The Genius and the Opera Singer

Recently returned from a nursing home after being declared "incompetent" by the city, 92-year-old Ruth is deemed unable to live independently and must share uneasy quarters with her 55-year-old daughter Jessica. The claustrophobic New York penthouse apartment they've occupied for over half a century provides the time-capsule setting for their shouting matches and barbed confrontations. Scored by Ruth and Jessica's own renditions of Frank Sinatra standards, they go from singing to slinging stinging insults faster than you can skip to the next track. A starkly observed, warts-and-all glimpse into a fraught parent-child relationship whose needle is stuck on an emotional broken record, The Genius and the Opera Singer doesn't shy away from ugly truths. Hilarious and heart-breaking, director Vanessa Stockley records a raw communication breakdown in session and all the hurt feelings that make it so hard to forgive and forge ahead. (Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival)