In 1964, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Apted (Gorillas in the Mist, The World is Not Enough) began his career as a researcher on a new experimental series for Granada TV called Seven Up, which explored the Jesuit maxim “Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds from all over England, to see whether a class system was in place. By asking the children about their lives and their dreams for the future, differences in attitudes and opportunity were witnessed.

For almost a half century, Apted has interviewed the original group every seven years, examining the progression of their lives. Now they are 56. From cab driver Tony, to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the iconoclast Neil, the present age brings more life-changing decisions and surprising developments. From success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, to poverty and illness, nearly every facet of life is discussed with the group, as they assess whether their lives have ultimately been ruled by circumstance or self-determination.

"An inspired, almost noble use of the film medium… The Up series is on my list of the ten greatest films of all time." Roger Ebert

Complete with soprano spillage, dangling Rhinemaidens, frayed tempers and frozen computers, Susan Froemke’s fly-on-the-wall study of a glitch-filled, controversial opera production has more suspense and drama than any ten reality shows. In taking on Wagner’s titanic Ring Cycle, superstar Canadian theatre director Robert Lepage should have known what he was getting into. The logistical requirements alone—16 hours of musical drama, four stories over four nights, dragons, Rhinemaidens, tenors, carpenters, etc.—are staggering. But directors of Wagner’s cycle must also come to terms with re-interpreting for contemporary audiences a work tainted by the composer’s anti-Semitism and powerful associations with Hitler and Nazism.

New stagings of the work are expected to take all of this on board and more, and radical re-interpretation has become the norm. Lepage’s bold solution is to design a special stage—nicknamed (without affection) “the machine”—with interlocking wooden elements that shift to create new spaces, from the bottom of the Rhine to the ruins of Valhalla. This structure, which recalls at different times the world’s biggest game of Jenga and a Rubik’s cube, is elegant in action but terrifying to work with—watching the statuesque soprano Deborah Voigt wipe out and somehow bounce back is only the most impressive moment of doughty professionalism in this revealing (if sometimes nerve-wracking) film. Wagner ain’t for wimps.

"Simply the best documentary about the Met ever made." Film Journal

"Destined to be one of the classic documentaries about opera." Philadelphia Inquirer

"A rousing portrait of creative renewal and, specifically, the way in which – by attempting something daring and new in the face of an opera culture deeply invested in tradition – Lepage proves that classic art can survive and flourish in a marriage with modern technology and imagination." – The Village Voice

Although critics were predictably sniffy about this prequel to John Carpenter’s film, it’s worth remembering the critical reaction in 1982 was equally hostile, with most reviews looking back nostalgically to the 1951 Howard Hawks production ’The Thing From Another World’. It took about a decade before Carpenter’s shocker was accepted as a landmark in modern horror.

Ingeniously devised to dovetail with events at the remote Norwegian Antarctic base, the latest ’Thing’ begins with the discovery of a flying saucer under the ice. American paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) arrives to investigate and is shown the alien body that has been retrieved from the scene… A corpse that defrosts with a vengeance.

Showcasing top of the line CGI effects by Image Engine, the Vancouver company best known for District 9, ’The Thing" is a tense, horrifying movie that pays respect to the past while embracing the brave new wave in fx work.

"It’s full of chills and thrills and isolated Antarctic atmosphere and terrific Hieronymus Bosch creature effects, and if it winks genially at the plot twists of Carpenter’s film, it never feels even a little like some kind of inside joke." Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com

Hot from its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, a special preview of Foo Fighter leader Dave Grohl’s documentary.

Deep in the San Fernando Valley, amidst rows of dilapidated warehouses, was rock n’ roll’s best kept secret: Sound City. America’s greatest unsung recording studio housed a one-of-a-kind console, and as its legend grew, seminal bands and artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Metallica and Nirvana all came out to put magic to tape. Directed by Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and featuring interviews and performances from the iconic musicians who recorded some of rock’s greatest albums at the studio, Sound City doesn’t just tell the story of this real-life rock ’n’ roll shrine, it celebrates the human element of music as Grohl gathers some of rock’s biggest artists to collaborate on a new album. Using Sound City’s legendary analog console, together these artists continue to create musical miracles in a digital world.

Komona (Rachel Mwanza, in an astonishing debut) is only 12 years old when she is kidnapped by rebel soldiers and thrown into a horrific life of guerilla warfare. Forced to witness and commit unspeakable acts of brutality, she forms a protective friendship with a young boy in the group, an albino she calls “Magician.” Meanwhile the soldiers attribute her uncanny survival skills to witchcraft. When the two friends escape the rebels’ clutches, it seems possible they can resume a normal life, but the world they live in is one where cruelty and terror reign, and their freedom is short lived.

Shot in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, War Witch takes place in an unnamed African country, ravaged by war and controlled by armed militia. Subtle, personal touches, and the spontaneity and depth of Mwanza’s enthralling performance prevent the story from becoming overly sensational or exploitative; there are fleeting moments of vibrancy, joy and wonder too, lending the film an air of magic realism. An extraordinary, humane and deeply affecting testament to the strength of human resilience in the darkest of times, War Witch has deservedly garnered awards around the world.

Winner: Best Film, Best Actress, Tribeca Film Festival; Best Actress, Berlin Film Festival; Best Canadian Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Vancouver Film Critics Circle