Review: ‘Canadian Spectrum’ is Hot Docs’ salute to home (Includes first-hand account)
Every worldly festival also pays homage to its home nation, showcasing the best local creators have to offer. The “Canadian Spectrum” program at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival features stories produced by Canadians, though many of the subjects reach beyond the country’s borders. Within this year’s selections, filmmakers examine a betrayal of trust on a personal and global scale, one man’s status as both savior and abuser, and the latest industry to covertly attack the world’s population.
The film begins with a sensual striptease followed by the text of sexy online chat, immediately exposing the nature of their relationship and the severity of the deception. The elaborate hoax was orchestrated by American Tom MacMaster, who created the Amina persona as well as several other personalities to authenticate her existence. In addition to sharing her own fragment of the story, Deraspe interviews journalists and activists from Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and the United States who were also duped by MacMaster, exposing a lack of due diligence by reporters who took Amina’s “first-person account” as verification enough. Gradually the focus of the narrative shifts from the unrest in Syria to the details of the hoax and the harm it caused. Throughout the narrative, a woman representing Amina is followed by a camera through nameless streets until her demise. Deraspe bravely puts herself under the microscope in the context of the story, with the final confrontation being more personal than an attempt to seek justice on any scale.
Director Mia Donovan’s way into the story is her step-brother’s encounter with Patrick in the ‘80s when metal music became (erroneously) synonymous with Satan worship and his parents called upon Patrick to rescue their misguided son. Patrick’s techniques included kidnapping, sleep deprivation, reasoning, repetition and seclusion. He built the foundations for deprogramming, the fundamentals of which remain unchanged; but this recognition is sometimes paired with disapproval for many of his devices. Though there was widespread panic about cults, it was not until the Jonestown massacre that people truly took note. Nonetheless, Patrick’s “clients” reflect on their confrontations with the street-wise specialist with mixed opinions on the effectiveness of his methods.
Even more disconcerting is the conspiracy the film uncovers, showing similarities between the sugar industry’s lobbying of government and efforts to conceal the negative health effects of sweeteners, and the tobacco industry’s comparable endeavours in the ‘60s onward. Scenes from Sugar Trap, a documentary produced in 1980 about related concerns, prove the situation has only worsened since then. In fact, Okinawa, Japan, which formerly boasted the world’s leanest citizens, is now suffering from an exponential increase in diabetes and obesity. However, rather than just point the finger and demonize the industry, the documentary also offers multiple solutions for curtailing the situation. One of its targets include Heart and Stroke Foundation’s “Health Check” program, which it argues is deceiving consumers as much as the sugar industry.
Ticket and screening information are available on the Hot Docs website.