After 40 years of being quizzed on everything from the location of the elusive clitoris to the “normal” frequency of masturbation, is there anything legendary sex therapist Dr. Ruth hasn’t been asked? To open up about herself, apparently. Warm, funny and thoroughly surprising, this revealing profile of the now 90-year-old turns up one of the most trailblazing women in modern history. The trauma of her youth as a Holocaust orphan fuelled both a fierce survival instinct and a deep curiosity about human nature. How else could a Israeli-trained sharpshooter and three-times-married mother become a bestselling author and one of Johnny Carson’s favourite guests? Unflappable and undaunted, the heavily accented voice behind the landmark 1980s radio show Sexually Speaking became one of the fiercest advocates for sexual health, abortion and LGBTQ rights of the century. Ask Dr. Ruth offers up a life story as edifying and candid as the icon herself. 

Myrocia Watamaniuk

Runtime 100 Minutes

Surrounded by the beautiful mountains, lakes and water systems of the Peruvian Highlands lives Máxima Acuña, a subsistence farmer who grows potatoes and raises guinea pigs. She, along with neighbouring families, have grown up understanding that land and water are integral to life and must be protected at all costs. But as a multi-billion-dollar mining project is launched by the American Newmont Mining Corporation and lays claim to the land, Máxima finds her world turned upside down: she’s embroiled in conflict, forced eviction, violence and criminal prosecution. Undeterred by the intimidation, Máxima knows what’s at stake. This landmark film portrays one woman’s courageous journey to stand against the destruction of resources that hold far more value than gold. Her strength earned her the world’s most prestigious environmental award, the Goldman Environmental Prize. 

Heather Haynesi

Runtime 88 Minutes

Five women from five countries call bullsh*t on the lack of autonomy over their bodies. Refusing to live within the constraints of religiously or culturally enforced rules, they launch highly personal protests that cost them dearly. Manga artist and performer Rokudenashiko makes vulva art and is arrested in Japan. Facing expulsion from her Hasidic community in Brooklyn, Deborah Feldman takes her baby and runs. Leyla Hussein dares British men to simulate the female circumcision she endured with clay and scissors. In India, Vithika Yadav defies daily street harassment by championing female sexual pleasure online. Doris Wagner was raped in her German convent and now fights sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Through testimony and activism, these women demonstrate that it’s neither religious nor cultural patriarchies that shame the female body and prohibit gender equality, but misogyny itself. Outrageous and courageous, #Female Pleasure is an inventive feminist primer for the millennial age. 

Myrocia Watamaniuk 

This film is rated for graphic nudity and sexual conversations. Viewer discresion is advised.

Runtime 97 Minutes

Norval Morrisseau (Copper Thunderbird) is arguably the most influential Indigenous artist in Canada, commonly referred to as the founder of the Woodlands style. After spending $20,000 at a reputable Toronto gallery to purchase Spirit Energy of Mother Earth, Kevin Hearn (of the Barenaked Ladies) was surprised to discover the authenticity of his Morrisseau canvas being called into question. His decision to sue the art dealer spurs an investigation into the painting’s provenance, and so begins the unravelling of an art fraud ring with fighting factions, all claiming to be the true protectors of the Anishinaabe painter’s legacy—and all of whom happen to be white. Dealers, investors, experts and artists vigorously defend their interests in a search for truth where culture and commerce collide. Questions of authenticity, appropriation and exploitation underlay a devastating story about a visionary artist caught between worlds. As the legal case proceeds, shocking new revelations emerge, detailing damages that spread far beyond the canvas. 

Alexander Rogalski

Content notice: Film contains sexual violence trigger material.

Runtime 114 Minutes