Dasha Kotova
About Dasha Kotova
Dasha Kotova enjoys exploring great stories and characters - real or fictional. She studies anthropology at the University of Toronto, and spends the rest of her time writing, reading, and watching films.
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Last entries by Dasha Kotova
  • 15 Nov 2011
    Review: Summer Pasture – RAFF 2011
    The social changes currently taking place in Tibet are seen through the eyes of a young family in Summer Pasture, a documentary by Lynn True, Nelson Walker, and Tsering Perlo. Although the lifestyle of nomadic yak herders in Tibet’s Kham region has been going on for the past 4,000 years,...
    Archived in Festivals Reel Asian
  • 15 Nov 2011
    Review: When Love Comes – RAFF 2011
    Though title of this film may sound like some variety of romantic comedy, When Love Comes is actually a dysfunctional-family drama. It’s the story of an unlikely group of people who try to get along even though the odds are against that ever happening. Director and writer Tso-chi Chang explores...
    Archived in Festivals Reel Asian
  • 15 Nov 2011
    Review: Bleak Night – RAFF 2011
    Bleak Night takes a look at a group of students in a boys’ high school, telling the story of what caused their friendships to deteriorate. Directed by Sung-Hyun Yoon, this movie debunks the apparent overconfidence that can often be observed in teenage boys by showing the insecurities that lurk behind...
    Archived in Festivals Reel Asian
  • 18 Oct 2011
    Review: Silent Snow – PIF 2011
    The poisoning effects of pesticides, the helpless deterioration of traditional diets, and the search for alternatives to growing food are explored in Silent Snow. Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann ““ the narrator and a sort of main character of this film ““ starts out with deep concern about the environmental damage currently found...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 18 Oct 2011
    Review: Future of Hope – PIF 2011
    Breaking the cycle of credit and debt, economic crises, and the over-exploitation of natural resources in favour of sustainability is no easy task, but there is a growing movement in Iceland that hopes to achieve just that. Future of Hope profiles some of its main proponents against the backdrop of...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 18 Oct 2011
    Review: White Houses – PIF 2011
    White Houses, directed by Simona Risi, deals with a low-cost housing complex in Milan known as “The White”, which inspired outrage after poisoning its residents with asbestos. Not only was asbestos copiously used in the construction of The White, it indeed covers the buildings’ entire surface. For years, many families...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 17 Oct 2011
    Review: Waking the Green Tiger – PIF 2011
    In Waking the Green Tiger, Gary Marcuse chronicles the recent rise of environmental activism in China. Some historical trends around this issue are explored, while the mission to prevent the construction of dams along the rivers in the Yunnan province makes the film’s central narrative. This environmentalist campaign is portrayed...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 17 Oct 2011
    Review: Spoil – PIF 2011
    The Great Bear Rainforest ““ a temperate rainforest on the coast of British Columbia; one of the largest remaining in the world ““ is home to a unique ecosystem and an endless variety of wonders. Hundreds of species dwell in the area, including the elusive spirit bear, a rare black...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 18 Sep 2011
    Review: Burning Man – TIFF 2011
    When something in life goes terribly awry, it can be difficult to pick up the pieces, make sense of one’s own emotions, and figure out which direction to go in. This state of mind is recreated in Jonathan Teplitzky’s Burning Man, drawing the audience into the main character’s confusion....
    Archived in Festivals TIFF TIFF 2011
  • 18 Sep 2011
    Review: Wuthering Heights – TIFF 2011
    If you’re generally not a fan of period dramas, don’t let that deter you from seeing Andrea Arnold’s new adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Her approach to the subject is entirely unique, creating an evocative, emotionally nuanced atmosphere that I never would have expected to see in a film version of...
    Archived in Festivals TIFF TIFF 2011
  • 18 Sep 2011
    Review: Your Sister’s Sister – TIFF 2011
    The emotional nuances of post-twenties friendship, sibling relations, and romantic attachments are explored in Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister. The premise of the film is simple, leaving plenty of room for the characters to unravel the finer points of their personalities and relationships. Though they ought to be past the...
    Archived in Festivals TIFF TIFF 2011
  • 16 Sep 2011
    Review: Drive
    Many film fans have been getting excited about Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive due to its success at Cannes earlier this year ““ and the anticipation is thoroughly justified. This film combines a variety of moods, atmospheres and genre influences into an intense story that you’ll find yourself processing for a...
    Archived in Major Theatrical Reviews
  • 15 Sep 2011
    Review: Miss Bala – TIFF 2011
    The present-day drug war in Mexico ““ which has claimed the lives of thousands of citizens ““ is the subject of Miss Bala (“Miss Bullet” in translation). Directed by Gerardo Naranjo and produced by Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, this film uses an unconventional perspective to depict the effects...
    Archived in Festivals TIFF TIFF 2011
  • 12 Sep 2011
    Review: House of Tolerance – TIFF 2011
    The dark daily reality of an upscale Belle Epoque brothel is explored in Bertrand Bonello’s House of Tolerance. The women behind the luxurious exterior presented for high paying customers – and their struggles with poverty, violence, and disease – is the focus of the narrative, which hides no detail of...
    Archived in Festivals TIFF TIFF 2011
  • 09 Sep 2011
    Review: Drive – TIFF 2011
    Many film fans have been getting excited about Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive due to its success at Cannes earlier this year ““ and the anticipation is thoroughly justified. This film combines a variety of moods, atmospheres and genre influences into an intense story that you’ll find yourself processing for a...
    Archived in Festivals TIFF TIFF 2011
  • 27 Jul 2011
    Review: Devi Kobayashi Special – Shinsedai 2011
    Already an established figure in the Japanese independent film scene, the comedy filmmaker Devi Kobayashi made his Canadian premiere at the 2011 Shinsedai Cinema Festival. Kobayashi writes, directs, composes for, and acts in all of his work. Two of his films, Mariko Rose the Spook and Hikari were screened....
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 27 Jul 2011
    Review: Wandering Home – Shinsedai 2011
    In Wandering Home, Yasuyuki Tsukahara (Tadanobu Asano) is a former photojournalist whose career in war-torn countries has traumatized him emotionally to the extent that he has spiralled deep into alcohol addiction. At the beginning of the film, his alcoholism is at a life-threatening stage, and a visit to the hospital...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 27 Jul 2011
    Review: Sawako Decides – Shinsedai 2011
    If you ever find yourself feeling like those quarter-life-crisis indie comedy-dramas have nothing more to offer, Sawako Decides is capable of proving that there’s a lot more that a filmmaker can tap into as far as this subject is concerned. Written and directed by Yuya Ishii, this film can be...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 27 Jul 2011
    Review: The Catcher on the Shore – Shinsedai 2011
    Filmed when the director, Ryugo Nakamura, was only 13, The Catcher on the Shore portrays the everyday life in rural Okinawa, while also exploring the subjects of friendship, mortality and compassion. It shows the experience of developing empathy through a young person’s eyes....
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
  • 27 Jul 2011
    Review: Kid Commotion – Shinsedai 2011
    Kid Commotion – directed by Torajiro Saito, a comedy filmmaker beloved in Japan in the 1930s and 40s – was definitely a treat at the 2011 Shinsedai Cinema Festival, as well as a fascinating piece of history. This 33-minute slapstick adventure is a rare example of a 1930s Japanese film,...
    Archived in Festivals Other Festivals
Last Comments by Dasha Kotova

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