paris — is a glittering annual highlight of the movie industry calendar in France.

But the Césars have also faced scrutiny — like other sections of the global movie industry — in the wake of the #MeToo social movement against sexual violence.

Women’s rights activists protested outside the 2020 ceremony where director Roman Polanski won an award. Actress Adele Haenel, who alleged sexual assault by another French director in the early 2000s when she was 15, got up and walked out of the room, followed by a few others, when Polanski was named best director for “An Officer and a Spy.”

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