Click Trap- (Hot Docs Review) Click here:

 Click Trap

Duration: 84 & 54 MINUTES 

Genre: FEATURE DOCUMENTARY 

Countries: SPAIN, FRANCE

Director: Peter Porta

Trailer Link: https://youtu.be/GQtcxa2becM

I saw this film during the Hot Docs Festival recently and didn't have time to write a review, but this film has been lingering with me since I watched it.  This film will haunt you every day that you go onto social media, do anything online, and even go out in public at certain places.

I don't know if you are aware of the book 1984 the George Orwell book?  When I was in school the thing they kept talking about was Big Brother is watching you.  Well, it seems that might be true and whoever "Big Brother" is now is watching you do whatever you do online all the time.  

The genie has gotten out of the bottle and is not going back in.  Life has changed dramatically since the internet became available globally.  But what seems great and free has an actual cost that you might not see but you may feel at some point in your life.  

Teens are seeing the most extreme shift in their lives as they have become addicted to social media and all things online.  They get a dopamine hit every time they scroll through their feeds.  It seems harmless, but what if entities were using the information teens are unknowingly providing?

Remember the song Sting wrote: Every Breath You Take?  In this case, it's every click you make they are watching you.

The film is told through a series of expert contributors, who expose the secrets nobody tells you when you first join an app or do anything online.

Some things I knew but the depth that they delve into in this film is shocking and scary.

Lately, I feel like I need a digital detox to spend time in nature away from the constant bombardment of screens and tracking every minute of the day.  Modern life has forced us to spend most of our time online working and connecting with friends and family.

I am old enough to remember days before the internet, cell phones, and social media.  It was a lot less complicated and we as a society were a lot more uninformed about many things.

I use social media to connect with friends, share my blog posts, and find places to go and where the best new places to eat.  But some people use it to harm others and for personal and political gain.

We are bombarded by advertising that is pushed on us 24/7 and companies are using social media to target these ads based on what we show them through our social media life.  Look at Times Square or if you are in Toronto you just need to look at Yonge and Dundas where you are being fed huge billboards filled with advertising on every side of the intersections.

This film is a must-see, and I encourage you to watch it with teens so they can learn how social media use can have a big effect on their lives.

I don't have a release date but you can schedule screenings by contacting them through their website:

The Click Trap . Documentary Official Website

Red Fever- (Hot Docs review) Native people are the original influencers

                                                    RED FEVER (Hot Docs Review)

Feature documentary - 104 minutes 

Direction: Neil Diamond and Catherine Bainbridge

Production : Rezolution Pictures
French Title : Rougemania 

Production country: Canada

Original languages: English 

Subtitles: French

Red Fever follows Cree co-director Neil Diamond as he shines a spotlight on the stereotypes of Native people and their culture.

Neil in NYC

An insightful exploration of the origins of Native culture stereotypes and their appropriation by North American fashion designers and in film.

While the Natives were expected to assimilate into North American culture and lose their identities their identities were then stolen by everyone else. Pop culture has perpetuated stereotypes of Native culture through the appropriation of items such as the native headdress and fringes, which hold significance in ceremonial gatherings and represent protection for the Shamans within Indigenous communities. Many fashion designers and pop artists have directly replicated Native designs from historical sources to profit from them, depriving Native people of the opportunity to benefit from their own cultural capital. This exploitation also devalues the significance and functional purpose of Native attire.

It also examines how sports teams have appropriated Native names and colors for their teams, and even the tomahawk chop is performed without consideration.

The questions of when it is acceptable to be influenced by and draw inspiration from other cultures, and whether it is ethical for non-Native individuals to use these designs for commercial gain, are important to consider.

This film sensitively explores the detrimental effects of cultural appropriation on Native communities. The film is told from the perspective of a Cree filmmaker and is eye-opening. This film is both interesting and educational. It should be shown in schools because it's a part of history. It illustrates how things have been adopted and have become accepted as the norm.

This film will have its theatrical release on June 15, 2024. Check your local listings.

The Boy in the Woods -a true survival story

The Boy in the Woods (Film)

UPCOMING SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS:
Toronto Jewish Film Festival -  June 2, 2024
Cummings Centre Governor's  Screening (Montréal, QC) - June 10, 2024 
Grand River Film Festival (Waterloo, ON) - May 12, 2024
*Theatrical release is set for June 21, 2024

COUNTRY: Canada 
LANGUAGE: English
RUNTIME: 99 minutes 

CAST:
Jett Klyne (Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Supergirl, Phantom Pups)
Richard Armitage (Obsession, The Hobbit film trilogy, The Crucible)
David Kohlsmith (Chucky, Painkiller, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go)

DIRECTOR: Canadian Screen Award winning Rebecca Snow (Cheating Hitler: Surviving the Holocaust, Pandora’s Box, Crossroads: Beyond Boom & Bust)

WRITERS: 
Maxwell Smart (book - bestselling author - ‘The Boy in the Woods’)
Rebecca Snow (screenplay)

the Link to the trailer:

https://magnetreleasing.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f9b0a996bf01892fdd22b1ca7&id=77c273e136&e=91947b0a4b

 I got a screener around the time of Hot Docs but I didn't have time to watch it but I finally had the time this week and found out that The Boy in the Woods will be at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival (32nd Toronto Jewish Film Festival - Toronto Jewish Film Festival (tjff.com) on June 2nd, 2024.  I hope you see this in time to get a chance to see the film because it's well worth seeing.

This film was based on a true story and was originally a documentary about Holocaust survivor and artist Maxwell Smart.  I assume that's his real name.

The Documentary director saw it clearly as a feature film and Max agreed to do it.  

I believe there comes a time in your life when you want to tell your story in the hopes of it making a difference to future generations and leaving a legacy in your life.

Although the story differs from my own mother's story about surviving the Holocaust they both come with the return to regular life after the war and are left with the traumatic scars of their experiences and have to pick up the pieces and move forward with their life.

This story seems unbelievable if it wasn't a true story.  Max was separated from his sister and mother just as they were about to be taken away to most likely be killed by the Germans during the war.  His mother had the presence of mind to tell him to run and to find an aunt who could help him.  He ran and ran and found that aunt but things weren't going to go so easily for him from then on.   The aunt arranged for him to stay with a family in the woods, but after the Germans arrived at the home and harassed the man, he was forced to send Max to the woods to keep his family and Max safe.  He set him up in a little enclave and taught him some basics on how to survive.  After a while another boy stumbled upon his little hideaway and the 2 became best friends in trying to survive the difficulties of starvation and the elements.  One day they heard gunshots and found several people dead but Max thought he saw someone alive.  It turned out to be a mother who was dead but she had covered up a baby and Max and Yanek worked together to cross a river to get the baby to safety.  Max saved that baby's life but unfortunately, things got worse for Yanek.  They brought the baby to the family who were able to take care of it.

Somehow Max managed to survive against all odds to make it out at the end of the war and was able to return to the family.

While he was hunkered down in the Woods,  he dreamed about becoming an artist and buying nice clothes, and getting all the food he wanted.

He immigrated to Canada and was able to live his dream.  

This is the power of keeping your faith and moving forward one step at a time and never giving up.

This is a Canadian film but it looks like a big-budget Hollywood film.  It's shot beautifully.  It's written with depth and heart.   It tells a story that has historical references while still being entertaining.

The acting was fantastic by Jett Klyne who plays Max.

I really hope this film gets the recognition it deserves and I will be rooting for it to be included in the 2025 Academy Awards.

I have probably shared too much but you still need to see it to appreciate it.

It represents all the Holocaust survivors who lived to create generations of families and their legacy.