TIFF '24: Sasson Gabay and Asi Levi in “Bliss”

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Getting older is supposed to come with certain issues, but there’s a notion that a peaceful retirement might be the goal. For some, it just doesn’t work that way, and continuing to hold down a monotonous job for many years while dealing with troublesome family dynamics may be their fate. The Israeli film Bliss spotlights a couple with a big age difference both dealing with unexpected relics of their pasts confronting them later in life… 

Click to read more ...

NewFest: Two very different international lesbian romances

By Abe Friedtanzer

Part of the appeal of the programming at NewFest is that it spotlights multiple perspectives slightly outside mainstream society, suggesting a universality to the way in which so many feel like they’re not accepted by society. The grouping of these two films in one review has a little to do with their subject matter but much more to do with the fact that I happened to screen them back-to-back and found some unexpected connections and contrasts. Let’s look briefly at Bliss and Sweetheart…

Click to read more ...