JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS WITH SOME HOT DOCS OF ITS OWN
This year’s non-fiction slate features surprising Holocaust stories and exploration of The Garbage Pail Kids
Toronto Jewish Film Festival: A mainstay on the city’s filmfest calendar since 1993, the TJFF doesn’t mind sharing its first few days with the tail end of Hot Docs. After all, that’s just fine for the moviegoers who’ll get a chance to see a bounty of yet more new documentaries, presented alongside the TJFF’s generous selection of features, shorts and archival offerings.
This year’s non-fiction fare includes several films that explore the vast subject of the Holocaust in often surprising ways. In Heaven In Ausch
witz — which screens Sunday at Cineplex Empress Walk and Tuesday at Alliance Francaise — Czech survivors describe the little-known efforts of a German Jew named Alfred “Freddy” Hirsch to brighten the very dark lives of children in Terezin and Auschwitz. Screening Monday at Empress Walk and Wednesday at Innis Town Hall, The Essential Link investigates the life of Wilfrid Israel, a secretive Berlin businessman who played a crucial role in the history of the Kindertransport. A look at the transformation of the former death camps into tourist-friendly attractions by the great Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, Austerlitz also plays Tuesday at the Alliance Francaise.
Of course, the TJFF is not always concerned with such weighty matters. Another new doc, 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story delves deep into one of the least likely pop-cultural phenomena of the 1980s — it screens Sunday at Innis Town Hall. Thanks to the special celebrations of the late Gene Wilder and the many screen adaptations of Mordecai Richler’s works, patrons can also enjoy rare showings of The
Frisco Kid (May 13 at Innis Town Hall)
and The Apprenticeship of Duddy
Kravitz (May 14 at Innis Town Hall). This year’s festival wraps up on another upbeat note with the world premiere of Mandala Beats (May 14 at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema), a portrait of renowned Israeli bassist Yossi Fine.
The Sandwich Nazi + First Round
Down: Two new Canadian films begin runs at the Carlton on Friday.
A doc that played SXSW and Hot Docs in 2015, The Sandwich Nazi introduces viewers to Salam Kahil, who is almost certainly Vancouver’s most colourful deli owner. Shot in Hamilton by the Toronto filmmaking team of Brett and Jason Butler, First Round Down is a comedy that stars
Orphan Black’s Dylan Bruce as a former hockey prodigy turned hit man whose past catches up with him.
Lakeshorts International Short Film
Festival: Proving that film fests need not only be a downtown-T-dot thing, Lakeshorts returns to the Assembly Hall in South Etobicoke for its seventh annual showcase of Canadian and international shorts. Richard Crouse and Rick Roberts serve as hosts for the evening programs on Friday and Saturday.
ReelAbilities Film Festival: A touring festival that launched its Toronto edition last year, ReelAbilities returns with a new program of films that foreground the experiences of people living with disabilities.
The festival begins Wednesday at the Artscape Wychwood Barns with the Canadian premiere of Looking at
the Stars, a Brazilian doc about the world’s only ballet school for the blind. ReelAbilities continues to May 18 with screenings at the Al Green Theatre and Innis Town Hall — as always, the festival goes to extra measures to ensure all venues are as accessible as possible to patrons of all abilities.
Jeremiah Tower: The Last Mag
nificent: An architect of the California Cuisine movement alongside his one-time lover turned rival Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower was a fittingly towering figure among American chefs before his lengthy hiatus from the restaurant business. Friends and peers such as Mario Batali, Martha Stewart and Anthony Bourdain
tell his story in Jeremiah Tower: The
Last Magnificent, a new doc that also portrays his recent comeback effort at Manhattan’s Tavern on the Green. The film opens Friday at Cineplex Yonge-Dundas.