documentary Archives - Queen's Journal

Kingston Canadian Film Festival: Unpacking ‘The Paper Man’

Written on March 9, 2021. Posted in Arts.

When Tanya Lapointe set out to make a documentary on Claude Lafortune, Quebec’s Mr. Rogers, she had no idea her film would become the swansong for The Paper Man, who passed away in April 2020. Lapointe grew up watching Lafortune’s popular children’s programming, where he made complex sculptures entirely...

In documentary, Yukon family skips grocery shopping for an entire year

Written on March 5, 2021. Posted in Arts.

One of the many problems COVID-19 has brought to attention is our troubled relationship with food. Queen’s alum and doctor-turned-filmmaker Suzanne Crocker, however, was confronted with this fraught relationship long before the pandemic hit. The pandemic has emptied shelves, increased the amount of...

Documentary at Kingston Canadian Film Festival highlights history of trans icon Billy Tipton

Written on February 26, 2021. Posted in Arts.

Billy Tipton’s reputation as a talented jazz musician was altered by the media when he died in 1989. Now, co-directors Chin-Yee and Joynt are setting the record straight. NO ORDINARY MAN: The Billy Tipton Documentary focuses on the life of late jazz musician Billy Tipton, an impactful and iconic figure...

Viveka Melki’s ‘the FENCE’ tackles revisionist history of Japanese POW Camps

Written on November 26, 2020. Posted in Arts.

This article was updated with new information on Nov. 26, 2020. Viveka Melki’s the FENCE examines the four-year period during WWII in which 2,000 Canadians suffered incarceration inside Japanese Prisoner of War (POW) camps in Hong Kong and Japan. The film features interviews from Canadians George...

Mike Downie discusses new doc ‘The Covid Cruise’

Written on November 20, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Mike Downie’s latest documentary The Covid Cruise chronicles the outbreak of COVID-19 on The Diamond Princess cruise ship as it was stranded on the coast of Japan in February. Downie, ArtSci ’86, also directed Finding the Secret Path,a film about his late brother Gord’s album, which protested the...

‘Rebellion’: The Journal sits down with David Suzuki to discuss climate resistance documentary

Written on November 6, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Although David Suzuki has been warning world leaders about climate change since the 1970s, his calls to reduce carbon emissions have fallen on deaf ears. Now, Greta Thunberg rallies the new generation to continue the fight for climate action. From David Suzuki and David Attenborough to Greta Thunberg,...

Miss Americana reminded me why I love Taylor Swift

Written on February 11, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

I really love Taylor Swift. I’m proud to say that I know the lyrics to each of her songs, and I anticipate her new releases more than any other artist’s. In my humble opinion, she’s one of the best songwriters and storytellers out there. Sometimes, though, it seems as if I’m the only person who isn’t...

The Pharmacist is more than just a true crime docuseries

Written on February 11, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The Pharmacist, which became available for streaming on Feb. 5, is the latest true crime docuseries released on Netflix, following popular titles Don’t F*ck with Cats and Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez. For viewers who haven’t seen the trailer, The Pharmacist begins like many true crime...

The Wilderness take the lead in film alum's thesis documentary

Written on January 28, 2020. Posted in Arts.

Kingston’s music scene is legendary in its own right, but it’s also been known to inspire other artists’ work. On Jan. 22, Bobbi Shewchuk (ArtSci ’19) released a director’s cut version of her 2019 Queen’s film and media thesis. Her focus for the film: The Wilderness. “When I first came to Queen’s...

Colten Boushie documentary tackles racial tension on the Prairies

Written on October 18, 2019. Posted in Arts.

The latest film from award-winning Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, debuted in Kingston this Wednesday, Oct. 16 at the Screening Room as a special presentation from the Kingston Canadian Film Festival (KCFF). The film, which follows the aftermath of the Colten Boushie...

Student’s documentary charts story of perseverance

Written on July 29, 2019. Posted in Arts.

From her start making movies as a kid on her family’s desktop computer, Natasha Tennyson (ArtSci ’19) has never lost her love for storytelling. Now done her final year of Queen’s Film and Media Studies program, Tennyson’s first documentary, Limitless, has inspired her to pursue a career in documentary...

Chasing Happiness is an honest celebration of brotherhood

Written on July 8, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

In a time when nostalgia sells better than sex, it’s hard to argue that Amazon’s new Jonas Brothers documentary, Chasing Happiness, is anything more than a ploy to sell the band’s reunion album. And yet, somewhere between home video footage and clips of the band’s glory days, the film achieves something...

Student doc recounts album’s creative process

Written on March 22, 2019. Posted in Arts, Music.

Christian Parry loves to sing in the shower. Or at least that’s where most of the inspiration for the lyrics on his upcoming album Refined Fool came from. The album—which features seven new songs from Queen’s own Parry, ArtSci ’19—will be released on March 22, followed in April with a documentary film...

Dissecting the appeal of serial killer stories

Written on March 5, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

If you are one of @queensuconfesses’ 12,000 Instagram followers, you probably saw a recent post submitted by a second-year Queen’s Engineering student: “I’d rather wet the bed than go down the hall to use the washroom after watching the Ted Bundy documentaries late at night […] big mistake.” While...

Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened' goes up in flames

Written on January 22, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

A massive marketing campaign of models and influencers extolled the inaugural Fyre Festival’s glamour, promising a weekend of high caliber musicians, gourmet meals, and luxury accommodations. In reality, attendees were housed in rain-soaked hurricane shelters and fed cheese sandwiches in Styrofoam...

Short film Fusl debuts at The Screening Room

Written on October 16, 2018. Posted in Arts, Film.

On Oct. 13, a two-part short film debuted at The Screening Room about a woman’s journey home and the resilience of her migrant ancestors. Fusl follows Shazlin Rahman’s return to Malaysia from Canada and her attempt to learn about her family’s past. Made by Queen’s alum Asad Chishti, the short film...

The filmmakers behind With This Ring

Written on March 16, 2018. Posted in Arts.

Ameesha Joshi and Anna Sarkissian presented a documentary almost a decade in the making to a crowd at the Isabel Bader Centre on Monday and Tuesday. With This Ring follows three female boxers, Sarita Devi, MC Mary Kom and Chhoto Loura, as they compete for the women’s Indian national boxing team....

Queer film festival serves up “Reelness”

Written on February 6, 2018. Posted in Arts.

From Feb. 1 to 10, Kingston will see a diverse collection of the finest short films and documentaries exploring the LGBTQ+ community. These films tell intersectional stories that span the globe, with intimate and sweeping profiles that ask viewers of all backgrounds to step outside of themselves and...

Banff National Film Festival sells out Isabel

Written on January 23, 2018. Posted in Arts.

From Saturday to Monday, the Banff National Film Festival presented the extremes of adventure filmmaking to three sold-out audiences at the Isabel Bader Centre. Despite having different movies every night, the films united around common themes: escape and fulfillment in nature, stunning images of...

Demi Lovato's Simply Complicated reveals story of struggle and success

Written on October 20, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

In my mind, Demi Lovato has always been a role model. I loved her when she was figuring out exactly where she was supposed to be in Camp Rock, I tried to emulate her fashion sense and hairstyles when she starred on Sonny with a Chance and I think I still have the special edition of PEOPLE magazine...

Long Time Running hits The Tragically Hip’s final notes

Written on October 12, 2017. Posted in Arts.

According to the new documentary Long Time Running, Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie had two options when diagnosed with terminal brain cancer last year. “What would you prefer: living without being able to speak, or have [reduced] new memories, but have more time with your family,” neurosurgeon...

Abstract: The Art of Design

Written on February 16, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes TV can stress me out. I get nervous about who’ll come out on top in Scandal, or who’ll get solitary confinement on Orange Is the New Black, or who’ll survive Game of Thrones — just kidding, no one survives. Abstract: The Art of Design is the remedy to that...

Removing pro-life and pro-choice from abortion debates

Written on March 24, 2016. Posted in Arts.

There are few subjects as divisive as abortion. On one side, pro-life activists seek to protect human life in all its stages. On the other, pro-choice advocates promote abortion accessibility and a woman’s right to choose. At least, that’s the simple version. It’s a controversy made murkier by politics,...

Not your average cute animal video

Written on March 20, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

When Emily Martel took a trip to the Amazon, she had no idea she’d stumble across the subject of her documentary film: the exotic pet trade. She was speaking with veterinarians at a university in Ecuador when she first heard about the exotic pet trade. When one young vet mentioned that the industry...

Review: Blackfish

Written on March 26, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

Blackfish hits you with a blow of emotion and shock – only to be found in the bleak outlook of killer whales paraded around as marine-park entertainment. Now that Blackfish has recently been added to Netflix, I’m sure the documentary will be broadening a lot more minds. Three human deaths,...

Exploring art life

Written on November 15, 2013. Posted in Arts.

Life’s challenges can be a source of fulfillment and even success, as two Queen’s alumni express in this soon-to-be-released documentary. The Scene: An Exploration of Music in Toronto was edited and produced by Andrew Smyth, ArtSci ’10, and directed by Josh Jensen, ArtSci ’07. It’s an up close and...

Community, charity and Craigslist

Written on October 23, 2013. Posted in Lifestyle.

Craigslist can be a curious place, with ads often viewed with much suspicion and wariness. While I was abroad in first year, the idea of “couchsurfing”, crashing on a stranger’s couch, to experience a foreign European city from a local’s perspective greatly appealed to me. In the end, my doubts tempered...

Tag: documentary