REVIEW: My Father’s Dragon [2022]

I’m feeling really cautious! When the only home Elmer Elevator (Jacob Tremblay) ever knew becomes deserted and the grocery his mother (Golshifteh Farahani‘s Dela) owned is foreclosed, the duo is forced to move to the big city of Nevergreen amidst its hustle, bustle, industrial pollution, and mistrustful inhabitants. Gone are the days of knowing your neighbors and finding them the perfect item hiding in one of the shop’s corners. Now it’s scrounging every penny in the hopes of paying rent to Mrs. McClaren (Rita Moreno) so as not to be…

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TIFF17 REVIEW: The Breadwinner [2017]

“Everything changes. That’s what stories tell us.” In the Taliban-controlled Afghan city of Kabul, Nora Twomey‘s debut film as sole director (she co-helmed Oscar nominee The Secret of Kells) depicts an eleven-year old girl facing the futility her future inevitably holds. Adapted by Anita Doron from the award-winning novel by Deborah Ellis, The Breadwinner delivers a heart-wrenching coming-of-age tale within a nation that’s lost its way. The shift was virtually overnight once the Taliban took over: women forced under hoods and trapped in houses, photographs and books outlawed, and men…

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