Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

Hot Docs Toronto’s  International Documentary Film Festival, is back with a vengeance, next week after last year’s misadventure in potential ruin. The world breathes a sigh of relief! And there are tons of great films to see, many having their world premieres at the festival. And as aways, rush tickets for daytime shows are available for free for students and seniors. So this week, I’m talking about some of the docs I’m looking forward tov watching.  And after that, two new movies, one from the US and another from France. There’s a romcom involving two couples and one fake marriage; and a drama about a struggling single mom and her three young kids. 

New films at Hotdocs! 

Here are some brief description of upcoming docs that look interesting:

Ai Weiwei’s Turandot is a record of the noted Chinese artist and activist’s production in Rome of Puccini’s opera set in a mythical China, and somehow combines ancient themes with modern politics.

Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance by Winnipeg director Noam Gonick is a comprehensive look at the history of queer politics in Canada from the 1960s to the present, focusing on Pride parades as a catalyst for liberation movements. 

Virginial Tangvald directs Ghosts of the Sea about a life spent aboard her famous father’s sailing boat, and the dark secrets her family keeps.

Life After is director Reid Davenport’s examination of Medically Assisted Dying from the point of view of devalued, disabled persons, unwillingly pushed toward death to relieve their very real suffering caused by the absence of necessary care.

Spare My Bones, Coyote! (Jonah Malak) is about a volunteer couple who for years have scouted the desert borderlands to rescue migrants lost and dying in the extreme heat and cold.

Deaf President Now! (Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim) is about a 1988 student strike at a DC University for the deaf when they hired a hearing president. The protests inspired a generation of disability rights activists.

Sasha Wortzel’s River of Grass looks at the unique ecosystem of the Everglades.

The Dating Game (Violet Du Feng) looks at the crazy lengths unmarried men in China are going through these days to try to land a wife. 

Heightened Scrutiny (Sam Feder) looks at ACLU attorney Chase Strangio preparing his landmark case on trans rights before the Supreme Court.

Unwelcomed (Sebastián González and Amílcar Infante) a Chilean film about the violent reaction to migrants who fled Venezuela to seek refuge there.

Shifting Baselines (Julien Elie) is about a small Texan town dominated by gigantic, 50-storey tall rocket ships that are part of the new space race.

These are just a few of the films playing at Hotdocs.

The Wedding Banquet 

Co-Wri/Dir: Andrew Ahn

It’s present-day Seattle. Min (Han Gi-Chan) is a man in his twenties from South Korea. He was raised by very rich grandparents, who now expect him to take over the family business. But he doesn’t want to. Min’s an artist who cuts up colourful silk kimonos as his medium. And he’s in love with a guy named Chris (Bowen Yang) and wants to marry him. If his grand-parents ever find out, he’ll be written out of the will. And he’s in the US on a limited visa — he needs a green card. Meanwhile, Angela (Kelly Marie Tran), a science geek who does experiments with worms is in love with Lee, a social worker (Lily Gladstone). They want kids, and artificial insemination is proving to be very expensive. What’s the connection? Chris is good friends with Angela and Min thinks he can pull the wool over his grandparents’s eyes if he “marries” Angela and sends them the video. He gets a green card, she gets a baby, it’s as easy as pie. Not so fast. Granny (Youn Yuh-jung) is already on a flight from Seoul sending the four of them on a frantic clean up. Can they de-gayify Min and Chris’s home? Can Angela pass as straight?  And what will this new wrinkle do to both those couples’ relationships? 

The Wedding Banquet is a cute, screwball social comedy. Not uproarious, roll-on-the-floor comedy, but lots of quirky characters and unexpected  plot twists. It’s adapted from Ang Lee’s movie of the same name in 1993, but quickly veers on a different path from 30 years ago. The original focused on a clash pf cultures involving a White and Taiwanese couple and the prevailing anti-gay taboos of that generation. In this version, Homophobia is alluded to but kept off screen, and the multi-ethnic humour comes from clueless Asian Americans navigating their way through the vagaries of a traditional Korean Wedding.The main actors don’t just play gay, they are gay. The cast is very impressive. Lily Gladstone was nominated for an Oscar for Killers of the Flower Moon, Youn Yuh-jung who plays Min’s grandmother, won one for  Minari, and the legendary Joan Chen has a great cameo as Angela’s mom. Bowen Yang plays against type, while Kelly Marie Tran of Star Wars fame is endearingly awkward as Angela. 

So while not terribly challenging, The Wedding Banquet presents a modern take on gay-asian relationships that is both endearing and gently funny. 

The Courageous

Co-Wri/Dir: Jasmin Gordon

It’s a small town in northeastern France. Jule (Ophélia Kolb) is a single mom with three young kids in public school. Claire (Jasmine Kalisz Saurer) is the take-charge older sister. Loïc (Paul Besnier) is friendly, shy, and possibly on the spectrum; and Sami (Arthur Devaux) the youngest is prone to running around and getting in trouble. But one day the kids find themselves in a roadside diner with no mom. Their car is still in the parking lot, but she’s nowhere to be seen. So  they take a long walk beside a highway back to their apartment. She shows up the next morning, but with no explanation. Instead she drives them to see what she says is their new home. It’s out of the way, and a bit run down, but much more spacious than their cramped apartment. But mom forces the kids to take cover and climb out the back door when strangers appear at the front. 

You see, Mom isn’t completely honest with her kids. She has very little income, is way behind rent, and can barely find enough money to buy then basic food and clothes. And yet she struggles to provide them with normal kid lives: toys, sports and going to birthday parties. But her ventures with petty theft and shoplifting haven’t worked out well. She has an ankle bracelet to prove it. But their dream home is still up for sale. Can Jule come up with the down payment in time? Or will the law and the system catch up with her?

The Courageous is an amazing family drama about a mother who goes to great lengths to keep her family together. It’s told as a slice of life — starting in the middle and finishing before an obvious end. If you’re looking for an easy-to-watch, crowd-pleaser, you won’t find it here, but the bittersweet story-telling, endearing characters and shocking incidents make it much more satisfying. 

Beautiful movie!

The Courageous and The Wedding Banquet opens this weekend in Toronto; check your local listings. Hotdocs runs from Thursday Apr 24, 2025 – Sun, May 4.

This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Saturday morning, on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website culturalmining.com.