Seventh Row is a nonprofit Canadian film criticism publication and publishing house. We're dedicated to helping you expand your horizons by curating the best socially progressive films from around the world and helping you think deeply about them. This newsletter is run by Seventh Row (http://seventh-row.com) but features exclusive content not found on the website.
🎧 The latest from TIFF: Palestinian films and sports movies for people who don't like sports movies
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Hello Reader, The Toronto International Film Festival has begun...and so has my coverage (bookmark this page for everything), in writing and podcast form. On the podcast, I'm putting groups of related films in conversation with each other to discover new insights and current preoccupations in the film industry. I want to offer you a spoiler-free discussion that's more than just "is this film any good?" This is for you if:
The season will be spoiler-free and designed to be listened to even if you haven't seen or will not see the films (either ever or for some time). ​TIFF #2: Palestinian Films​In my first dispatch from the festival, I discuss the four Palestinian feature films at the festival, which address different aspects of Palestinian life:
​Listen to the episode​ ​TIFF #3: Sports movies for people who don't like sports movies​In my second dispatch, I discuss three movies set in the world of sports that are thoughtful character dramas from early career filmmakers. Two of these films have some of the best blocking I've seen in cinema all year. The films address a variety of issues and milieus from multiple countries
​Listen to the episode​ Don't want to listen to my TIFF coverage?You can read my reviews! Reviews are now live for several of the films listed here (No Other Land, Julie Keeps Quiet, To a Land Unknown), plus the best shorts at the festival. ​Find all my TIFF coverage here.​ Coming soon:
Happy listening (and watching, if you're at the fest)! Alex
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Seventh Row
Seventh Row is a nonprofit Canadian film criticism publication and publishing house. We're dedicated to helping you expand your horizons by curating the best socially progressive films from around the world and helping you think deeply about them. This newsletter is run by Seventh Row (http://seventh-row.com) but features exclusive content not found on the website.
I have a theory that when you see a film that changes you — that makes you feel seen in a whole new way or reorganizes how you think — you remember where you were when it happened. You remember the cinema you saw it in (or the couch you were sitting on). You remember who you were with. When a film feels like a discovery, you remember the exact conditions that made it possible for you to even see that movie. Maybe most crucially, you remember where you were in life at that moment that made you...
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I recently discovered a tiny pasta shop a few blocks from my apartment (aptly named Tiny Market), where every weekend, they offer a different fresh pasta for takeout. They sell out fast. And if you snooze, they may never bring that particular recipe back. So time and again, I've found myself trying out pastas that I never would have ordered at a restaurant. I'm still thinking about a pasta I took a chance on a month ago, and loved enough to go back for twice in three days. Now, they sell...