Sliding in tone from ferocity to joy to a numbed hopelessness, “Firecrackers” presents young bodies as currency in the games of dangerous drifters. Here, all the men may not be monsters, but all the monsters are definitely men.
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…the kind of discovery I’m kicking myself for overlooking nearly a year earlier, when it premiered at the Toronto Int’l Film Festival. Mozaffari is a major talent — and one whom her fellow Canadians had been tracking for some time — and in this case, TIFF deserves credit for championing a voice who’s sure to be recognized by the international film community soon enough. Like a young Andrea Arnold, Mozaffari has an incredible eye for the details that bring a situation or place to life, working with inexperienced actors to create electrifying characters and a sense of edgy unpredictability.
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Kurimsky is astounding as the mercurial, unpredictable Lou, wounded one moment, a warrior the next. “Firecrackers” isn’t just a confident feature debut from Mozaffari, but a daring one, the kind of fast and furious feminine filmmaking that heralds the arrival of several exciting new talents.
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…Though it's built atop the girls' determination to get themselves to New York City (their dubious assumption that things will be better there goes unquestioned, understandably), the pic avoids painting their ambition as something more than it is. Neither over-bleak nor falsely heroic, the movie sensitively observes a short span that, however things work out, is going to be a turning point in their lives.
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Jasmin Mozaffari on the roots of her debut feature, Firecrackers, and her proudly disruptive mission to topple the patriarchy through cinema.
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Among the most notable winners was Jasmin Mozaffari, who earned Achievement in Directing for her feature film debut Firecrackers. The film was partially funded through Telefilm’s micro-budget program, which was rebranded as Talent to Watch in 2018 in a move to highlight new and underrepresented voices in Canadian film. In the press room, following her win, Mozaffari said her inspiration comes from her fellow female directors. “Women of different diverse backgrounds, all across the board, no matter what, and pushing the boundaries in their own work,” she said.
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