Flatlanders Festival: Sip, support, and celebrate
Paul Rogers and Dwayne Green highlight this year's biggest Flatlanders Beer Fest yet — all to support Manitoba youth.
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CBC
19 minutes ago
- CBC
The new film Shook captures suburban life in the GTA 'in a very, very beautiful way'
With another buzzy, homegrown movie, this is shaping up to be an exciting year for Canadian film. Shook is filmmaker Amar Wala's first dramatic feature. It follows a struggling writer named Ashish as he falls for a barista, and learns his estranged father has Parkinson's disease. The film is set in Scarborough, Ont., and has been praised for its authentic and loving representation of the community. Today on Commotion, culture critics Jackson Weaver, Rachel Ho and Joyita Sengupta join guest host Rad Simonpillai to discuss the new film, and what it adds to the growing canon of films & TV shows set in the Greater Toronto Area. We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, including reviews of the new horror films Weapons and Together, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player. WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube: Rad: The filmmaker Amar Wala is mining his own experiences here. Joyita, when he's doing that, he's tackling the 20-something experience specifically from a South Asian Canadian lens. How do you feel about the way Amar Wala tackles these experiences? Joyita: I mean, they're very specific, which we always love in a film. I'm South Asian, obviously, but I'm also from the ends myself. I'm not from Scarborough. I'm from, like, around Rexdale. I mention that because what he's capturing is a very layered experience. You have this character that's South Asian. He doesn't seem super in touch with his South Asian culture. We never really learn what kind of Indian, or Pakistani, or Bangladeshi or Desi that he is. He doesn't speak his language, even though he immigrated to Canada after a certain age. He does introduce himself as Alex; he says multiple times to other people, not just the girl in the coffee shop. It's interesting because it captures this person who is brown, but their culture is more Scarborough than it is Desi. And I think that is something that a lot of people can relate to. Like, I get it. I'm someone who was born and raised in this city. I have a name that people struggle to pronounce, and there are those aspects of feeling like downtown, the experience of white transplants in the city is so far away from you, and it's just out of reach. This film captures that sort of tension really well. Sometimes I'm someone who doesn't always love a brown-white interracial relationship on-screen, just because it's one that we've seen so many times. But what I think Wala does really well here is capture the tension between these two characters — this feeling of, she can move through the world in a different way than Ashish can. I feel like that is captured well. She doesn't feel like she's talking down to him, that she's looking down on his experiences, but she also is out of depth here. She's like, "I don't know what Hakka food is. I've never been east of, like, Woodbine." As a brown kid from the ends, if you go downtown, that's like a dime a dozen. I've been to a lot of parties where I meet girls like her…. Rad: I think in what you're talking about there is an underlying aspiration for whiteness, on top of being part of the downtown core and all of that stuff.… Rachel, we've actually had a lot of films and TV shows recently that are shining a light on diverse neighborhoods in the Greater Toronto area. I'm thinking of Sort Of, and Late Bloomer, and Boxcutter. What do you think Shook is adding to this canon? Rachel: It's the suburban life. Because normally when you look at a film about Toronto, it is city, like, downtown Toronto. But I love this one's like, he's trying to catch the last train in, or take the blue light bus. That's something that if anybody of us grew up outside of the city, in the suburbs, we all really understand that pain of having to take the blue light bus back home. Like, that sucks. But I love that it's showing a part of Toronto like Scarborough that has been very maligned, and it shows it in a very, very beautiful way. Like, I still have friends who are from Markham and Richmond Hill, and they refuse to go to Scarborough because they're like, "It's scary." I was like, grow up. Yesterday I was walking downtown, and I heard a white guy on the phone like, "You've never been to Scarborough? They have the best food, bro." And I was like, "Oh my, who are you?" So I think there is a growing acknowledgement of Scarborough that has moved on from, certainly, what we grew up with, where Scarborough was looked at in such a demeaning way. And I think mostly it is because of the food, to be honest, because everyone's become so foodie-centric…. I think that this film does a great job of showing all the different aspects of Scarborough, what makes it beautiful — not just the food, but community as well. And it's very refreshing to see that part of the city shown in a way that is very positive. There's no trauma — an immigrant story that doesn't have any trauma to it. That's very nice as well, and something I hope we see more of.
CTV News
33 minutes ago
- CTV News
Heartfelt public displays of love visible to Macleod Trail drivers
Shane Bassen is the man behind the romantic messages on the south-facing hill on the Canyon Meadows overpass above MacLeod Trail South. He gets up at 4 a.m. to place hearts there for Sandy, his wife of 27 years. For 29 years, Shane Bassen has been placing public displays of love to his wife, Sandy, in a spot that generations of commuters have witnessed. Shane gets up at 4 a.m. and heads to the south-facing hill on the Canyon Meadows Drive overpass at Macleod Trail South. In the summer, he places wire sign holders in the shape of hearts and then connects the design with surveyor's tape to make it visible to drivers heading north. '(In the winter, the messages stay in) the snow till it melts,' he said. 'But (in the summer), I take it down quick because they have to cut the grass, right? So I'll leave it up maybe two days, then I'll take it down.' In the winter, Shane goes out after every snowfall and uses his feet to create a heart along with the letters 'San-D.' He got the idea from a similar sign he saw close to three decades ago while driving in north Calgary and decided to try his luck in the south for Sandy. That was soon after just their second date. 'I called her and said, 'You want to go look on the hill?' and she loved it,' he said. 'And I said, 'Well, if you don't like it, I'll stop it,' and she goes, 'Don't you dare,' so that started it, and I've been doing it ever since.' Sandy Bassen says when she sees the hearts, it brings a smile to her face. 'He's a very romantic kind of guy,' she said. 'He loves to do it. I keep saying, 'You don't have to keep doing this because I know it's tiring.' He gets up so early in the morning, and I appreciate it. I love it, and that makes me feel special. It's nice to see, and I enjoy it, so if he wants to keep going, I'm okay with that.' They've been married for 27 years, and Sandy says not many Calgarians know the couple behind the romantic display, and when they find out, they're impressed. 'Especially for Shane, I'm so glad for him to get the recognition because he's doing all the work. So, it's very special that way, for sure,' she said. Shane says he's forever grateful to Sandy because when they met, he was depressed and credits his faith and her for lifting his spirits. 'I had this gift; I call it Sandy. A gift came to me, and I am so grateful,' he said. 'My motivation is to not only love her but also love Him who took care of me because it was really hard, so I want her to know that she's loved, and honestly, I'm going to keep doing this as long as I can.'
CTV News
33 minutes ago
- CTV News
Rededication ceremony planned for Chatham cenotaph this weekend
A downtown landmark that honours Chatham's military history will be rededicated this weekend during a parade and public ceremony. The rededication of the Chatham Cenotaph is scheduled for Sunday morning, beginning with a march from Royal Canadian Legion Branch 642 at 10:30 a.m. along William and King streets. The parade will include a pipe band, colour guard, police and fire honour guards, and for the first time a First World War re-enactment group with horses. 'We've got the provincial president, Comrade Lynn McLellan, coming from Ontario Command,' said Legion president Len Maynard. 'To have a First World War re-enactment group on parade … that should really bring it home to the public, and we hope to educate the public again about what Memorial Square is. A lot of history here.' Maynard noted the cenotaph was erected after the First World War, but the area known as Memorial Square also played a role in the War of 1812, including the Battle of McGregor's Mill. In recent years, the cenotaph fell victim to vandals. In response, security cameras and new fencing were installed. 'This is sacred ground to veterans,' he said. 'To see this kind of dedication going on, and the public coming out, it just brings it home to the vets.' Maynard called the event a milestone for the cenotaph and praised community support, saying, 'Bravo Zulu to the community. They've always been good. We hope to have a really good parade and educate the public at the same time.' JP Presley, first vice-president of Branch 642, said the event is about honouring those who served while also looking forward. 'I think it's great,' Presley said. 'We're here to support our veterans and support anybody who needs help in the community. I think it's going to be fantastic, and I hope we get a really good turnout.' Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff said the rededication follows ongoing efforts to restore cenotaphs across the municipality. 'We're excited to rededicate it,' Canniff said. 'The importance, the symbolism of what that is, is huge for our community and for the country. I'm really looking forward to the celebration on Sunday.' Canniff added that last year's Remembrance Day ceremony in Chatham drew a record crowd despite cold weather, and he expects even more people this weekend. The parade will return to the Legion following a wreath-laying and short service at the cenotaph.
