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Matthew Hays

FILM

Complicated Real Estate

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Talking with Eisha Marjara, director of House For Sale, screening at the AmerAsia Film Festival, March 11

by Matthew Hays
08.03.2012

“I’ve always been fascinated by the femme fatale archetype in cinema,” says Eisha Marjara, as she sits down to chat about her latest film, House for Sale. The short, which stars Montreal-based trans actor Atif Siddiqi, tells a complex story about a woman showing a gay man (Siddiqi) the house she wishes to sell, not realizing he’s had an on-again, off-again affair with her husband.

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FILM

Screening the Epidemic: No Sad Songs

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A look back at Canada’s first documentary on AIDS

by Matthew Hays
01.12.2011

It’s hard to believe, but more than a quarter century has passed since Nick Sheehan made the first Canadian documentary response to the AIDS epidemic, No Sad Songs. In fact, his landmark 1985 film is one of the first documentaries to grapple with the disease and its impact, anywhere. And it’s an intimate, unblinking recording [...]

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CRITICAL I

The plight of the angry anglo writer in Montreal

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From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published Friday, Apr. 22, 2011 4:30PM EDT

by Matthew Hays
27.04.2011

This week marks the 13th edition of Montreal’s Blue Metropolis Literary Festival, one of Canada’s premiere literary events. It will feature more than 200 writers, local and international (including legendary scribe and political warrior Gore Vidal), who will read from their own works, engage in live discussions and answer questions from the public in French, [...]

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ELECTION

Immoral Election Compass

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Election 2011

by Matthew Hays
22.04.2011

Last night, I watched Silence of the Lambs, again. An epiphany of curiosity ran through my mind.

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ELECTION

Can’t Buy Me Votes

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Election 2011

by Matthew Hays
10.04.2011

What a relief. Yoko Ono forced YouTube to shut down a video of Stephen Harper singing Imagine.

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TRENDSETTERS

Why Does Adam Gopnik Write?

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The Montreal-bred New Yorker staffer talks about the act and the threats it faces

by Matthew Hays
27.02.2011

Adam Gopnik has been a staff writer with The New Yorker since 1986, having written for four of the magazine’s most famous editors, William Shawn, Robert Gottlieb, Tina Brown and David Remnick. The Philadelphia-born, Montreal-bred Gopnik has written on a broad range of topics, including the culture of the city of Paris, the connection between [...]

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CRITICAL I

Pope Blesses Gay Pride!

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My religious experience for 2010

by Matthew Hays
18.12.2010

I had a profound religious experience this year. Last spring, I wrote to Pope Benedict, inviting him to come to Montreal to partake in Divers/Cité, an event which “celebrates the rich ethnic and racial diversity of the people of our city and country.” (It also happens to be Montreal’s official gay pride event.) I went [...]

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FILM

The Kids Are All Right

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7 Up, Cinema du Parc

by Matthew Hays
13.11.2010

The Up documentaries have emerged as one of the most enduring, popular and critically-acclaimed film series in the history of the medium. This fascinating portrait of 14 Britons shows us their lives at seven-year intervals, running the gamut from seven-year-old optimism and energy to the most recent, 49 Up (2005), which showed us middle-aged people [...]

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FILM

Trotsky Lives!

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The Trotsky, Various Montreal Theatres

by Matthew Hays
15.05.2010

Watching The Trotsky, one can see a couple of serious stars rising over the Canadian film landscape. With his second feature, actor-cum-director Jacob Tierney shows us the cool confidence of a seasoned director, taking on the task of creating a fun, lively comedy – and actually succeeding at it.

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