September 24, 2020

WIFF’s Weekend Watch List — 09/25

THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE (If you like your comedy with an edge) Vincent Georgie: A jagged – and frequently funny – film for…

THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE

(If you like your comedy with an edge)

Vincent Georgie: A jagged – and frequently funny – film for all those who want Jesse Eisenberg’s brainily condescending charm matched with, well, a martial arts story. The results are as original as they are entertaining.

Synopsis: Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) just can’t seem to win. Attacked on the street, humiliated at his job and even emasculated by his dog, he joins a local karate dojo led by the enigmatic Sensei (Alessandro Nivola) to learn how to defend himself. In the midst of his training, Casey becomes friendly with a female instructor (Imogen Poots) and soon realizes he is caught in a bizarre world of outcasts, fraternal rituals and hilarious hyper-masculinity.

Watch on Crave

Watch on iTunes

Watch on YouTube

DANCING ARABS

(If the Middle East intrigues you)

Vincent Georgie: Cinematic treatments of Arab-Israeli conflicts are nothing new, but what makes this film (also known under the title A BORROWED IDENTITY) is how good the performances are and how polished the production is. A little-seen film from WIFF 2015. Catch up with it!

Synopsis: In the early ’90s, a Palestinian boy finds himself struggling with issues of language, culture, and identity when he is accepted into a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem.

Watch on iTunes

Watch on YouTube

I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS

(If you want a highly original film)

Vincent Georgie: Look no further than this new Netflix curiosity if you want to smirk, marvel and stare inside the endlessly creative mind of Charlie Kaufman. Knowing that he wrote the films BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND is all you need to know if you’re out…or you’re in?

Synopsis: Full of misgivings, a young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents’ secluded farm.

Watch on Netflix

93QUEEN

(If you love unlikely true stories)

Vincent Georgie: A beloved title from WIFF 2018 for those that caught it during our inaugural screenings at The Armouries, this is the true story of an all-female ambulance corps who live in – and service – a strictly Hasidic Jewish neighbourhood. The film is frequently insightful about the hidden nuances and compromises experienced by a religious minority. The central leader of the group is a marvel.

Synopsis: Set in the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, 93QUEEN follows a group of tenacious Hasidic women who are smashing the patriarchy in their community by creating the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City. With unprecedented — and insider — access, 93QUEEN offers up a unique portrayal of a group of empowered women who are taking matters into their own hands to change their own community from within.