| The Perfect Story | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michelle Shephard |
| Written by | Michelle Shephard |
| Starring | Bryn Hughes Lea Marin Michelle Shephard |
| Cinematography | Wes Legge |
| Edited by | Nick Hector |
| Music by | Justin Small Ohad Benchetrit |
| Production company | Frequent Flyer Films |
| Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
| Release date |
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| Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
The Perfect Story is a 2022 Canadian documentary film directed by Michelle Shephard. The film revisits Shephard's 2010 news story about Ismael Abdulle, a young Somali man who had his hand and foot amputated by Al-Shabaab militants. Her initial reportage sparked a campaign to get him transported to another country as a refugee. However, the documentary explores the ethical dilemmas Shephard faced when Abdulle later admitted he had lied about key details of the incident, revealing he was guilty of attempted theft as Al-Shabaab had claimed.
The film premiered at the 2022 Calgary International Film Festival, where it won the DGC Canadian Documentary Award. It was also screened at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto as the opening film of the annual Doc Soup fall screening series, and had its television premiere on TVO on October 18.
The film received two nominations at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023, for Best Documentary Program and Best Original Music in a Documentary (Ohad Benchetrit, Justin Small).
References
- Pat Mullen, "The Perfect Story Review: Or, When the Story Changes". Point of View, October 4, 2022.
- ^ Emma Boyne, "New film premiering Saturday at CIFF uncovers the ethical dilemma of relationships and reporting". Calgary Journal, September 22, 2022.
- Aryn Toombs, "Calgary International Film Festival jury prize goes to I Like Movies". LiveWire Calgary, September 28, 2022.
- Pat Mullen, "The Perfect Story to Kick Off 22nd Doc Soup Season". Point of View, August 9, 2022.
- Pat Mullen, "2023 Canadian Screen Award Nominations for Documentary". Point of View, February 22, 2023.
External links
- The Perfect Story at IMDb
- Watch The Perfect Story on the NFB website
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- 2022 films
- 2022 documentary films
- 2020s Canadian films
- 2020s English-language films
- Canadian documentary television films
- National Film Board of Canada documentaries
- English-language Canadian films
- English-language documentary films
- 2020s Canadian film stubs
- 2020s documentary film stubs
- Canadian documentary film stubs