Québécois director Maxime Giroux tells us about The Great Darkened Days, his absurdist, poetic, and often brutal fable about the corruptive power of capitalism. This is an excerpt from our ebook The 2019 Canadian Cinema Yearbook, which is available for purchase here.
[Read more…] about Maxime Giroux discusses The Great Darkened DaysCanadian Cinema
Promoting and spotlighting Canadian Cinema is one of the goals of The Seventh Row. Here you'll find reviews of Canadian films and interviews with Canadian directors.
Ep. 13: Patricia Rozema’s Mouthpiece
In this episode of the podcast, we discuss Patricia Rozema’s Mouthpiece, which Alex, Orla, & Brett all named their favourite Canadian film of the year on our rrecap of 2018 Canadian Cinema (episodes 8 & 9). It also featured on our feature on the best Canadian films of the decade, the best films of the decade, the best films of 2019, and the best Canadian cinema of 2019. To coincide with Mouthpiece‘s theatrical release, theatre artist and Seventh Row staff writer Laura Anne Harris joins editor-in-chief Alex Heeney and associate editor Brett Pardy on the podcast to discuss the film’s adaptation from stage to screen, Rozema’s visual genius, complex character relationships, and more.

Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava (also the film’s writers) simultaneously play two sides of the same woman, Cassandra, as she prepares for her mother’s (Maev Beaty) funeral. Her preparations lead to her grappling with the contradictions of her mother’s second-wave feminism and the female experience of living under the patriarchy. Director Patricia Rozema collaborated with Nostbakken and Sadava to adapt their play to the screen.
Mouthpiece is a favourite at Seventh Row: it’s not just our favourite Canadian film of 2019, but our favourite film of the year overall, and our third favourite film of the decade. Suffice to say, you must see this film.
Show notes and recommended reading on Mouthpiece
Alex Heeney highlighted Mouthpiece as one of the shining stars at TIFF 18.
We previously discussed Mouthpiece on part two of our best 2018 Canadian cinema podcast episode.
Read our interview with Nostbakken, Sadava, and Rozema.
This episode was edited by Edward von Aderkas.
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Hot Docs ’19: Conviction, Buddy, Willie, and more
Our capsule reviews highlight six of the standouts at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Conviction, Buddies, Willie, In My Blood It Runs, We Will Stand Up, and Push. Watch out for them as they travel the festival circuit and arrive on home viewing platforms.

Interview: Edge of the Knife tells a pre-colonialism story of the Haida legend of ‘The Wildman’
Co-director and Haida artist Gwaai Edenshaw discusses his landmark film Edge of the Knife (Sgaawaay K’uuna), the first feature film made in the Haida language. This is an excerpt from the ebook The Canadian Cinema Yearbook which is available for purchase here.
[Read more…] about Interview: Edge of the Knife tells a pre-colonialism story of the Haida legend of ‘The Wildman’TIFF should do more for Canadian cinema
The Canadian films at TIFF this year were especially great, but the festival should have done more to bring them to the attention of critics and audiences. This is an excerpt from the ebook The Canadian Cinema Yearbook which is available for purchase here.
[Read more…] about TIFF should do more for Canadian cinemaTIFF18’s brightest star was Canadian cinema
At TIFF18, almost all of the best films I saw were Canadian — and that’s not grading on a curve. This is an excerpt from the ebook The Canadian Cinema Yearbook which is available for purchase here.
[Read more…] about TIFF18’s brightest star was Canadian cinema