About Our Ads The Hollywood Reporter is part of MRC Media and Info, a division of MRC. She writes about film and politics and is NOW’s contributing books editor. Khan’s descriptions of her abuse prove harrowing and difficult to hear. on-trend esports and egaming market. Directors-screenwriters: Attiya Khan, Lawrence Jackman EMAIL ME. Review: A Better Man is a beautiful film that dives deep on intimate-partner violence Following a series of intimate conversations between a former couple who … Director of photography: Iris Ng Susan is a journalist, author, playwright and former senior entertainment editor at NOW. This is a societal issue that does not appear to be going away and and in a culture that still asks what she did to cause it, self-blame and shame come part and parcel with the physical and/or emotional scars. Executive producers: Sarah Polley, Anita Lee, Jane Jancovic, Janice Dawe, Kathy Avrich-Johnson Terms of Service This publication features lifestyle stories around cannabis use and experiences, including emerging trends in wellness, travel, food and drink, pop culture, and cannabis-related brands. He agrees to appear on camera, so you might assume she succeeds. Depicting the reunion between Khan and the former boyfriend who violently abused her, A Better Man deals with a hot-button issue in sensitive fashion. A helpful but distressing take-away from this movie is how the abuser’s refusal to open up speaks to why it’s so hard to end violence against women. Composer: Lesley Barber Khan, now happily married to a loving and supportive husband, displays remarkable fortitude and courage throughout the encounters. Opens Friday (June 9). The film feels as much therapy session as documentary. Editor: Lawrence Jackman TWITTER In the sequence at the high school, Khan appraises the place wide-eyed. © 2020 The Hollywood Reporter Unparalleled esports and egaming content that speaks to key consumers about trends, news, lifestyle and happenings in the $150 billion market. But there are multiple avenues of support now and many opportunities to heal, though one never really forgets. NOW Central Communications Inc. 2020 Terms of Use The film tells us nothing about whether Steve is in a relationship now or what he’s doing with his life. | Cookie Settings. The doc may work for someone who needs a primer, but anyone working on the front lines to end violence against women or has a feel for the issue at all will be disappointed. At any given moment, approximately one-third of the women in a room will have experienced some form of abuse or trauma. Rating: NNN. But he provides little explanation as to how he became such a monster. At one point she matter-of-factly tells the therapist, “That’s when he gave me the ‘sleeper.’” She goes on to explain that she’s referring to when Steve routinely would strangle her to the point that she almost lost consciousness and literally had her life in his hands. She’d never really looked at it before – as a student she was preoccupied with keeping her head down so Steve wouldn’t wonder who she was looking at. NOW makes its picks for the four films - and one live read - you'll want to catch at this. As such it’s interesting enough. 12:25 PM PDT 5/8/2017 ECentralSports targets the emerging premium
Khan is a riveting presence, and sequences where she and Steve return to the scenes of the crime – their apartment, their high school – are devastating. NOW Magazine Movies & TV Reviews Poorly titled A Better Man gives the wrong impression Its main subject, a woman abuser, refuses to open up, subverting the doc’s essential mission By Susan G. Cole But such was the case at the Hot Docs world premiere screening of Attiya Khan and Lawrence Jackman’s film. Established as the news, lifestyle, and entertainment weekly in Vancouver for 50 years, the Georgia Straight is an integral part of the active urban West Coast lifestyle with over 1.081 million readers per week. Production companies: Intervention Productions, National Film Board of Canada Nor do we ever come to understand why Khan stayed with him for so long and how the abuse went so undetected. Its main subject, a woman abuser, refuses to open up, subverting the doc’s essential mission, A BETTER MAN (Attiya Khan, Lawrence Jackman). Your email address will not be published. A Better Man features many resonant moments, including Khan cutting a cake in celebration of the anniversary of the day she left Steve. Terms of Use | But it’s unique for one to also have therapists available for consultation in the lobby. ‘A Better Man’ is an inspirational depiction of restorative justice as a former couple invites Hot Docs audiences to revisit their abusive past with them. In, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Automating the fraud management process will be a game changer, Iraq shuts last 'safe haven' camps for vulnerable families, Moldova torn between Russia and West in election runoff, Global warming to continue no matter what we do: study, China sends 'congratulations' to Joe Biden on US election win, Biden wins Arizona, cementing US election lead, Trump election lawyers on trial in court of public opinion, Armenians bid 'painful' farewell to monastery ceded in peace deal, Dominic Adriano Albano talks fitness app, podcast, book relaunch, Grocery stores prepare to curb 'panic buying' as COVID-19 surges. 78 minutes. See listing. Yet despite its powerful content, the film never packs the emotional punch that it should. The premise is compelling: a survivor (co-director Attiya Khan) reconnects with abusive ex-boyfriend Steve, her mission to let him know how she experienced the violence and make him accountable for it. To some degree, of course, those questions are unanswerable, and even beside the point. But it ultimately proves more likely therapeutic for its principals than it will be for viewers. But the vagueness and ambiguity of the situations eventually proves frustrating and detract from the film’s power. The premise of “A Better Man,” a startling new documentary by the Canadian first-time filmmaker Attiya Khan, is the reunion of Khan and her ex-boyfriend, Steve. The two engage in a series of conversations — some conducted in the presence of a therapist, who is also seen in solo sessions with Steve — in a variety of locations, including their former school and neighborhood. Depicting the reunion between Khan and the former boyfriend who violently abused her, A Better Man deals with a hot-button issue in sensitive fashion. Producers: Christine Kleckner, Justine Pimlott FACEBOOK But their deeply upsetting nature occasionally erupts. The 80-year-old Canadian quizmaster passed away surrounded by family members on Sunday, Your email address will not be published. That’s mostly due to the fact that Steve is so taciturn we never get a sense of who he is and why he did what he did. Required fields are marked *. Though the detail is important, the scene itself doesn’t bring much new to the issue. He may have agreed to go on camera, but basically he isn’t talking. But the movie winds up being more about her and about institutional neglect – their teachers knew there was trouble and said nothing – than about Steve’s life and what turned him into a woman-beater.