The phenomenon of young Westerners who join ISIS as jihadis has been a regular news item ever since the armed group first appeared. The media regularly ponder why someone would volunteer (and risk being convicted as a terrorist, which comes with a heavy sentence); but there is little mention and even less censure of the recruitment of Western fighters by the other side. Which, while it operates through social media just like ISIS, is perfectly legal.
Recent years have seen some 100 volunteers from North America, Europe and Australia unexpectedly swelling the ranks of Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria. Unpaid and with few prospects for glory, they decided to risk their lives to battle ISIS. Who are they: selfless heroes, or just adrenaline junkies? Or are they on a quest for recognition or identity? An intimate portrait of four Western volunteers, Julien Fréchette’s My War traces their journeys as it sets out to uncover their motives, which are often quite complex. Filming them in action as close as possible to the front, steadfastly refusing to judge or champion, Fréchette brings their troubling stories to life. A compelling inquiry into what causes individuals of differing ages and backgrounds to forsake their comfortable existence and take up arms in someone else’s war.
Hidden away in his workshop, an animator leans over what appears to be a human body and begins to perform an autopsy. Who is this lifeless being stretched out before him? As he dissects the plasteline figure, the spirit of scientific inquiry gives way to the madness of artistic inspiration, and the animator’s tools go to work. Slicing into the skin, separating the tissues, probing the entrails, the artist lets loose his creative imagination as entire worlds take shape before his eyes, sweeping him into the enormity of the inner spaces to be explored. What will he find there? What does an animator stand to discover through an autopsy of a body he himself created? In this story-within-a-story about the art of creation, director Patrick Bouchard pays homage to the animator’s vocation—namely, breathing life into the inanimate. The Subject takes us to the conceptual limits of animation, examining the connections between life and death, body and psyche, individual and community, real and imaginary, as it delves into the invisible worlds within.
In a world of fixed positions and prescribed roles, expanding the definition of gender requires the courage to dive deep into understanding and acceptance. Christina Willings’ documentary Beauty explores the lives of five gender-creative kids, each uniquely engaged in shaping their ideas of what it means to be fully human. Claiming your own sense of gender when everything around you insists that you comply and conform can be challenging, and sometimes scary. But luckily, family and friends are there to help.
Free-flowing animated elements, ranging from images of octopuses to astronauts, draw together the kids’ shared experiences in beautifully rendered fantasias that celebrate the power of imagination and the flourishing force of self-determination. Playful, goofy, loving and brave—each of these remarkable kids has found their own way to break free and show the world what it really means to be your true self.
A poem for the planet, Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper’s film Metamorphosis takes the pulse of our Earth and bears witness to a moment of profound change: the loss of one world, and the birth of another.
Metamorphosis captures the true scale of the global environmental crisis. Forest fires consume communities, species vanish, and entire ecosystems collapse. Economic growth, tied to increased speed of resource extraction, has created a machine with the capacity to destroy all life.
But this crisis is also an opportunity for transformation. Through a tidal flow of stunning images, Metamorphosis carves a path from the present to the future, and offers a bold new vision for humanity and the world.
As they undergo 12 weeks of intensive training, young civilians are gradually moulded into Canadian Armed Forces soldiers. This disparate cohort of men and women with little experience in the ways of military life must adapt to a world governed by its own rules and values. In an austere environment where discipline reigns supreme, the recruits submit to learning the ropes with mixed feelings of apprehension and enthusiasm. They understand that, from now on, the group takes precedence over the individual, and country comes before self.
For this third opus in a series that candidly explores the different stages of life, Jean-François Caissy provides a fascinating glimpse into this career choice and the beginning of adulthood.
Head back to junior high with young Hart Snider as he finds himself lost amongst his peers, unable to ask out his dream girl, and forced to take shop with the dreaded Mr. P. A darkly funny look at growing up, through the filtered lens of a boy on the cusp of manhood.