FILM FOOD STUFF-TIFF 2026 - Shortlist Picks

FILM FOOD STUFF 

MY TIFF 2026 - SHORTLIST

29 films, 1 Primetime and 1 In Conversation

Getting ready for TIFF—the Toronto International Film Festival—feels a lot like preparing for a marathon. You have to build up enough energy to be everywhere at once, stand in long lines, run up the stairs for rush films, and generally spend a lot of time doing a lot of things before you even get to watch anything. Going into my 26th year of TIFF’s 51-year history, I try to approach it smarter. I’m not sure I’ve ever reached my goal of doing everything I want to during the 11 days.

This is my second year with Media Accreditation, and I’m still trying to volunteer a bit—less than usual, but enough to stay involved. I’m clearing as many festival days as possible so I can do as much as my body will allow. It’s no longer about how many films I can squeeze into a day; it’s about how many my body will tolerate before it starts screaming at me.

This shortlist reflects films I chose based on subject matter, directors I like, or actors whose work I find compelling.

Working on Real to Reel for a couple of years taught me that everyone sees films differently; art is deeply subjective. The hosts agreed on about 70% of their picks, and often I loved a film they disliked—or vice versa. So I always encourage people to develop their own taste. These are my choices, and sometimes they line up with Oscar nominations, and sometimes they don’t get any attention at all. You never really know until you watch the whole film. Sometimes you connect with something, and sometimes you don’t.

Last year felt overwhelmingly heavy—every major Academy-nominated film seemed dark or depressing. This year, I’m hoping for more variety, and I’m optimistic I’ll find it.

I hope you use this list as a starting point when exploring TIFF’s extensive lineup. I can only see so many films, so I tend to skip very experimental selections, Midnight Madness, and some international titles I don’t always connect with. If those are your favourites, you might not agree with my list—and that’s perfectly fine.

01. Drifter — Sung Kang (United States)

02. Bunker — Florian Zeller (France, Spain)

03. Girl Group — Rebel Wilson (United States, United Kingdom)

04. Always Lalisa — Sue Kim (United States)

05. Babies — Lauren Miller Rogen (United States)

06. Misty Green — Chris Rock (United States)

07. Pretenders — Joss Crowley (United Kingdom)

08. Up Against It — Trudie Styler (United Kingdom)

09. Being Heumann — Siân Heder (United States)

10. Evil Genius — Courteney Cox (United States)

11. The Only Living Pickpocket in New York — Noah Segan (United States)

12. In Conversation With… Chris Rock  

13. Slow Horses — Adam Randall (United Kingdom, United States)

14. Alpha Gang — David Zellner, Nathan Zellner (United States)

15. Bitter Christmas — Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)

16. I Play Rocky — Peter Farrelly (United States)

17. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother — Bassam Tariq (United States)

18. Closing Night — Cody Fern (Australia, Canada)

19. The Debut — Jesse Eisenberg (United States)

20. Everybody Wants to Fck Me* — Jonathan Schey (United Kingdom, France)

21. The Stunt Driver — Michael Dowse (Canada)

22. Whatcha Want — Mina Shum (Canada)

23. Bucking Fastard — Werner Herzog (United States)

24. Faith — Paul Andrew Williams (United Kingdom)

25. The Housewife — Ben Shirinian (United States)

26. Ink — Danny Boyle (United Kingdom, France, United States)

27. Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple — Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn (Canada)

28. Wild Horse Nine — Martin McDonagh (United States, Chile)

29. Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been — Barry Avrich (Canada)

30. Low Lies the Land — Emanuele Gerosa (Denmark, Italy)

31. Musk — Alex Gibney (United States)

TIFF Runs from September 10th to the 21st this year.

Check out www.tiff.net for more info and all the film schedules and tickets.

The Salt Path- a challenge of a lifetime

 

THE SALT PATH

Opens August 28 in Toronto, September 4 in Vancouver

Directed by Marianne Elliott

Starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs

2024- Not Rated- Running Time 1hr 55m

• 
  

Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs star in THE SALT PATH, a challenging life story about a middle‑aged couple, Raynor (Anderson) and Moth (Isaacs), who are forced to leave their home in England due to financial hardship. With no money and nowhere to go, they decide to simply walk, embarking on a 630‑mile trek along the English coast from Dorset to Somerset.

Compounding their financial crisis is Moth’s recent diagnosis of Corticobasal degeneration (CBD), an untreatable and terminal neurodegenerative condition.

Their two grown children have moved on with their own lives, leaving Raynor and Moth without any ties to keep them rooted in one place.

Mother Nature becomes the third challenge they must face, confronting them with ever‑changing, brutal storms as they struggle to stay warm, dry, fed, and hydrated.

The landscapes they traverse are magical, majestic, and at times brutally difficult.

With nothing left to lose, they embrace the beauty of the coastline and the strength they find in each other. Along the way, they discover resilience—and unexpectedly, the journey seems to benefit Moth’s illness. So they keep moving, staying one step ahead of what might come.

All they have now is time: time to reflect, to think about survival, and to accept the path their lives have taken.

Based on a true story, it’s hard to imagine making the choices they did. But when life tests you and options are few, you do what you must.

 

THE SALT PATH will be released in Canadian theatres by Mongrel Media.

Nimrods - A wild trip to get to Green Day

Nimrods

2025 – Release Date: Aug 14, 2026

Rated R

Run time: 1hr 42 minutes

Director: Lee Kirk

Writers: Lee Kirk, Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong

Stars: McKenna Grace, Mason Thames, Jenna Fischer

Nimrods originally premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025. 
It will be released on Aug 14, 2026.

This film was aptly named. It's the story of three "Nimrods" high school friends who are in a band called Analog Dogs — which people keep calling Anal Dogs. These three idiots are obsessed with Green Day, who happen to be visiting their town in Kansas. They try everything they can to get close to the band.

They finally get their opportunity at a meet-and-greet autograph-signing session. This is their big break. They've recorded a demo of their one and only song and bring the tape with them. When they step up to the table where the band is signing, they stumble and mutter their way through the moment before finally spitting out that their band has a demo they'd love for Green Day to hear. Billie Joe Armstrong takes the tape and encourages them to keep playing.

They are overjoyed and convinced that fame is just around the corner.

Then, a couple of days later, one of their delinquent brothers pranks them by claiming that a guy from the band called and wants them to open for Green Day on New Year's Eve in California. They try to convince anyone they can to drive them to the concert, but no one is willing. Tommy (Mason Thames), who doesn't have a driver's license, decides the only way to get there is to steal his brother's old cab — the one he used to drive as an Uber. And just like that, the three Nimrods embark on the road trip of a lifetime.

Things, as usual, never go according to plan. With a few hilarious detours along the way, they somehow make it to LA — only to discover it was all a prank and they were never on the bill to open for Green Day. But somehow, they find their way in, and it all works out. Their band may not have taken the stage, but they walked away with something far greater.

The film draws inspiration from a real band that once opened for Green Day and the bidding war among record labels over their demo tape in the '90s.

This is a feel-good teenage adventure comedy — the kind that takes you right back to when you were young and stupid, leaping headfirst into situations that made absolutely no sense. It's a fun ride.

INSTAGRAM: @nimrodsmovie

US Release date: Aug 14, 2026

It Premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

American Doctors unite against the War in Gaza

 

AMERICAN DOCTOR 

by Academy Award-Nominee Poh Si Teng

Runtime 93 min

Year of Completion 2026

Production countries: United States of America, Malaysia, Qatar, Denmark, Palestine

I will never understand why someone would decide to start or participate in a WAR.  As someone who is a generation away from family who suffered through a war, to me the whole thing is senseless.  Nobody ever wins.   

Even if you make money on weapons, you destroy generations of people and destroy the world by the effects of all of the destruction, both physically and emotionally.

This documentary focuses on 3 American Doctors, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa who go to Gaza during the war in 2025 to try and help at the the Hospital in Gaza while Israel continued to send various weapons of destruction around Gaza and eventually on the hospital where the 3 Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian doctors tried to come together to save the lives of the patients brought in after each attack.

The war becomes more of a political activist exercise and social media push to try and get the truth out into the media than it is to save lives.

Their efforts become futile as the ceasefire pact ends in even bigger horror.

This documentary isn't for the faint of heart.  Children are the ones who pay the highest price.

No child should be exposed to war in any way, shape, or form.  No journalist, doctor, civilian, or institution should become collateral damage in this idiotic game of chicken ordered by greedy and cruel leaders. 

These documentaries are brutal, unflinching, and absolutely essential.  They force you to sit with the full weight of what war actually looks like.  Not the media, political spin, CGI-created videos, or biased opinions from people who aren't even there to bear witness.

No border dispute or ideology justifies the lives erased or the cities reduced to rubble.  

A country isn't just land; it's the people, the memories, the culture, and the lives lived.  War takes all of those memories away and replaces them with pain and suffering.

Wars should never be funded by other countries that continue to perpetuate these wars for years until they obliterate everything and everyone.  And then what, when everything and everything is destroyed,  what are these power-hungry leaders who just order people to do their bidding going to do then? 

THEATRICAL RELEASE BEGINS 
AUGUST 14, 2026
Exclusively at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto
Followed by VIFF Cinema August 28, 2026

GAIL DAUGHTRY AND THE CELEBRITY SEX PASS.-the insane chase for a Hamm

 GAIL DAUGHTRY and the CELEBRITY SEX PASS

Director David Wain

Writers David Wain and Ken Marino

2026 · 14A · Comedy · 1h 33m

Ridiculous and Hilarious romp through Hollywood.

Starring: Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm and John Slattery and celebrity cameos galore.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, is a Romp-com,  my new word.  It's a literal romp through Hollywood with gutzy Zoey Deutch as Gail Daughtry literally running through Hollywood trying to "catch the guy".  She is supposed to get married to her high school sweetheart, and they have "that conversation" about who they would give a pass to "be with"... wink wink.  Gail's dream celebrity is Jon Hamm, but thinking that will never happen in her lifetime because she thinks she will have a perfect marriage, so it can't happen.

But when some crazy happenstances happen, and she catches her fiancé exercising his pass with Jennifer Aniston before they walk down the aisle, Jennifer unapologetically states that it was supposed to be ok.

Gail literally runs away and drags her stylist, best friend, and coworker Otto (Miles

Gutierrez-Riley) to LA after he convinces her she needs to use "her pass".

Along the way to find Jon Hamm, the actual actor for real, they literally run into all sorts of calamities and, like a rolling stone, gather some very interesting characters, including John Slattery, who agrees to help them find Hamm even though he hasn't spoken to him in years.

 

They gather a paparazzi photographer and avoid and gather all kinds of crazy people and even have an unexpected meeting with "Weird Al" Yankovic just as they think they are getting close to their goal. 

 

This is an insane, hilarious nod to the Wizard of Oz with references like,
Gail Daughtry = Dorothy Gale.  Otto = Toto.  And you will probably find more easter eggs I didn't even notice in this film.

Jon Hamm really leans into his Jon HAMM and goes for it.  This film was really made for Deutch and Hamm,  an unlikely pairing, but even though the story seems ridiculous, it's so much fun to watch, and you are rooting for Gail all the way.

It shouldn't work, but it does.  Now, if you like serious films with no raunchy references, then this film isn't for you, but if you like to laugh, then you will get sucked in and hope she gets to fulfil her Sex Pass.

It opens in Canada on July 10th, 2026

Lavazza Inclucity at the Distillery District Scores

 

Eleven films. Seven nights. All under the stars.

June 25 - July 1

The ICFF Festival used to be the Italian Contemporary Film Festival, but it's now called the Lavazza Inclucity Festival.  Same people but a lot more things to see and do.  This festival has expanded so much that there is the Main Festival at the Distillery District downtown Toronto and also another theatre at a Cineplex in Vaughan and a new festival in Toronto, you can also watch some films from home. 

This year, because of the FIFA World Cup, there is a heavy emphasis on sports films and especially a high amount on Soccer or football, as they call it.

Films like Bend it like Beckham and Next Goal Wins return, and the Documentary from 1982 called Il Viaggio Degli Eroi about the 1982 World Cup Game that Italy won.

A couple of other films that were at TIFF that are going to be screening are Little Lorraine, Secret Agent, which also received an Academy Award nomination, and one of my TIFF favourites, Rental Family, bring tissues for this one.

The films are very diverse, and that's why they changed the name so they could include much more than just Italian films.

On Canada Day, the film is A Good Day.  

Other things happening at the festival include a foosball activation at the Distillery.

This year, Illuminarium is being taken over for Airtficial Visions, a project created of AI-created art in an immersive experience that pushes the boundaries of how art is generally seen.

And there's more:  

• A focus on Architecture with a panel discussion with a top Italian architect 
• ICFF loves Fashion, Fashion Frames,  where style becomes Cinema,  
• Music, TO the Beat, live music everyday and it's free to attend.
• Industry Days returns to inspire and inform members of the local film industry

The Closing Gala is going to be BIG!  

Patrick Dempsey will be doing an In Conversation at the TIFF Lightbox and will also be at the Gala, and Italy's most celebrated actress, Ornella Muti will be a guest at the Closing Night Dinner at the Ritz-Carlton.

What's not at the festival this year is the Late Night Horror movies, but there is a George Romero film screening.  

I hope I haven't left anything out.  This is a massive film festival that runs for a month.  No other festival in Toronto runs that long.

The coolest part and what might also be the hardest thing is the fact that the films are screened outdoors in a couple of spots in the Distillery.  On a beautiful night, you can't get much better, but with Toronto's ever-changing crazy weather, be prepared with a warm jacket and umbrella just in case.

This is the 15th year of the Festival.  I don't think I have missed any, even if I only got to see 1 film.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that there's always great food at an ICFF festival.  With the lead sponsor being Lavazza, you know there's going to be great coffee, and look out for some delicious Gelato from Mizzica, and Ferrero and Barilla are also sponsors, and there are many more.  The lead sponsor is Rogers.  

One thing to note is that they give you headphones to listen to the movies during the festival so they don't disturb the residents of the area and anything else going on there.

Get your tickets here:  ICFF - Lavazza IncluCity Festival

Enjoy La Dolce Vita

Parasisi-World Premiere at Hot Docs

 PARASISI

Directed by Zaidi Bil & Sébastien Segers

2026 - Run time: 1hr 1min.

Parasisi opens with a sobering fact: every year, gold mining releases between 50,000 and 80,000 kilograms of mercury into the environment. In Suriname, children are growing up with that poison quietly accumulating in their bodies.

Premiering at Hot Docs in the International Spectrum Competition, the documentary shows a hidden world of Indigenous people in the rainforest.

Who owns or belongs on this land and has the rights of it's use? For the Indigenous Wayana people — now only about 2,000 strong — parasisi means outsider, intruder. Through that word, the film looks at the effects of illegal gold mining that poisons rivers, religious missions that impose foreign beliefs, and medical systems that quietly hide the reasons for their illnesses.

Shot in black and white — though I couldn’t help wishing for color, given how lush the rainforest landscapes are — the film moves with a quiet, slow pace. On the surface, everything appears serene, but beneath that stillness lies a slow‑building unease. The camera lingers on the subtle ways mercury seeps into the land and water, revealing how environmental exploitation becomes normal in daily life.

As the land and its rivers are polluted once again, Indigenous communities are left to bear the cost of corporate greed — with little control, little protection, and few rights over their own futures.

Suriname is often called “the world’s greenest country,” with 90% of its territory covered by Amazon rainforest and home to many Indigenous communities. 

Parasisi is a stark reminder of the loss of the people's rights over their environments.

The Things you Kill- A brutal descent into revenge

THE THINGS YOU KILL

Director/Writer: Alireza Khatami

Starring: Ekin KoçErkan Kolçak KöstendilHazar Ergüçlü

Turkish Drama Feature 20251h 54m

Trailer: https://youtu.be/EJDh_VvKhi8?si=CCJN72qWzbPPqQxV

    Accolades:

• Canada’s 2026 Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film.
• Directing Award (World Cinema, Dramatic) at Sundance 2025. 
• TIFF’s 2025 “Canada’s Top Ten” list.
• Critic’s Pick in The New York Times.
• 3 big Canadian Screen Awards nominations

Best Motion Picture

Achievement in Direction

Original Screenplay

After fourteen years in the United States, Ali (Ekin Koç) returns to his hometown in Turkey, settling into his new life with his wife (Hazar Ergüçlü) while teaching literature at the local university. Everything looks perfectly normal at first glance, but there’s an undercurrent that doesn’t sit right. He still has lingering unresolved trauma from his childhood.  His marriage is strained, his career transition isn't perfect, and the past he thought he had left is beginning to return to haunt him.

When Ali’s mother dies under suspicious circumstances, long‑buried resentment toward his father (Ercan Kesal) resurfaces, and he can no longer ignore it. His grief turns into obsession, and he turns to Reza (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil) — his interesting gardener — to enact a ruthless act of vengeance he doesn’t have the nerve to do himself.

As the consequences close in, Ali is forced to confront the darkest parts of himself. 

The film turns into a chilling descent into guilt, masculinity, and the alarming ease with which a damaged man can excuse the inexcusable.

👉Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime and Apple TV

Time to get ready for your 2026 Oscar Pool

 

98th Annual Academy Awards, or better known as the OSCARS.

I had a little fun with AI today and asked it to dig up which of the 2026 Academy Award–nominated films have already snagged wins this past year. It delivered a pretty impressive roundup.

I also designed the ballot above if you want to follow along and mark your picks before the show kicks off. It’s my annual ritual — and this year, I’m running behind. I still have two films to watch today: Marty Supreme and Hamnet. Oscar prep is feeling more like a sprint than a celebration.

One thing I’ve noticed: this year’s nominees are steeped in darkness. Whether it’s a reflection of the world or just a tough year for Academy voters, the tone is heavy. Laughs are few and far between in the Best Picture lineup.

The film I absolutely adored was F1. It’s not getting the love it deserves, but I found it wildly entertaining and a feat of spectacular filmmaking. That said, I’ve got two more to go — so who knows, I might change my mind.

Frankenstein was a masterpiece. Somehow, it didn’t feel like a three-hour film. It was immersive, haunting, and beautifully paced.

BEST PICTURE

• Bugonia- A CEO gets kidnapped because some crazy guy thinks she is an alien

• F1- A so called has been Formula One race car driver is talked into returning to F1 racing

• Frankenstein- Its about a misunderstood Monster who is rejected

• Hamnet- the poetic loss of a couples 11-year old son

• Marty Supreme- a greedy table-tennis genius tries to make people believe in him

• One Battle After Another- About a bunch of crazy mercenaries

• The Secret Agent- this one was plain depressing

• Sentimental Value- a strained relationship with a father and his daughters

• Sinners- twins that get entangled in crimes and vampires

• Train Dreams- A sad man who lost everything who rides and builds train tracks

 MY PREDICTIONS

I think Michael B. Jordan will finally get the recognition he deserves. He’s incredibly talented, and playing twins is no easy feat. Sinners is poised to sweep a lot of categories.

Sean Penn is almost guaranteed to win for the absolutely unhinged character he plays in One Battle After Another. It’s one of those performances you can’t look away from.

Amy Madigan also delivers a wonderfully weird turn in Weapons, and it’s great to see someone with such a long career getting this kind of spotlight. She’s my pick to win.

Emma Stone was excellent, but Bugonia was... strange. Visually stunning, but narratively offbeat.

Sorry, Timothée — you kind of stuck your foot in your mouth this year, and I don’t think it’s Oscar time for you.

I think K-Pop Demon Hunters' song "Golden" will win Best Song because it's been stuck in my head and everywhere for a long time. It will also win for Animated Feature

A new addition this year is the Casting Award, and I think One Battle After Another stands out. I hated almost every character — except the daughter — but they were all brilliantly cast and acted. Still, how do you judge casting when you don’t know who the other options were?

🎬 2026 Oscar Nominees That Have Already Won Major Awards This Season

Below is a curated list of Oscar‑nominated films for 2026 that earned significant precursor awards—a strong indicator of industry recognition ahead of the Academy Awards.

🏆 1. One Battle After Another

Major wins this past year:

• Directors Guild of America (DGA) – Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson)

• Producers Guild of America (PGA) – Best Picture equivalent

• BAFTA Awards – Multiple wins (including major categories)

• Critics’ Choice Awards – Multiple wins

• Golden Globes – Multiple wins

Oscar nominations: 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and acting categories.

🏆 2. Sinners

• Major wins this past year:

  • Swept several precursor awards, creating a late‑season surge

  • Strong critical and industry recognition across multiple guilds

  Oscar nominations: A record‑breaking 16 nominations, the most in Oscar history.

🏆 3. Marty Supreme

Major wins this past year:

• Earned high critical acclaim, including the highest Metacritic rating of 2025

Oscar nominations: Multiple, including Best Actor (Timothée Chalamet).

🏆 4. Frankenstein

Major wins this past year:

• Strong awards‑season presence with multiple nominations across major categories, indicating wins at earlier festivals and guilds

• Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and more.

• 🏆 5. Sentimental Value

• Major wins this past year:

  • Significant industry support and recognition across directing, writing, and acting categories

  Oscar nominations: Multiple, including acting and supporting categories.

⭐ Summary Table

Film	Major Awards Won This Season	Oscar Nominations (2026)
One Battle After Another	DGA, PGA, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes	13 nominations
Sinners	Multiple precursor sweeps	16 nominations (record)
Marty Supreme	Highest Metacritic score of 2025	Multiple incl. Best Actor
Frankenstein	Strong festival/guild wins	Multiple incl. Best Picture
Sentimental Value	Broad industry recognition	Multiple incl. acting

And to Wrap Up.....

As always, half the fun of Oscar season is the build‑up: the predictions, the debates, the last‑minute screenings squeezed into an already chaotic week. Whether your ballot matches mine or veers wildly off in another direction, I hope you have a little fun with it. That’s really what this whole cinematic circus is about.

So grab your snacks, settle in, and let the glamour, chaos, and inevitable surprises of Oscar night unfold. I’ll be watching with my ballot in hand — and probably yelling at the screen at least once.

Here’s to great films, bold choices, and a night of gold‑foil sparkle.

Since my Blog is FILM, FOOD STUFF, here is a list of some Oscar snacks, I am bringing some to my Oscar Party tonight.

Oscar Party Food

• Get a big block of cheese and use a little star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out stars
• You can also cut stars out of Tortillas and bake them with spices on them.
• I saw a thing online for Punny Appetizers, and one was Leonardo DiCaprese, which I thought was funny.  You can make Caprese skewers.
• If you get Gold edible glitter, you can add it to some Sprite or some sort of clear beverage and have a Golden Sparkle beverage.
• Slice up some Star Fruit
• You can also cut stars out of vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and even something like bologna for a Charcuterie or crudite platter
• Bake some sugar cookies or any regular cut-out cookie and cut into stars, then ice them with royal icing and sprinkle with gold sprinkles or glitter.
• A bit more work, but you can make a star-shaped pizza or Oscar statue breadsticks.  
• Cheesy popcorn and add the glitter too, it will be everywhere

Who knows,  get creative, have fun, and get comfy for all the monologues and speeches, and have fun with friends and family.  It makes it a lot more fun during the boring parts.

The President’s Cake -is a cake worth a life?

 

2025 - 1hr 45 min

Director- Hasan Hadi

Trailer

https://youtu.be/rYWdP4Um6MQ?si=YouNiVgNnaVi2j9o

The President's Cake was filmed in Iraq and draws on the director’s own childhood memories of growing up under the Saddam Hussein regime in the 1990s.

Within the first five minutes, I was completely drawn in by the stunning cinematography. It immerses you so deeply in the world of the film that you feel as though you’re right there beside the characters.

During the period in which the story takes place, Iraq was under UN‑backed sanctions, leading to extreme poverty and widespread food insecurity. Saddam Hussein required Iraqis to celebrate his birthday, and schoolchildren were selected to bring various items for the festivities.

Nine‑year‑old Lamia (Baneen Ahmed Hayyef) is told by her teacher that it is a great honour to be chosen to bake a birthday cake for the class. But failure could mean punishment. Lamia prays not to be chosen—she knows her family cannot afford the ingredients. She lives with her elderly grandmother, who is dying from diabetes, and they are considered peasants by the community.

Her grandmother decides to take her father’s heirloom watch and travel with Lamia—and her beloved pet rooster, Hindi—to the city to buy the ingredients. Secretly, the trip is also meant to place Lamia with a young couple, as her grandmother can no longer care for her.

While her grandmother and the woman speak privately in the back room of a restaurant, Lamia overhears their conversation about her future. Terrified, she grabs Hindi and runs. She ends up at an amusement park, where she finds her classmate and friend Sajad Mohamad Qasem (Waheed Thabet Khreibat), who is in the city pickpocketing to support his family.

Together, they embark on a chaotic journey to sell the watch and scrape together enough money—through bargaining, hustling, and a bit of mischief—to buy the ingredients for the cake. Meanwhile, Lamia’s grandmother, Bibi, collapses and is taken to the hospital by the taxi driver who brought them to the city. Before she dies, she sends him to find Lamia and bring her back.

By the time he reaches Lamia, her grandmother has passed away. They return to their village, where Lamia’s classmate’s mother teaches her how to bake the cake. She ultimately receives her teacher’s approval, and the journey of making the cake becomes a life‑altering experience for her.

This is a beautiful yet deeply sad story—full of heart, resilience, and a clear-eyed look at the impossible choices families must make under extreme poverty.

Of note, there should be a nomination for the Rooster Hindi.

The Alabama Solution-Inside the Prison system

 

THE ALABAMA SOLUTION

The Alabama Solution
Directed & Produced by Andrew Jarecki & Charlotte Kaufman

Academy Award® Nominee
Documentary Feature Film

Trailer: https://youtu.be/xRNND_uve8I?si=KgskxOpwkaTxmKyy

Website: Film - The Alabama Solution

Watch on HBO Max

2025 - 1hr 57 min.

The Alabama Solution is an upsetting but necessary documentary that you need to watch. What begins as a routine 2019 visit to an Alabama prison by filmmakers Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman turns into something far more pressing. Off camera, incarcerated men pull them aside and tell them terrible things are happening here, and no one on the outside is supposed to know. The secret warning turns into a six‑year investigation into one of the most horrifying and neglected prison systems in the United States.

The film’s strength comes from its unprecedented access and the raw footage captured on contraband cell phones. Through these recordings, the filmmakers uncover a suspicious and brutal death. This death is not the exception, as they soon find out. As they investigate, what emerges is a picture of a system of brutality, corruption, and institutional collapse.

The violence isn't sensationalized; instead, it reveals the everyday reality of people trapped inside a structure that doesn't care about them. The contrast between the state’s PR statements and the inmates’ lived experiences is striking.

What makes this film compelling is that, beyond the exposé, it centers the people who refuse to be ignored or erased. Despite the risks, incarcerated men organize, document, and speak out, building a grassroots campaign for survival and accountability. Their courage becomes the emotional core of the film, shifting it from a story of suffering to one of resistance.

This is not just a film about a broken prison system—it’s a film about the cost of indifference. It forces viewers to take a hard look at the human consequences of neglect and corruption, and it challenges the idea that what happens behind prison walls is somehow separate from the rest of society.

The Alabama Solution is a difficult watch, but an essential one. It exposes a hidden crisis with clarity, compassion, and urgency, giving voice to people who have been systematically silenced and forcing viewers to confront a reality that can no longer be ignored.

Participants:  Melvin Ray, Robert Earl Council, Ricardo Poole and Sandy Ray

ANDRE IS AN IDIOT or is he?

ANDRE IS AN IDIOT

Directed by Tony Benna

Produced by André Ricciardi
Tory Tunnell
Stelio Kitrilakis
Joshua Altman
Ben Cotner

Runtime: 88 minutes    Language: English

Instagram: @andreisanidiotfilm

Website: https://andre.ajointventure.com/

How do you make Cancer look funny?  You view it through Andre Ricciardi's eyes.

This is Andre Ricciardi's story, beginning after he received a Cancer diagnosis and looking back to the choices he made that led him to this life-altering news.

Andre’s career was in advertising, so he built a life around looking at things from odd angles to sell products. This time, though, he’s turning that lens on himself.

Andre’s best friend, Lee, suggested they get partner colonoscopies—an idea Andre immediately dismissed as weird. Lee went ahead on his own and got the all‑clear. Cut to a year later: Andre finally books his colonoscopy, expecting it to be routine so he can get on with his life. But life has a way of redirecting everything. He receives a colon cancer diagnosis and realizes that if he had listened to his friend a year earlier, he might have caught it at a much earlier stage. That’s when it hits him: he’d been an idiot.

Andre is eccentric, darkly funny, and a little warped in the best way. He collects random objects, reads voraciously, and is constantly filled with creative ideas. When he’s faced with his diagnosis, he decides to document his own decline—with Lee joining him on every ridiculous, heartfelt, and chaotic adventure along the way.

Andre's hair is almost a character in this story as you witness it go from crazy to normal to wtf?

This is the best film I’ve seen about what it’s actually like to go through terminal cancer because it’s both painfully real and genuinely hilarious. Andre is brutally honest and somehow manages to hold onto hope, even in the hardest moments.

He’s an oddball paired with a wonderfully normal, deeply supportive wife and family. His wife originally married him as a joke to get citizenship, but she stayed—and together they built a life that’s as unconventional as it is loving.

Cancer is everywhere these days, and stories like this matter. This film shows that even in the midst of treatment, fear, and uncertainty, it’s still possible to live fully, love deeply, and keep your relationships strong.

Release Date: March 6th in Theatres

Threshold-Resilience and Fragility

 THRESHOLD

Directed by: Lars Brinkema and Torsten Brinkema
Featuring: Olympic Gold medalist cross-country skier Jessie Diggins

Executive Producer: Torsten Brinkema, Patrick Dempsey
Producer: Mark Steele, Samantha Taylor

Music by: Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore

THRESHOLD follows Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins—the most decorated American cross‑country skier in history—as she confronts the struggle behind her perfect smile: an invisible eating disorder that begins to take over her life at the height of her career.

This feature documentary is not a traditional sports film. It’s an intimate, behind‑the‑scenes look at the pressure to be the best, the stigma surrounding eating disorders, and the long, nonlinear road to recovery. The access is so personal that you feel as though you’re standing inside her support circle, witnessing the emotional weight carried by Jessie and the people who care for her. The film exposes the complexity of a disorder that hides behind a polished façade yet remains widely misunderstood and underrepresented on screen.

Set over the course of a single peak season, THRESHOLD moves fluidly between past and present to uncover the roots of Jessie’s struggle. Present‑day footage with Jessie and the U.S. Ski Team is interwoven with formative moments from her early career, tracing her relentless pursuit of perfection—and the belief that controlling her body was essential to success.

As the season intensifies, the harder she pushes, the sicker she becomes. A serious injury forces Jessie to confront the ways she has been trying to control her life, and she must fight to regain her health if she hopes to continue competing in the sport she loves.

This is ultimately a story about the pursuit of perfection and the sacrifices made along the way. By revealing her vulnerability, Jessie offers a lifeline to others who face the same daily battle. Many people with this disorder suffer in silence; her story shows that relapse is not failure and that asking for help is an act of strength. Through the difficult work of recovery, she reclaims her health and her dreams, continuing in the sport she loves while advocating for mental health, athlete well‑being, and a more holistic culture within elite athletics.

Where to watch:  Peacock, Prime Video and Apple TV

The Voice of Hind Rajab- A race to save a child in real time

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB

Website: https://www.thevoiceofhindrajabfilm.com/home/.

Tunisia, France | 2025 | 89m | Arabic, English

Directed by: Kaouther Ben Hania

Starring:

• Saja Kilani
• Motaz Malhees
• Amer Hlehel
• Clara Khoury

On January 29, 2024, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of a Gaza neighbourhood. A family got into their car to flee their nearby home, but they didn’t make it far before their vehicle was riddled with military gunfire.

This docu‑drama tells the true story of a 6‑year‑old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, who became trapped in that car after the attack that killed every family member with her. She called first responders for help, and the film follows the real‑time sequence of events as the Palestine Red Crescent Society tried everything they could to reach her while she remained on the phone, surrounded by ongoing military fire. Hind tells the responders that her family is “sleeping” and that her mother isn’t with them.

What gives the film its extraordinary emotional force is its grounding in real events and real audio. Every call we hear comes directly from the Palestine Red Crescent Society—and the small, trembling voice on the line belongs to Hind herself.

While Hind is on the phone, three responders at the Red Crescent office—Motaz Malhees, Toronto’s own Saja Kilani, and Clara Khoury—take turns speaking to the terrified child. Their collective fear grows with every passing minute. They struggle to contain emotions that swing from anger to helplessness to heartbreak as she pleads to be rescued. Meanwhile, their supervisor (Amer Hlehel) battles layers of bureaucracy, trying to secure permission to dispatch paramedics safely. An ambulance is only eight minutes away, yet faces an insurmountable series of obstacles on the way.

The responders try everything, clinging to hope that they can reach her in time. But tragically, they never do—and the entire team is devastated by the system’s failure to save her.

Notably, during filming, the actors repeated nearly every line spoken by their real‑life counterparts. In their earpieces, they heard Hind’s actual voice—just as the audience does. Hind herself is only seen in a single smiling photograph and brief archival footage of her playing in the Gaza sand.

Accolades:

• Premiered at Venice 2025 and received a 23‑minute standing ovation
• Won the Silver Lion and six parallel awards
• Official Selection at TIFF50 The Voice of Hind Rajab
• Became a 2026 Golden Globe nominee for Best Motion Picture (Non‑English Language)
• Academy Award nominee for 2026 for Best International Feature Film representing Tunisia

Pike River- 29 families bonded forever

 PIKE RIVER

New Zealand // Drama // English // 138 minutes // 2:39:1  Not Rated  // US Release January 30, 2025 // Website: Brainstorm Media

Directed by: ROBERT SARKIES

November 19, 2010 at Pike River coal mine on New Zealand's West Coast, 29 families' lives were permanently changed.  29 Miners were trapped in the Pike River Mine explosion that could have been prevented if the people in charge had chosen people over profits.

This film is based on a true story and the trauma bond that was developed by Anna Osborne (Melanie Lynskey) and Sonya Rockhouse (Robyn Malcolm) after enduring a lengthy fight to get the mine opened so that they could get Anna's husband, Milt, and Sonya's youngest son, Ben.  A media frenzy developed as people watched the two women lead the fight to save their husbands or, inevitably, to get their relatives to honor them with proper burials.  The world watched in horror as the company fought to hide the truth and the women fought to uncover it.

After a very lengthy court and cancer battle for Anna, the truth was finally revealed, and they received a bittersweet ending to the fight of their lives.

Great performances by Lynskey and Rockhouse.  This film really demonstrates how lifelong friendships develop when people are fighting for the same righteous outcomes.  It's also sad to see how a company's bottom line has consequences for the people who risk their lives every day to put food on their families' tables.

These films are a reminder to be careful about your choices in life and to appreciate the people in your life while you can, because anything can change in an instant.

This is a slow-paced but building film that feels like a documentary and has that tense feel that comes across the screen from the hearts of the families in the film.

Also of note, Lucy Lawless plays Helen, who was the president of the Federation of Trade Unions from 2007 to 2015. 

30 Families have been fighting for justice for over 14 years. 

I hope their fight spares other mining‑town families from enduring the same hardships. Mining remains one of the most dangerous professions, and workers deserve every safety measure available to protect them.

Here is the link to the Trailer: 

https://youtu.be/0Wk4lTU8vKk?si=HHVrpZ-n-trE9FLP

Dead Man's Wire-who is the victim or criminal?

 

    DEAD MAN'S Wire

Directed by Gus Van Sant

Run time: 1hr 45 min.  Rated: R

Cast:

Bill Skarsgard

Dacre Montgomery

Al Pacino

Colman Domingo

Trailer: https://youtu.be/tklpX2Ba8NQ?si=S2zmbKwCl6bh2sdk

Canadian Release date: January 16, 2026

 Based on real events, the 1977 abduction of a high‑profile banker ignites national attention and unexpectedly transforms the kidnapper into a rebellious folk hero. As the media frenzy intensifies, the unfolding standoff morphs into a gripping display of desperation, defiance, and morality—an unsettling portrait of the justice system and the media that makes you question who the victim really is in the situation, and one that still echoes in the current times.

On February 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis (Skarsgård) storms into Meridian Mortgage, convinced that the company ruined his chance at his American Dream. With the owner, M.L. Hall (Pacino), vacationing in Florida, Tony snaps and takes Hall’s son Richard (Montgomery) hostage, wiring him to a shotgun (dead man’s wire) in a desperation to get justice and his money.

The next 63 hours explode into a media spectacle, a charged police standoff, and a shocking wave of public support for Tony, who becomes an unlikely working‑class hero. Along the way, a laid‑back radio DJ (Domingo), an eager young TV reporter (Myha’la), and a calm cop (Cary Elwes) get dragged into the chaos.

Packed with ’70s flair—from Roberta Flack’s “Compared to What” to Yes’s “I’ve Seen All Good People”—the film feels both retro and eerily relevant.  The film transports you back to the 70's with the look and sounds.

*The real standoff is still taught in media ethics classes today as a warning about how easily journalists can escalate a volatile situation.

The performances were fantastic and chilling.  The brink of insanity by Skarsgård, the cold, intense performance by Pacino, who is only in the film for a short time, but is crucial to Tony's mental health.  Also, the outwardly calm but inwardly terrified performance of Montgomery is a demonstration of character.

What worries me about this film, even though it's based on real events, is the fact that it's been seen in current times, where you see people snap on a dime and are inspired by extreme events.  I hope that this doesn't inspire copycats to do the same thing.

This film screened at TIFF50 and was one of the films I had noted on my blog picks, but I didn't have a chance to see it during the festival.