Film review
Crip Trip: a road trip against institutionalization
July 31, 2025By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer Crip Trip is a docu-series about two friends and filmmakers, Frederick Kroetsch and Daniel Ennett, who set out on a road trip from Edmonton to New York. Ennet, a multidisciplinary artist and disability justice advocate, is a quadruple amputee trying to find full-time employment to avoid institutionalization. The series follows them on their trip as they meet other disabled people across North America who are facing issues regarding care and mobility. The docu-series aired this year in April. Despite its comedic undertones, the series is raw and infuriating. Instead of focusing primarily on the specifics…
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Film and literature tell the story of The Nickel Boys from different angles
March 12, 2025By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer Content warning: this piece talks in-depth about slavery and racial segregation. Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys tells the story of two boys doing time in a reform school. Elwood Curtis, who is falsely accused…
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Emilia Pérez is entertaining — but reductive
January 15, 2025By: Michelle Young, Copy Editor Content warning: mentions of transphobia, homicides, and missing peoples cases. A crime-thriller musical about a trans Mexican cartel leader is an intriguing premise for a film, to say the least. Emilia Pérez (2024) received four…
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The everlasting power of community in It Takes A Village
December 3, 2024By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer The Vancouver Asian Film Festival was memorable, bringing community members together through a collective love of storytelling. The power of community is sometimes overlooked for stigmatized communities like East Hastings. It Takes A Village: An…
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Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement — establishing a cultural voice
November 26, 2024By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer Content warning: mentions of internment camps. The Vancouver Asian Film Festival premiered brilliant films and documentaries this year. One that stood out was Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement, which tracks the life of third-generation…
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Ninan Auassat platforms the self-told stories of Indigenous youth
October 30, 2024By: Abigail Streifel, Peak Associate Content warning: mentions of genocide, racism, and suicide. Filmmaker Kim O’Bomsawin wants us all to learn from Indigenous children and young adults. Her documentary, Ninan Auassat: We, The Children, premiered at the Vancouver International Film…
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I don’t know how to feel about Kung Fu Panda 4
May 16, 2024By: Jin Song, Peak Associate It’s hard to understate the impact of Kung Fu Panda (2008) on pre-teen me, along with many others. The scene revealing the truth behind the secret ingredient is something I still think about to this…
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A spoilers-free review of The Inventor
May 10, 2024By: Jin Song, SFU Student Sometimes, you watch a movie and you can feel how much fun the creators had making it. The Inventor is one of these movies. This movie follows Leonardo da Vinci, the titular inventor, and his…
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The Taste of Things and Perfect Days find inspiration in the simplicity of everyday life
March 25, 2024By: Kiara Co, Peak Associate The Taste of Things and Perfect Days, a French and Japanese film respectively, are two uplifting 2023 releases with simple yet moving stories. Although I watched them both with English subtitles as they were not…
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Director Tunku Mona Riza and VAFF bring a true rain town to Vancouver
November 16, 2023By: Izzy Cheung, staff writer With a seemingly endless supply of rain, many people refer to our city as Raincouver — but there’s another place across the globe that has claimed the title of “Rain Town.” Taiping, Malaysia, is endearingly…
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