By Anne Brodie Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves reflects on life’s quiet offside moments as two characters fallen on hard times find each other. A grocery cashier and a labourer working in Helsinki, Finland had bigger dreams for themselves, but living in squalor on tiny incomes has punctured those dreams. And Ansa (Alma Pöysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) are lonely. He… View Post
Alexander Payne’s bittersweet and hilarious Christmas movie The Holdovers has captured movie fans’ hearts this season. The 70’s ” period piece”, emotional without being sentimental, concerns the goings-on at Barton Academy, a New England boarding school during Christmas break. A few student stragglers are left behind with nowhere to go and become the responsibility of longsuffering teacher Paul (Paul Giamatti),… View Post
Before attending the Catalyst Honours event in Toronto, I knew very little about Catalyst – a global nonprofit dedicated to championing women’s empowerment in the workplace. Little did I realize what I was missing out on. This event wasn’t just an eye-opener; it was a revelation. Surrounded by a community passionately striving for gender equality, I discovered a sense of… View Post
The very real dangers of AI victimisation as seen in Reuben Hamlyn and Sophie Compton’s documentary Another Body are brutal. Young women have been exploited by advanced AI, used by someone who intends to shame them, fixing their faces on bodies in pornographic videos in a seamless way. And the resulting footage can be disseminated at will, without the victim… View Post
In a world where incidents of harassment, discrimination, and violence are all too common, the role of bystanders – those who witness such events – becomes crucial. Bystander Intervention Training, as explained by Julie Lalonde, an internationally recognized women’s rights advocate, is about transforming passive onlookers into active, supportive figures capable of diffusing potentially harmful situations. What is Bystander Intervention… View Post
Karen Kain, our iconic and globally admired ballet star, recently left the National Ballet of Canada, her home of fifty years, capping thirty as principal dancer and almost twenty as Artistic Director. Chelsea McMullen’s emotional and uplifting documentary series Swan Song follows Kain’s triumphant career and the many gifts Kain bestowed on the Ballet. What She Said’ Anne Brodie spoke… View Post